Fish is a great meal for dining on a budget with not enough time to actually cook anything. Fish is healthy, generally cheap, depending on where you shop, and very fast to cook. Tonight I just bought a basic fish fillet from the store, though my favourite is sockeye salmon, which can often be found for cheap as well. I also boiled some potatoes and nuked some peas to bulk out the meal. Total cook time was just over 20 minutes.
The longest parts of this meal are the potatoes, so peel your desired amount and cut them up. The smaller you cut them the quicker they cook, by the way. Put them in a pot and cover with water, with enough extra to keep the potatoes submerged as the water boils off, and add some salt. Put the stove on high and bring to a boil, reducing to medium once boiling and allowing them to cook for about 15, 20 minutes.
As the potatoes come up to a boil, prepare your fish fillet. This part is pretty simple and there’s no real need to get extravagant. Put some salt and pepper on the fillet, and you’re pretty much good to go.
Once the potatoes reach a boil, that’s your cue to put the fish in the frying pan, which should be oiled and preheated to medium; you’ll hear the fish sizzle when it hits the pan if it’s hot enough. As the fish cooks, you’ll see it turn opaque on the sides and slowly spread to the middle; this is when you want to flip the fish. Depending on thickness, we’re looking at about five minutes of cooking time.
You probably want to throw your veggies in the microwave about now as well. Finish cooking the fish for about another 4Đ5 minutes on the other side. If you’re unsure whether the fish is fully cooked, you should be able to flake it with a fork or spatula, with the insides being opaque and non-translucent.
Slap your potatoes, veggies, and fish on a plate and you’re done! This should have taken you about 20 minutes to do, depending on the thickness of the fish, and it tastes delicious.
Better yet, this meal probably cost me around $5 to make, with the fish coming in at $3.12 on its own in this case.
As we, the student body, collectively prepare to sell our souls to the homework devil once again, bracing for the state of constant hunger and exhaustion as we enter a comatose state for roughly the next four months, it’s important to get those cheap and easy meals where we can.
So pick up some cheap fish and potatoes to keep up your strength: you’re going to need it. The relentless onslaught of school is coming for us, my friends.