In dorm rooms across campus, some students have delivering restaurants on speed dial and make campus eateries their first choice. Others dig deeper, often flaunting their cooking skills and filling the dorm hallways with the smell of baked and fried foods.

Idahoan Foods, based in Lewisville, Idaho, is seeking those students who aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and cook. The company has developed The Hot Pot Challenge, a national challenge for college students with the best recipes.

Recipes must include at least one Idahoan Foods product.

“We know there are dozens of college culinarians out there – students who put their own creative twists on dorm-room cooking,” said Dan Fitzgerald, marketing manager of Idahoan Foods.

This is the first year Idahoan Foods, a leading provider of mashed potato products, has issued this challenge.

Madhu Katta from Idahoan Foods said they wanted to do something involving college students because of their creative abilities.

Recipes will be judged on originality, flavor, name and presentation.

The winner will receive a $5,000 savings bond and a year’s supply of Idahoan mashed potatoes.

“Anyone who has a microwave can cook a quick baked potato!” said Karen Mason, nutrition and dietetics associate professor.

Potatoes have nutritional value with vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates; what we add to them can take away from their value, Mason said.

The potato challenge will give students interested in cooking a chance to be experimental with this product, Katta said.

All dorms have community kitchens with a stove and oven provided. Interested students can visit www.idahoan.com.

“There is definitely a convenience factor with potatoes for anyone looking for a quick side-dish,” Katta said.