Dining Hall Recipes
Ever been tired of the traditional dining hall food rotation, getting the same meals every month? Or maybe you’re a prep not ready to give up the luxury of home-cooked food? Either way, there is a way to get ahead of the curve and not fall into the rut of soggy cereal or cold sandwiches. To help you out, The Exonian has compiled a list of do-it-yourself dining hall recipes, which require minimal effort and can spice up your meals with some original flavors.
While the dining hall’s sandwich bar is a great way to skip the line, sometimes the good bread is taken or the meat doesn’t look too fresh. As a substitute, we’ve come up with an original spicy quesadilla wrap that will hold you over until your weekend Las Olas trip.
First, walk over the sandwich bar and grab yourself a tortilla, spreading it open across your plate. Next, grab a few slices of provolone, placing them around the bread. You can also add some cheddar and parmesan cheese to give the wrap more variety, just make sure the ingredients doesn’t stick out of your wrap or they may melt to the press when it is grilled.
To add a touch of spicy flavor, sprinkle red pepper and garlic powder inside the wrap before carefully folding it in half. If you’re in Elm, turn around and walk across to the panini press—in Wetherell you’ll find it in the far right corner of the room. Cook the wrap for about three minutes, until the cheese melts, and you're ready to eat! If you’re looking for a healthier alternative or more taste variety, you can add a few pieces of fruit as well. Just try not to get too creative: pepper and fruit don’t usually mix well.
After a great meal in the dining hall, it’s always nice to grab a small piece of cake or slice of pie, but sometimes you might be looking for something a little more special. This soft-serve banana split will help save you the wait in the long line at Stillwell’s.
You’re going to want to get a clean plate to carry this monster of a dessert, so head on over to the hot food line; on your way, snag a banana. Next, peel a strip of it away, but remember to leave some of the peel on the side to help support the clumps of soft-serve and whipped cream that will come piling on next.
That’s right: head on over to the ice cream machine and layer as much chocolate, vanilla or soft-serve swirl as you can handle. Then, go to the fridge, locate a can of whipped cream and cover the banana and ice cream concoction until you think it’s had enough. To finish things off, add a swirl of Hershey’s syrup, topping the whipped cream with 2 to 5 solid presses on the chocolate dispenser. There it is: a D-Hall banana split.
Between the pizza oven, salad bar and pasta dishes there are a lot of great lunch and dinner alternatives if our recipes aren’t already enough to fill you up. Breakfast, however, can be a different story. Unless it’s french toast day, you’ll find that oatmeal and Cocoa Krispies can get boring. Instead, try our homemade breakfast panini for an extra boost in the morning before that 8 a.m. test.
To start things off, you are going to head over to the waffle maker—just make sure to spray before pouring the mix. Once it’s ready, split the waffle in half and skip over the syrup, moving to the hot food line instead. Layer one of the halves with either bacon or eggs, then adding on the other, and top off your sandwich with the second waffle half. Make sure to press it down flat. You can add pieces of sausage or home fried potatoes as well, or experiment with the featured meat of Sunday brunch.
Finish off with the panini press again, this time keeping it in a little bit shorter so it’s just heated up, and enjoy! This sandwich is portable as well, so you can eat it on your way to class.
Check out https://instagram.com/dhallcreations/ for some more creative ideas subittmed by PEA students.