Good Food: Easy Student Dinners: Triple-tested Recipes (Good Food 101)

Excellent little cookbooks

There is (or there should be) more to life and a student's diet than hamburgers, pizzas and other takeaway food. Yet for many students, a combination of time constraints, budget restrictions and inexperience in the kitchen can get in the way of healthier and often cheaper eating (and living).This book, as part of the acclaimed BBC GoodFood series, provides 101 different recipes that have been tailor-made for the student on a tight budget and, as usual, triple checked and tested to be sure that they hit the mark.Split into six distinct sections - brainy breakfasts & healthy snacks, express meals, dinners for one, one-pan wonders, food for friends and easy puds - and backed up by an excellent index, it is easy to skip through the book and look for culinary inspiration.Once you has found something of interest, perhaps aided by the excellent full-colour photographs of the finished dishes, each recipe is clearly presented with a handy shopping list, concise and well-written instructions and, of course, for the weight-conscious, nutritional information. You have to add the ingredients, do a little work and, of course, the washing up!However this book should not be restricted to students and people living alone. Many of the dishes are of a quality that could grace a typical family table and, of course, it is easy to scale up recipes to accommodate larger groups. It is a sad fact that many people may otherwise overlook this excellent little book by the title, but on the other hands students might not necessarily search for inspiration from a much larger general recipe book. Catch 22!Food influences from many cultures feature as well, so the food world is really your oyster and maybe it will help you spread your culinary horizons at the same time. There is now no excuse for spending a lot of money at a takeaway (particularly when not full of alcohol) as within a relatively short time you could have knocked up a good, wholesome and tasty meal for a fraction of the cost.This book shows that there is more to life than instant food, takeaways and cheese on toast. Good food is within reach and, as usual, this BBC GoodFood volume delivers.

Some sensible recipes; some not so much. Most students will have books bought like this by worried mum and dad who are convinced their kids are going to live on chips for the first year of uni. If your kids like smoked salmon, know what pancetta is, and have room in their student digs to get adventurous then it's good. There are some good basic recipes that can be made quite quickly, but knowing how little time teens want to spend cooking along with other demands, socialising, working maybe, studying (we hope), then some recipes are quite fiddly. There are a lot of one pot meals which is great and the majority of recipes take 25 minutes to cook which isn't too bad, but you have to consider most students do not have cooking as their main focus and will limit prep to a bear minimum. I also query the costings of some of the recipes with what kids actually get in their student loans. I'm thinking I will have to write a book of recipes out for my son myself. Very disappointed

I have to say that anyone who thinks that mussels in red pesto is a likely student dish or indeed roast lamb or peppered mackerel is slightly out of touch! Ridiculous and disappointing book¬

I ended up keeping a copy for myself and ordering my son another copy! It's a brilliant cookbook, especially for those who detest baked beans and who's Mum will not allow them to poison themselves with pot noodles!

Nice clear recipes. Note that students will need to scale some for individual helpings, or make the dish and freeze some for later.

My son has been testing out these recipes for uni. Pleased to say even a first time cook has made some delicious and easy meals! Perfect for when you are short on time!