College Cooking 101, by Kenrick Cheong
Review by Eric Miller
For college students, even moderately priced street food can be too expensive. For many, getting through college means spending as little as possible, which in turn can mean living on canned beans and ramen noodles. Eating three balanced meals a day with fruits and vegetables is idealistic.
Students at universities in America's cities often have an upper hand. Small urban green grocers and farmers markets make fresh food both easy to get and easy to afford. With the help of a new book on cooking for college students, getting a degree will not mean sacrificing eating well.
The book's author, Kenrick Cheong, should know what he's talking about. After scraping his way through cooking school he decided to put what he learned at home, not at school, to use by writing College Cooking 101, available by itself or as a kit. The kit includes a skillet, spices, a tray, and other useful items.
College Cooking 101 is meant for economics, chemistry, and nursing students, or anyone else; you don't have to be a culinary student to use it. Many students arrive at college having never even attempted frying an egg. The book assumes such and includes basics such as "how to boil rice" and "how to microwave a potato."
On an Atkins died but can't afford meat? College Cooking 101 has a section on three meat substitutes: tofu, beans, and mushrooms. Put them together with Ramen noodles, or mix with greens for a salad sandwich.
Items like canned beans include directions for tasting them in their natural canned flavor or mixing them with tuna to make a "black bean and tuna sandwich."
Want something Italian but don't have spaghetti? Use the staple of College Cooking 101, ramen noodles, to make a tasty spaghetti substitute.
Tired of ramen noodles? Go for rice in varieties including garlic rice and bell pepper rice. Potatoes aren't to be forgotten either: try them in a salad, with corned beef, or even mashed and baked.
There are affordable meats with a long shelf life too. These include sausages, spam, and canned tuna and chicken. Spam is one of the more fun meats, and College Cooking 101 includes some great ideas for its use, including Spam soup, Spam with ramen noodles, and the Spam sandwich. It does not include a recipe for my favorite: baked Spam and swiss on rye.
When college students return to school after winter break, College Cooking 101 will help with the new lessons they must learn after taking it easy at home: finding enough to eat, and learning to eat well on less.