Elm Street Dining Hall Creations

With the beginning of a new decade comes a time of innovation. The dining spaces around campus offer a reminder that you can direct the path of your life. Let us review the ways you can make your own banquet at D-Hall. 

First, there’s always sticky rice in the Dining Hall. Why not turn this plain blob of starch into sushi? First, create a rolling mat from the parchment or foil in your dorm kitchen. Then, go to D-Hall, scoop some rice and mix it with a few drops of vinegar from the salad bar. Find your preferred vegetable toppings and roll away. When they don’t have nori sheets in the udon section, you can substitute them with spinach leaves or some other leafy vegetables. 

When you want noodles but don’t want soup, here’s a perfect alternative. Mix some noodles, soy sauce, peanut butter, sriracha, tofu and vegetables together, and you’ve got yourself some pad thai. Feel free to garnish it with some zesty lime juice and cilantro. Sometimes, you can even upgrade the noodles with better options from the entree section. 

But, the noodle bar isn’t just for making noodles—let’s get creative! You can make yourself a non-alcoholic mojito by combining fresh mint lime, and your preferred sweetener from the drink section. Fill the rest of the cup with ice and water. 

The basil from the noodle bar can also be used in pizza-related dishes. One of my favorite ways of making a panini includes marinara sauce, provolone and basil. Layer those ingredients on your choice of bread before toasting it in the panini press and boom, you’ve got yourself a pizza pocket. You can also try this combo with bagels if you’re feeling adventurous. 

Finally, when there is fresh snow and the ice cream machine does not work, you can have fun making snow cones. Collect some snow (make sure it’s clean of course) in a cup and drizzle a drink—say, orange juice—over it. Now, you’ve got a refreshing treat that you can also share with friends. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a warmer beverage, you can sprinkle some coconut flakes on top of your hot chocolate. 

Do at your own risk.

However, this is what you should not do: an anonymous friend of mine took a pumpkin bar, mixed it with coffee and called it a pumpkin spice latte. Do not do that. Please. Life is too short to make mistakes of such kind.