Ace the kitchen test

kitchen test Even busy students with full plates can whip up tasty dishes with ‘3 Ingredient College Cookbook’

While eggs and cheese already make for a protein-filled breakfast, sprinkling bacon flakes in the bites could provide more texture and flavor.

Made with dark chocolate, toasted almonds and a pinch of finishing salt, these easy treats will conquer any college student’s sweet craving.

These light and fluffy breakfast eggs bites are made in a cupcake tin.

Intern Kinnia Cheuk seasons a bowl of one-pot spaghetti. Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette photos

This three-ingredient chicken thigh dish is glazed in teriyaki sauce.

This one-pot spaghetti is made with ground beef and jarred sauce.

Cooking every day is not easy. It’s even harder when you have to juggle school, work, extracurriculars or a full-time job with it.

While I would love to spend three hours each day experimenting with elaborate dishes, being in college or doing a full-time summer internship means that I’m always looking for quick recipes for yummy, nutritious food.

I recently tested four recipes from “The Easy 3 Ingredient College Cookbook” by Robin Fields (Simon and Schuster, $15.99). True to the cookbook’s name, each low-cost recipe requires only three ingredients. The recipes are extremely simple; some even make use of premade pizza crusts and muffin mixes.

I’ve chosen to share recipes that involve just a little more effort and natural ingredients.

This cookbook is a really good basic source for beginner cooks.

But for those who would like extra challenge, flavor or nutrition, I’ve included additional tips to take these recipes beyond the basics.

It took me only one hour to prepare breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert all at once — which means daily meal prep has never been easier.