Food & Drink | 14 August 2012

5 no-cook hostel and hotel recipes

A hostel without a proper kitchen, a campground that forbids fires or a hotel with a steeply-priced restaurant – you'll never go hungry again with these no-cook recipes

4 mins

If you spend enough time travelling you’re bound to run into some unexpected difficulties trying to cook. As long as you’ve got a knife, these five simple recipes will help you get through any kitchen-less day.

1. Moroccan orange salad

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

3-4 oranges
100g black olives (good ones, not the kind that come in a can)
1/2 red onion
1 lemon
Fresh parsley
Optional (but very helpful): olive oil, turmeric, salt

This meal is so simple it doesn’t actually require explanation, but here’s one anyway:

1. Chop the oranges, olives, onion, and parsley into small bits. Mix together in a bowl.

2. Squeeze lemon juice on top, and add any of the optional ingredients.

3. Done.

2. Tuna and fava bean sandwich

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Serves: 1

Ingredients:

Few slices of bread
1 can of fava beans
1 red bell pepper or 1 can roasted
red pepper
Pinch of salt and pepper
Optional: olive oil

1. Chop fava beans into quarters, and the red pepper into small squares. Mix with tuna and olive oil.

2. Put it all on the bread, and add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Vegetarian ceviche

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Marinating time: 4 hours
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

250ml chopped Shitake mushrooms
125ml chopped white mushrooms
2 jalapeño or serrano peppers
½ red onion
200g firm tofu
1 avocado
2 lemons
1 orange
2 cups lime juice
Cilantro

This one requires a bit of patience, but it’s well worth the wait...

1. Cut the tofu and the hot peppers into thin slices and dice the red onion.

2. Mix the mushrooms, tofu, onions, and peppers in a bowl. Add the lime juice.

3. Cut the oranges and lemon in half and squeeze in the juice. Cover the mixture and let
it sit for four hours. Seriously.

4. When it’s done, strain it, mix in some chopped cilantro, and serve over slice avocado.

4. Arugula, blueberry and ricotta sandwich

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Serves: 1

Ingredients:

Few slices of bread
Arugula
Blueberries
Ricotta Cheese

Ready for this?

1. Put everything on the bread, then eat it.

Pretty good.

5. Spicy vermicelli

Preparation time: 30-60 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 yellow bell pepper
1 can of spam (you can substitute
hot dogs, or any pre-cooked quasi-meat products)
Chilli garlic paste
Soy sauce
100g vermicelli or cellophane
noodles

1. Cut the yellow pepper into this slices, and the spam into small cubes, place the peppers, meat and noodles in a bowl. Run tap water as hot as it will get and add to the bowl.

2. When the water cools strain it and add fresh hot water. Repeat this process until the noodles reach the desired softness. The time involved will vary depending on how hot the tap water gets. If you’re travelling in an area without safe tap water, you won’t want to try this. When the noodles are done stir in soy sauce and chilli paste to taste.

Sara Hartmann is a life-long travel addict. In between trips she lives in Boston working on her blog The Hostel Cookbook, a resource for traveller friendly recipes and all things related to eating and drinking on the road.