"ULTIMATE DINING HALL HACKS," by Priya Krishna, Storey Publishing, $10.95, 127 pages
As school swings into full gear, college students come face to face with one of the most important needs in life — food.
No one wants to force down cardboard-style pizza or limp salad night after night, semester after semester. That is where Priya Krishna, author of the new book “Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks,” steps in.
Krishna, a recent graduate of Dartmouth College and a weekly food writer for the college's newspaper, tackled the challenge of turning dull dining hall offerings into something cheer-worthy.
“Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks” outlines simple recipes that can be created in any dining hall using foods commonly found in college buffets. She teaches hungry undergrads how to turn bread, eggs and milk into French toast using a panini press and how to make olive oil, lemon wedges, garlic and pasta into a lemon-pepper dinner in a microwave. From transforming a boring burger into a Tex-Mex, Hawaiian or Cajun delight to pairing plain ingredients into gourmet desserts, this book is full of possibilities.
The book includes more than 70 recipes in categories ranging from breakfasts, sandwiches and salads to pastas, snacks, desserts and anytime meals. Using simple instructions, on-hand cooking equipment and ordinary ingredients, Krishna imagines a whole new world of flavor for the dining hall.
Melissa DeMoux is a stay-at-home mother of six young children who lives in West Valley City, Utah. Her email is mddemoux@gmail.com and she blogs about her adventures in motherhood at demouxfamily.blogspot.com.