College Cooking: Feed Yourself and Your Friends

The authors of Teens Cook and Teens Cook Dessert are off to college in their third collection of easy-to-prepare dishes for those still finding their way around the kitchen. Prospective cooks are encouraged to prepare everything from Oven-Fried Chicken to Tres Leches Cake in this compilation of over 60 quick recipes. While dishes like Barbecue Chicken Pita Pizza, in which poached chicken is placed atop pita bread with barbecue sauce, shredded cheese and cilantro, aren't going to win any culinary awards, they're user-friendly and likely to become staples for the book's target audience. In addition, the authors offer tips on stocking a pantry and outfitting a kitchen, as well as a handful of themed menus (Toga Party, Cinco de Mayo). Their common-sense approach will no doubt sit well with novies, though their advocacy of bouillon cubes (""it's cheaper and a lot lighter to carry home from the store"") and reliance on canned soup for sauces could kickstart some bad habits. That said, there is enough variety in flavor and cultural influence for most beginners, and it's all preferable to the likely alternative: fast food.