Working in the dining hall as well as living on campus for two years and eating there daily, has allowed me to try almost every food the dining hall has to offer. The great thing about the resident dining centers on campus, is that the menu is on a five week cycle. This means that if your favorite food is on the menu, you don’t have to wonder if you will ever have the chance to eat it again, just give it five weeks and that meal can be enjoyed again! The dining hall also has many options that are available daily no matter the cycle.
One of my favorite foods the dining hall offers every weekday morning, is the steel cut oats. These oats are a complex carbohydrate, meaning that they are filling and provide your body with lots of energy, making it a great food to have in the morning, before taking on the rest of your day. Many people may find steel cut oats bland, but the upside to this is that it offers you an opportunity to customize it to your liking! One of my favorite combinations is adding a little brown sugar, sliced almonds from the salad bar, strawberries, and blueberries. Adding any fruit to steel cut oats will provide you with a natural, healthy sweetener and adding sliced nuts, adds a healthy fat to the meal. You can also add granola for a little crunch, chocolate chips or maple syrup for something on the sweeter side, or some of the dried fruits offered on the salad bar like raisins, cranberries, and cherries.
My favorite food that appears in the five week cycle, is the teriyaki salmon. Salmon is a food that offers so many excellent health benefits. For protein, this salmon offers 22g per filet, which is comparable to chicken or beef. Salmon is also a great source of omega fatty acids. These omega fatty acids, are essential fatty acids, meaning that the body cannot make them itself and therefore needs to be eaten by food sources. The teriyaki salmon on the dining center menus, provides all the health benefits above, as well as tastes delicious and has sweetness from the teriyaki sauce.
These are just a few of my favorite items from the resident dining halls on campus. I hope next time you see them on the menu, you’ll give them a try and like them as much as I do!