Protest

I recognize that a post is well overdue. I was off this summer, and couldn't post at all this fall. Cue the explanation… To tell you the truth, I really miss blogging. But, what I miss more is eating quality food on campus at an affordable price. I started writing Big Green Gourmet as a fun experiment. I enjoyed creating exciting food out of what DDS had to offer, and finding thrifty shortcuts for cool new dishes. Unfortunately, The Class of '53 Commons new FoCo and SmartChoice WhoseChoice? meal plan have made my job extremely difficult. New FoCo has eliminated two dining halls that used to have a variety of raw ingredients, food made to order, and cooking appliances in an attempt to provide students with "more" options. While I acknowledge that the new dining hall has more complete dishes/meals prepared, I do not believe that it is successfully providing students with more options than they previously had. Additionally, I cannot sanction the waste produced by a facility that forces students to feel as though they must gorge themselves to get their money's worth. The increased expenses of dining at Dartmouth are dramatic, and as a student who will not waste food, and cannot waste money, I am appalled. Continuing my experiment has been made impossible by DDS changes. I rarely eat at FoCo because the food is poor quality, my options are limited, and I no longer have the resources to make my own dishes (without wasting a ton of food). I would like to say that I'll continue making dishes at Collis or the Hop, but I am very much bound by the new higher prices and tight restrictions of meal exchanges (worth less than I paid for them). For better or worse, DDS has changed, and I am without means of continuing my project. Consider this post a protest against our "improved" dining hall and meal plan. Until substantive changes are made to counteract these "improvements" I will not be posting. Hopefully, this isn't goodbye.


-Sam, I am.

Strawberry Summer Salad

Alright, sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've been crazy busy with school work. Maybe I'm jumping the gun, but the weather lately has been beautiful (forget this week, this week is awful) and summery. So, I wanted to do a light summery salad. As far as salads go, this one is fairly a typical, but I assure you, it's great.


You will need:

Spinach

Feta cheese

Strawberries

Craisins (optional)

Honey roasted peanuts

Dried salad noodles (anyone know what these are actually called?)

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil


You a can make this salad at Collis always, and sometimes at the Hop. You want to start by getting yourself some strawberries (from the smoothie line in Collis, or the refrigerators at the Hop). From there, gather all of the salad fixings (you'll have to get feta cheese from the sandwich line at the Hop, and a pack of craisins near the prepackaged goods) and a pack of honey roasted peanuts. Combine all of the ingredients, except for the balsamic vinegar, and shake your salad container well. Pour the vinegar on top of the salad right before you want to eat (the reason for this is that you don't want all the vinegar to be absorbed by the cheese and strawberries). Then, enjoy…

the Strawberry Summer Salad, courtesy of DDS and Sam, I am.

Fusilli Bean Salad

In light (pun intended) of the fantastic weather that we experienced over dimensions weekend (I am convinced that Thayer has a weather machine, and Dartmouth uses it solely for the purposes of making the weather over that weekend absolutely beautiful), I decided to make one of my favorite spring time dishes. Pasta salad is a staple BBQ food no matter where you go in the good old U.S. of A. But, in my family instead of a heavy, mayonnaise-y pasta salad, we keep it a little bit fresher.


You will need:

2 scoops of pasta (fusilli just happens to be the one they had)

Chick peas

Kidney beans

Corn

Balsamic vinaigrette


This one is a Collis creation that is relatively easy to make, and, it's perfect if you want pasta, but they aren't cooking it anymore (even though you can see them still cooking it for other people). Just go to the pasta line and get two cold scoops of pasta in a to-go container, then go to the salad bar and add in all of the vegetables. To finish it off, add the dressing (I like a liberal amount of dressing) and shake. Then enjoy your…


Fusilli Bean Salad, by DDS and Sam, I am.

Antipasto Salad

For this post I wanted to make a salad because I was really loving the weather and it just felt like a hearty salad kind of day. This is not really a traditional antipasto, but it is nonetheless delicious and I hope that you will appreciate it (I really enjoyed it).


You will need:

Salami

Fresh mozzarella

Olive spread

Tomatoes

Spinach

Onions

Cucumbers

Artichokes

Garlic powder

Olive oil

Vinegar


Obviously this takes a bit more to construct than a typical salad but, it's worth a little extra time to take a standard salad and make it fantastic. For this one I went to FoCo (although now that there are fewer dining options I'm beginning to feel silly for specifying). I hope you need no instruction on how to get all of your salad fixings in a bowl, but I will warn you that FoCo does not always have spinach, so you may just need to keep this one in mind and make it when the opportunity presents itself. You want to go to the sandwich line and get salami, fresh mozzarella and olive spread on a plate. I advise that you fold the salami when you put it in the salad, so that you can fork it more easily (similarly, you should cut up the mozzarella). To make the dressing simply mix the olive spread with some garlic powder, oil and vinegar. Then enjoy…

An Antipasto Salad brought to you by DDS and Sam, I am.

The Eastern Burger

First week back, and already I can tell that this '53 Commons thing is going to spoil some of my recipes. So, sorry about that. I didn't really post as much as I wanted to last term, but I hope that this term will be different. To kick things off for 11S, I thought about doing a burger and decided that I also wanted to do something a little bit unusual. This is what I came up with…


You will need:

1 Hamburger

Lettuce

Tomato

Unflavored yogurt

Cucumbers

Onions

Onion rings

Cayenne pepper

Garlic powder

Cinnamon

Dark chili powder

Celery seed


This dish is a lot easier to prepare than it looks (the ingredients list is rather misleadingly long). You need to go to the grill at Foco (I refuse to call it '53 commons unless I am talking about it negatively) and get a hamburger with onions and a side of onion rings. Then, go to the salad bar and grab 5-6 cucumber slices. Finally, get yourself an unflavored yogurt. Once you have all of your ingredients you can prepare your burger. One of the things that makes the burger interesting in flavor is the spiced onion rings that go on it. To make them, simply sprinkle the above spices on the rings (only use a pinch of cinnamon, but don't be afraid of the others). Since a burger can be rather dry (especially one from '53 commons, note that I used the name negatively), I came up with a yogurt sauce to use in lieu of ketchup or mayo. Mix the onions into the yogurt. Then, cut the cucumbers into small pieces and put them in as well. Then, spread the mixture onto the bun and your burger is ready to go! As a great side, you have more spiced onion rings with your yogurt dipping sauce. Enjoy…

The Eastern Burger, courtesy of DDS and Sam, I am.

Potato Skins

Wow, it has been a very long time, I'm sorry. Winter midterms never really end, so I've just had non-stop work. At any rate, I was really craving potato skins the other day, and to my knowledge no place in Hanover serves them. So, I decided to figure out how to make them on my own. Let's get into it…


You will need:

A baked potato

Bacon

Sour cream

Shredded cheese

Hot sauce (optional)


Let me start by saying that Homeplate is the only place that regularly has baked potatoes, so you'll probably have to go there. However, that means that you will have to use their (turkey) bacon, which does taste different from the FoClosed (real) bacon. If you don't mind going to FoClosed just to get some bacon, then by all means go get the bacon there and then the other ingredients from Homeplate. Essentially all you need to do is scoop out the inside of the potato once you've cut it in half, and then add the cheese and bacon. After that, microwave it until the cheese has melted. Then top it with sour cream and hot sauce to taste. Enjoy…


Potato Skins, from DDS and Sam, I am.

Chicken Filet with Pickled Jalapeno Slaw

Let me start by saying that I am very sorry for not posting in so long; midterms are actually trying to kill me. This idea came to me a while ago back when FoClosed was serving some kind of citrus slaw chicken sandwich. What I remember was so unpleasant about the slaw was that it lacked variety in flavor and texture- essentially it all tasted like soggy, orange flavored vegetables. I wanted to reinvent their sandwich with a slaw that would have a lot of different flavors and maintain the natural textures of the vegetables involved. You can make this dish at FoClosed, or at Homeplate if you want.


You will need:

Cabbage

Onions

Jalapenos

Broccoli

Carrots

Vinegar

Relish

Mayonnaise

Lemon

A chicken filet

A bun


I know that the list of ingredients looks daunting, but trust me this isn't very hard to do. You want to get all of your vegetables in the same small salad bowl, preferably with a relatively equal amount of each vegetable. After that, you need to prepare all of the them. Fortunately for us, the carrots are already shaved, the cabbage and onions already cut, and the jalapenos already pickled. So, essentially, all you really need to do is cut the florets (the bushy-head-parts) off of the broccoli and throw away the stems. Then you want to add the following to the bowl: 1 packet of sweet relish, two packets of mayonnaise, and about 2 of the to-go condiment containers full of vinegar. Then, toss the vegetables until all of the ingredients have mixed thoroughly. Finally, take a wedge of lemon, squeeze it over the slaw, and mix it again. At that point, all that you need to do is put it on the bun and eat your…


Chicken Filet with Pickled Jalapeno Slaw, inspired by DDS, and made by Sam, I am.

Collis "Carbonara"

Let me start by saying that this dish is a misnomer in several respects. Notably, this is not a carbonara sauce (hence the quotation marks), rather it is an alfredo sauce (the difference is that a carbonara sauce is made with egg). Moreover, there is no reason why this dish should be specifically attributed to Collis. This is actually rather difficult to make at Collis because they rarely have bacon, which you will come to see is an essential ingredient. So, the name is entirely misleading. However, I did manage to make it at Collis and it is a carbonara in that I mixed in ingredients that are typical of a carbonara. So let's get going…


You will need:

Pasta (any kind, longer noodles are ideal, but not necessary as evidenced by the above photo)

Alfredo sauce

Peas

Bacon

Mushrooms

Pepper

Parmesan cheese (a real carbonara uses pecorino, but like I said this is a misnomer)


This should be made in the same way that you would make any other Collis pasta, except that you are going to want to microwave it for an additional 2 minutes after adding the parmesan cheese and pepper to it, and that you are going to have to add the bacon to the pasta yourself after the pasta is done cooking. The reason for the extra microwaving is two-fold: a) Collis pasta is never hot for very long after they heat it up b) the vegetables almost never cook enough in the pan. Usually I don't tell you to add salt or pepper because that's typically just a matter of personal taste, but in a carbonara the black pepper is essential. I hope you enjoy your...


Collis "Carbonara" courtesy (just had to go for the alliteration) of DDS and Sam, I am.

Chicago Style Hot Dog

Let me start by apologizing for the lack of posting the past few days. Midterm crunch is keeping me busy. It's times like this (when I'm stressed, and it is freezing cold) that I start missing home a bit. So, this recipe is to bring a little bit of home to all of those who live in Chi-town. (Plus, who doesn't like hot dogs?) A little bit of a warning: the Chicago style hot dog is not the kind of dog you would regularly get (unless, of course, you're from Chicago), so you need to be open-minded and prepare yourself for a new kind of hot dog. Here we go:


You will need:

A hot dog

A bun

Onions

Sauerkraut

Relish

Mustard

A Pickle

Tomatoes


For the sake of full disclosure, an actual Chicago dog would also have sport peppers on it, but we don't have any of those, and neither jalapenos nor banana peppers are comparable in flavor. A true Chicago dog would also have celery salt and a poppy seed bun, but this is DDS so we can only expect so much, and make due with what we've got. At any rate, this dish is to be made at FoClosed. You want to go to the grill line and get a hot dog with sauerkraut and onions. Then, go to the deli line and get two slices of tomato and a pickle. Make sure that you get a pickle spear not slice, you need the crunch. Before you pay, go to where the salad dressings are kept and take two packets of relish. Then, layer your dog like this from bottom to top: bun, onions and sauerkraut, tomato slices, yellow mustard and relish, then finally, the hot dog and pickle. It's an absolutely great way to enjoy an american favorite. I hope you enjoy...

The Chicago Style Hot Dog made possible by DDS and Sam, I am.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip

I haven't done a vegetarian dish in a long time, so this one is for the veggies. This kind of dish doesn't really constitute a meal. This is the kind of thing that I might make to share with a bunch of my friends (though it is good enough to eat a whole plate by yourself, so be careful). You might also want to just take the ingredients back to your dorm and make some for the next time you're having a floor-wide Jersey Shore viewing (does that only happen on my floor?). This dip is probably the best way to get people to eat some vegetables because spinach and artichokes are absolutely delicious (especially with cheese in a creamy dip). So, let's get into it…


You will need:

Spinach

Artichokes

Shredded cheese

Mayonnaise

Cream cheese

Garlic powder

Parmesan cheese

Water


This is probably the most difficult to construct of any of my dishes, but don't let that discourage you (I promise it's worth the effort). To make the pita "chips" that are in the photo above, you must go to Homeplate (just put the pita slices in the toaster until they are brown and crispy), but to make the dip you just need to go to any of the dining halls and check out the salad bar to see if they have both spinach and artichokes (it took a few days before I got to the right dining hall at the right time).Let's start by clarifying how much of each ingredient you will need: one full small salad bowl full of artichokes, another full of spinach and another half full of shredded cheese (feel free to approximate by using one big bowl). You will also need 3 packets of mayonnaise, 5 packets of cream cheese, one to-go condiment container full of parmesan cheese, a few pinches of garlic powder, and a large to-go soup container 1/2 filled with water. The first thing you should do is put all of the spinach and artichokes in the to-go bowl of water and microwave it for a minute and thirty seconds, then drain the excess water over the garbage. Next, put all of the cream cheese on the bottom of one of the small to go containers (not a plastic one because you can't microwave those) and microwave it for a minute. Then, combine all of the ingredients (save for some cheese) in the same container and mix them thoroughly, top it with cheese (this isn't standard for spinach and artichoke dip, but I prefer it this way, feel free to leave it out), and then microwave it for thirty seconds, or until most of the cheese on top has melted. Then, sit down and share your…


Spinach & Artichoke Dip brought to you by DDS and Sam, I am.

The Avocado Club

One of the deli lines that is totally underrated is the one at Homeplate. I think that the reason it's under-appreciated is that it looks tiny. For the purposes of experimenting with food, however, the Homeplate line is one of the best places you can go. Their wide array of breads and condiments is enough to out do the potential combinations at any other dining hall, but that aside, they have an incredible selection of meats, veggies and cheeses, and, to top it all off, they will press your sandwich for you -panini style- regardless of what kind of bread you get on it. So there it is, my shameless plug for the Homeplate deli line. With that out of the way…


You will need:

A Baguette

Turkey

Fresh mozzarella

Bacon

Spinach

Tomatoes

Avocado spread


This one is insanely easy to order, just ask for the above list of ingredients, and then ask for them to press it. It's a play on a classic club sandwich with just enough variation to keep your palate interested. It's also pretty healthy as far as sandwiches go on this campus. So enjoy!


The Avocado Club, by DDS and Sam, I am.

Spicy Southwest Chicken Salad

Fortunately for us, FoClosed still has all of the same foods it did when it was FoCo. I think that if, in addition to the annoyingly small space and extraordinarily long lines that form at the single register, FoClosed offered limited food supply options, students might actually riot. Though I can appreciate that Thayer The Class of 1953 Commons is still being renovated, I have to say that the new upstairs seating is dismal and is hardly an improvement, and I hope that when FoClosed reopens we are in for some actual improvements. Griping aside, the food is all the same so you shouldn't have any trouble in making this dish


You will need:

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Corn

Onions

Cucumbers

Shredded cheese

A spicy chicken cutlet

Volcano sauce

Ranch dressing

Avocado spread


Let me just say that what is great about this salad is that it is extremely quick to make. What you will want to do first is go to the grill and ask for spicy chicken on a plate with a side of volcano sauce (it takes no time for them to make because they are pre-made and just heated up). Then, go to the salad bar and assemble your salad fixings (the ones that I have provided above are just the ones that I enjoy, but there is no reason you can't improvise), but take one of the to go condiment cups and fill it with the ranch dressing. Then head over to the deli line and ask for some avocado spread on the side. Once you've paid, simply add the avocado and chicken to the bowl, mix a fork full of volcano sauce into the dressing, and then pour it over the salad. And there you have it:


The Spicy Southwest Chicken Salad, brought to you by DDS and Sam, I am.

Double Fajita Burger

Well, it's been quite some time. I wish that I could have posted more in December, but finals really slowed me down. This was partially because I was studying, and as a result my diet consisted mostly of Novack hot pockets, but also because I was writing papers instead of recipes. So, I'm very sorry for dropping off of the face of the earth for a while, I hope you can forgive me. Some of you might even be thankful. After all, it probably would have been a distraction and could have cost you a point or two on your finals. (Maybe? Eh, probably not, but I'll just keep optimistic) At any rate, as we all know, FoClosed sucks, so as my own private protest, they will not get the first post of the new year. This one comes from the Hop.


You will need:

2 patties

A bun

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Sour cream

Salsa

Guacamole

Jalapenos (I didn't even try for the tilde this time)

Cheddar or pepper jack cheese

Onions

Peppers


This dish is a double cheese burger with a Tex Mex twist, it is for the deeply carnivorous, slightly ethnic, and, of course, the very hungry. If you are not any of the above you should probably eat something else (eating it with only 1 patty is still overwhelming). The trick is to go to the hop and ask for a double cheese burger with cheddar cheese (or pepper jack) and a side of peppers and onions from the grill line. While that is going, hop over to the sandwich line (who caught that word play?). Just ask for a side of jalapenos, sour cream, salsa and guacamole. It's easy enough to figure out after that. Just put everything you can fit somewhere on the sandwich and voila…


A Double Fajita Burger, courtesy of DDS, and Sam, I am.