Although we are all thrilled to return to Saint Mike’s for another fabulous semester, there is one fatal flaw to dorm life—Alliot. While the Green Mountain Dining Room is conveniently close to most housing on campus it is not exactly the delectable home cooked meals we enjoyed throughout winter break. As Rosemary cheerfully swipes our Knight Cards for the first time, we can’t help but feel the dread of eating the same thing for lunch and dinner for the next five months. Even though the quality of the food in our dining hall is pretty good for college provisions, the small cafeteria offers limited options. Seven stations may sound like quite the variety; however one can only switch between stir-fry, burritos, and the grill for so long. This semester, try whipping up a gourmet, Alliot inspired creation!
1. Quesadillas
Grab a tortilla wrap with some cheese from the burrito line, and fill it with whatever you heart desires. Grilled veggies and chicken from the stir fry station, anything from the salad bar, or burrito ingredients are always an option as well. Fold the wrap, hand it over to the grill, and it will be ready in minutes.
2. “Better than Bertucci’s” Pasta Combos
Each night offers pasta with some sort of sauce. Try making your pasta and red sauce into something fun and creative by adding whichever cooked vegetables are available that night, or even put your stir-fry on top of pasta instead of rice.
3. Jazzed-Up Salad
While the salad bar does see a few variations day to day, its ingredients seem to come and go in a monotonous rotation. Mix it up by cutting up a chicken patty from the grill or grabbing some tuna or chicken salad from the deli to toss over those greens. Also, the stir-fry is delicious on a bed of lettuce.
4. Warm Cookie Sundae
The greatest attribute of Alliot’s dining hall is the soft serve machine (or “Creemee” as the locals call it). If you’re already feeling guilty about hitting up the silver beacon of joy after each meal, you might as well take it the next level. Put a brownie or cookie in a mug and heat it up in the microwave. Pour chocolate, vanilla and swirl soft serve on top, and finish off with chocolate or caramel.
5. Weekend Waffles
Although the waffle maker set up along the wall on weekend mornings may be intimidating, conquer it! Spice up a plain waffle mix by mixing in a cut up banana or strawberries, or swirl chocolate or caramel syrup on top.
Relying on Alliot for three meals a day can be exhausting. Try these tips out for delicious meals this spring!