Nosh for Students – Student Cookbook Review.
I love the ease of grabbing something from the freezer or ordering Dominoes, but sometimes, a healthy, home cooked meal is much more appealing. As a kitchen amateur, my Nosh for Students recipe book was a life saver! Written by Joy May, who was inspired by her son’s poor student diet, every recipe has been cleverly thought out, tried and tested, and successful with students everywhere. It helped to break up my diet of toast and potato waffles with cheap, nutritious meals, and expanded my non-existent cooking skills.
Each recipe has a key showing cost per person, its difficulty rating, how many people it serves and prep and cooking time. There is also a photo of every dish so you know what to aim for! Even if you’re confident in the kitchen, the recipes are perfectly suited to a student budget and never require an excessive amount of ingredients or kitchen equipment.
‘The Basics’ chapter covers everything, from store cupboard essentials to cooking pasta, and even how to avoiding food poisoning. ‘Broke but Hungry’ and ‘One Pot Dishes’ were chapters that I frequently used, especially when I wanted to avoid washing up! If you really catch the cooking bug, then the ‘Cakes and Cookies’ and ‘Desserts’ sections can help you live your own Great British Bake Off, with recipes like tiramisu and chocolate truffles.
I had the vegetarian edition; some of my favourite recipes included fajitas (super easy), spicy chickpeas with spinach (healthy and delicious) and Quorn chilli with aduki beans (hearty and filling). I always found that the recipes made decent portions and guaranteed some leftovers, which sorted out dinner for the following day!
Any of the books in the series would be brilliant to use if you’re cooking with friends, or even making dinner for the whole flat. If you’re ready to go all out and accept Nosh for Students as your kitchen Bible then there are weekly food planners in the back, with shopping lists that shouldn’t set you back more than around £20.
Available from Amazon for £6.99, these books are truly worth every penny. Unlike other ‘student’ recipe books I own, Nosh for Students is realistic when it comes to how much money and effort a student wants to put into meals. Even if you only end up cooking once a week, you can be confident that these recipes will get some goodness into your diet, not to mention the satisfaction of knowing you cooked something from scratch!
