Sarah Boren: Friend of Food - Can You Find a Real Meal in a Dorm Room?

It’s a well known fact that most students don’t eat as well as they should. There are plenty of obstacles facing the common dorm room student on their path to a decent meal: lack of funds, no kitchen or a very small one for tons of people, and the biggest problem… no cooking skills. Well, I’m here to tell you there is a way out. Everyone can make good meals in their dorm room with just a few essential tools and a little creativity.

First of all, some basic necessities. Essential to every dorm room (and every kitchen for that matter) is the MICROWAVE. Next you’ll need a rice cooker (hear me out! It’s good for way more than just rice). You can find one at your local Walgreens for about $10. For those who like a little meat along with their meals I highly recommend investing in a small George Foreman Grill. A personal sized one can be found at Walmart for about $15. Finally, I suggest grabbing some Ziploc® Zip n’Steam™ bags. You may also need some utensils to use with these objects, such as a strainer, something to stir with, a thermometer for checking meat temperatures, and hot pads to avoid nasty burns.

So now that you know what fundamental, now it's time to cook. The microwave is great for many things; with a little plastic wrap you can make a baked potato, which can serve as a nice meal with a salad, or can pleasantly accompany meat. In one of the steamer bags you can cook veggies like carrots or asparagus (or any vegetable for that matter). You can actually even cook meat in these bags. I find they work best for light meats like seafood and chicken. Just keep in mind that most things take a lot less time than the bag suggests. Also, it helps to put a little seasoning like salt and pepper in with whatever you’re cooking.

Next we move to the rice cooker! Of course this is a wonderful device for cooking rice, which happens to be pretty good for you as well as the wallet. There are, however, tons of other things you can do with it. For instance, you can fill it to the highest line on the inside (the $10 option from Walgreens holds four cups) and turn it on. The water will boil, allowing you to cook pasta, or even potatoes that you could proceed to mash. Most grocery stores sell premade tortellini and ravioli that only have to be boiled. Then all you need is a little sauce! Pasta alone provides a great variety of healthy options. You can even make macaroni and cheese in the rice cooker!

Finally, the George Foreman Grill, with this handy device you can cook just about any kind of meat. I would suggest using smaller cuts of meat that will cook faster. As this type of grill cooks from the top as well as the bottom, it’s always a good idea to use thinner cuts of meat that will cook all the way through without making the outside tough. Chicken tenders cook really quickly and always come out very... tender. As far as beef goes, if you’re going to cook a steak, go for something like a New York. They are not very expensive and lend themselves well to this kind of high-heat cooking. As far as seasoning meats, I recommend something simple. Season-All is fairly inexpensive and tastes good with all sorts of meats.

So take this knowledge and be the first person in your building to cook a real, delicious meal!

::Please note that some dorm rooms do not allow hot plates inside the dorm rooms themselves. Please check with your management to make sure what you are and are not allowed to keep and/or use in your dorm room.

::Sarah Boren resides in Fairfield, California and is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy; and Food Editor at JarrettHill.com.

::Follow Sarah on Twitter @iluvtremonti28