As the mother of two recent college students, I’ve heard plenty of complaints about dormitory food. Basically, they boiled down to this: Too often, the food wasn’t very good, and it wasn’t very good for them. And in my son’s case, the cafeteria closed for the day at 7 p.m. He was involved in a lot of activities and frequently couldn’t make it back to the dorm by then. (My daughter’s school kept some cafeterias open until midnight with a limited menu; given the schedule kept by most college students, that makes much more sense.)

So what to send for sustenance? Granola bars, power-type bars, microwave popcorn, single-serve cans of fruit packed in syrup, peanut butter, tuna, whole-grain crackers all proved popular. Small boxes of soy milk that can be stored at room temperature are easy to keep on hand. Both kids had blenders and refrigerators, so they could (and did) make smoothies. Neither did much in the way of cooking in their microwaves, although both know their way around a kitchen.

We’d love to hear your ideas and recipes for fast, healthy meals and snacks that can be made in a dorm room. When school starts, what will you (or your kids) be cooking?