Dining hall food can be unpredictable. That white chicken chili that tastes so delicious at home? Not so much at school. After a few weeks on campus, though, you'll figure out some of your favorite foods. Below are six of my favorite things, with some input from my roommate and friends, from The Diner at UMD.
Warm cookies
These are basically comparable to Insomnia Cookies, except you don't have to pay money for them, which makes them even better. They have different flavors of them every night (but that doesn't mean you should have them every night), but my favorite is the sugar cookie. My roommate's is the chocolate chip. You really can't go wrong with any of them.
Smoothies
At every meal, they have a different set of smoothie. I have seen people drink four of them in one meal, and yes the cups may be tiny, but people really take advantage of the unlimited dining plan when it comes to the smoothies. So far my favorite is the pineapple, kale, and strawberry one, which tastes like a kiwi, even though there aren't any kiwis in it. I've also heard good things about the coconut one. You can also ask for them to make them without added sugar, and they have dairy and non-dairy options at each meal.
Zucchini and Squash with Herbs
At home, I wasn't much of a cooked veggie person, but they make a lot of those here, so lately I've been eating a bunch of squash. They switch up the varieties, so sometimes they'll have tomatoes and squash or just regular cooked squash, but so far this one is my favorite because it's normally the right consistency and the spices add some extra flavor to it. I've been mixing it with pasta or chicken to make it taste more like a home-cooked meal.
Chipotle Alfredo Bow Tie Pasta
So this might not be the exact name of the pasta, but it is bow tie pasta with a Chipotle Alfredo sauce and some broccoli and tomatoes. This is one of the pastas I like to add the squash and zucchini to.
Southwestern Three Bean Chili
Chili is perfect for those colder fall days, but I could easily eat chili any day. They have a couple of different varieties at UMD, from chicken chili to traditional, but so far this one is the best. It has a tomato base, three different types of beans, and some corn. I normally eat it by itself with some extra veggies, but grilled chicken would be good with it, too.
Tater Tots
Saved the best one for last. Hands down, the tater tots at the Diner are the best food they have to offer. They are a perfect golden brown, crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. People will fill up half of their plate with these tater tots. They will go back and get even more tater tots. I'm not sure why but these things are so delicious. They rotate the tater tots with regular fries and curly fries, but these are 100% the best fried potato option UMD has to offer.
It can take some time to get used to dining hall food when you're used to meals from home, but it isn't all bad! Mixing a few items together, like squash and pasta or chicken, can make a meal feel more complete and put together. Look for the healthy options too, because it is easy to want to eat nothing but tater tots! Try out foods that you might not have even eaten at home and eventually you'll figure out what you like. You might even end up enjoying dining hall food more than you expected.
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