When you go on a business trip and find yourself stuck in a hotel for weeks or months, eating restaurant meals can become very boring. While restaurants meals are not all bad, there are some people that can only stomach them for a few days. You will be left craving the taste of home cooked meals if you do not have any innovative approaches for getting around the lack of a kitchen. The good news is that you can do anything in a toaster oven when you are in a hotel room. Since the toaster oven features a lightweight and portable design, travelling with it is very easy. Together with other basic kitchen utensils, you can use it to create a portable kitchen in your hotel room and enjoy the meals that you miss the most when you are away from home.

Tasty Recipes That You Can Cook With a Toaster Oven in a Hotel Room

Since you probably won’t have a lot of time to prepare comprehensive meals in a hotel room, the following are some of the easy meals that you can prepare with a toaster oven.

1. Spicy Salmon Sandwich

This is a nice toaster oven treat that will take you as little as 10 minutes to prepare. It is comprised of a delicious blend of fresh thyme, sesame and mint that give the salmon a very delicious flavour. It is not only quick to prepare, but also very healthy.

Ingredients:

• 1 piece of flatbread or naan
• A pinch of salt
• 1 (3 oz) salmon filet
• 1 tablespoon green onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sumac
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 1/4 English cucumber (peeled and diced)
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint (optional)
• 1 tablespoon yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts
• 1 zucchini (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Extra virgin olive oil

How to Prepare:

1. First, you will need to cut the salmon on a 45-degree angle into a quarter inch thick slices. After doing that, lay the slices flat while making sure that they are facing towards the centre of the bread.

2. Add a pinch of salt to the slices and then sprinkle them evenly with sumac, green onion, thyme and sesame seeds. The sesame seeds should be the last to be sprinkled on the salmon.

3. After that, you will need to put the bread in the toaster oven and then turn it to the broil setting. Allow it to boil for three minutes.

4. As the salmon continues to cook, combine the cucumber and yoghurt. After that, carefully remove the bread from the toaster oven and then put it on a plate.

5. Spoon the cucumber and yoghurt mixture evenly across the salmon and then sprinkle the mint on it.

6. Roll the sandwich to form two inch flaps and then press down over the ingredients and pinch. While making sure that flap of bread is closest to you, touch the far side of the bread and then tuck and roll it into a shape of a sleeping bag.

7. Cut it in half and then garnish with a touch more mint before serving.

8. Turn the toaster oven to broil in readiness for preparing the zucchini. Mix the ingredients in a bowl and then pour them flat onto a foil-lined toaster oven pan.

9. After that, put the zucchini in the toaster oven and allow it to boil for about 3 minutes.

If you prefer flatbread, you can use a tortilla instead. Fold the sandwich like a taco or put a handful of chopped lettuce to it and then eat open face.

2. Lemon-Pepper Cod with Roasted Vegetable and Kale Salad

This is a great meal to cook for dinner if you are staying in a hotel. You simply need to gather whatever vegetables are in season and then toast them when they are at their most flavorful. To keep things fresh and exciting, you can mix the vegetables with parsnips, potatoes, sweet peppers and beets.

Ingredients:

• 1 cod filet
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1 cup of summer squash (cut into small cubes)
• 1/3 cup white onion (diced)
• 1/2 cup carrot (cut into small cubes)
• 2 cups of kale (remove stems and tear them into bite-sized pieces)
• Zest of 1/2 lemon (optional)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

How to Prepare:

1. The first thing you will need to do is preheat the toaster oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. After that, toss the vegetables with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan lined with aluminium foil. Wait until everything is evenly coated and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Allow them to bake for about 20 minutes and then remove from oven and then pour them into a bowl to cool.

3. Take the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and sprinkle the cod. Both sides of the cod should be properly seasoned with salt and pepper.

4. After that, put the cod on a roasting pan and then allow it to bake for about 20 minutes until the fish is flaky. Allow it to sit for about five minutes before serving.

5. As the cod is resting, take a serving bowl and then toss the kale together with the warm roasted vegetables and one tablespoon of lemon juice. Put the cod on top and then sprinkle with lemon zest and then proceed to serve.

There are many other foods that you can prepare from the comfort of your hotel room using a toaster oven, including cinnamon bananas, garlic prawns, roasted sweet potato, toasted nuts, bacon, just to mention a few. They are also all easy to prepare as long as you have the required ingredients and recipe. You can get creative with the toaster oven and use it to prepare meals that you never imagined you could prepare with it. To make life easier for you in the hotel room, you should remember to carry plates and utensils as well as a travel-size food scale if you are very conscious about your calorie intake. If you feel like carrying the utensils will cause your luggage to be very heavy, you can just leave them and buy disposable plates, cups, spoons and other utensils you may need.