For our first Wesleyan food adventure, we (Jenn and Cara) decided to head to Usdan and get creative.

Although we are currently seniors, we remember the days of forced meals and endlessly circling around the Marketplace trying to find something, just one thing, that would satisfy our hunger, not to mention taste buds. So we came up with an idea: gourmet-ify typical Usdan fare. As expected, we were less than inspired as we ventured past the register and surveyed our options for dinner. If we were feeling lazy, we could have grabbed a slice or explored the “pastabilities,” but we were up for a good challenge this mundane Monday night. We chose one major component for each an entree and a dessert and made them two ways.

For the main course, Chicken Piccata from the Classics section caught our eye. If made correctly, Chicken Piccata is crispy and golden brown on the outside, moist on the inside, and covered with a lemon and white wine pan sauce. The Marketplace’s version had the tang from the lemon and was pretty moist, but lacked the crispiness and paled in comparison (Literally. No golden brown in sight).  We decided to forgo the pre-made (read: overcooked) pasta that was being served with the chicken and blazed our own culinary path through Usdan (no one was harmed in the making of these meals).

To start, Chicken Piccata a la Cara:

Tonight I was in the mood for a fun salad. I started with a bed of spinach and other mixed greens. I prefer darker lettuces over romaine or iceberg because 1) they have more nutritional value and 2) they have more flavor, in my opinion. I snagged some roasted green beans from the Kosher station and then moved to the table near the salad bar and grabbed  a handful of dried apricots and some chopped walnuts.

To assemble, I chopped the chicken and apricots into more manageable pieces and laid each ingredient across the bed of greens in rows (this is me being OCD and is not actually a completely necessary step in enjoying a lovely salad).

For the dressing, I chose not to use one of the pre-made options. Instead I mixed my own balsamic vinaigrette. I got balsamic vinegar and olive oil from the salad bar. For the other components, I had to get a little more creative. I like to make my own dressings with a little honey and grainy mustard. However eating well at Usdan always takes a bit of improvisation. To replace the honey, I used a bit of syrup from the waffle station (and hence had to pick out a few sprinkles from my dressing) and in the absence of Grey Poupon, I tore open a packet of Heinz yellow mustard from the Kosher station and added that to the mix. Whisk together with a fork and add a little salt and pepper and you’ve got yourself a simple yet delicious vinaigrette.

Pour over your salad, organized in rows or not, and enjoy!

The sweet and chewy apricots worked nicely with the moist, tart chicken and the green beans and walnuts added a contrasting crunch. Overall a success!

Round two, Jenn vs Chicken Piccata:

I say, when in doubt, panini press the crap out of it. So my plan of attack took me first to the sandwich bar, where I chose a bread that would be able to handle the sauciness that was the chicken piccata. I laid out a bed of mixed greens and placed the chicken on top. Next I meandered towards the burger condiments, where I selected some slices of ripe red tomato and a few slivers of red onion to complement the chicken. To maintain the Italian identity of the main ingredient, I topped off my sandwich with a healthy handful of mushrooms from the salad bar along with a slice of provolone from the deli area. The last step, of course, was to press the sucker.

I ended up with a honker of a panini, appropriately portioned for dinner. The roll was toasty, even though it absorbed all the goodness  from the tomatoes and tangy piccata sauce. The melted provolone added a bit of creaminess that contrasted well with the sweet and crunchy red onions.

Mission Chicken Piccata. Accomplished.

After all this, we still had room for dessert. We chose to work with chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, a standard but ordinary Marketplace dessert option. Not when we got done with it.

Cara Cake (not to be confused with carrot cake):

I typically choose fruity desserts over chocolatey ones. This night I decided to combine the two for the best of both worlds. I sliced the cake in half horizontally and slathered raspberry jam onto the bottom layer (the one without frosting). Then I put the top layer back on, like a sandwich. A delicious sandwich. Place a scoop of the ice cream of your choice on top. I went with the “Honey Bun” flavor, which was surprisingly delicious. In a separate bowl, I stirred together more raspberry jam with some Hershey’s chocolate sauce from the ice cream cart. Then I poured this chocolate-raspberry sauce over the assembled ice cream and cake tower. I finished the cake with a sprinkle of sweetened shredded coconut that I stumbled upon at the stir fry station (apparently it was Vietnamese night?).

The jam really added a a lot of contrast to the dish, adding a gooeyness to the slightly lackluster cake and some crunch from the raspberry seeds. Ice cream goes great with anything, honestly, and the coconut was an unexpected, but texturally pleasing element.

PB&J(enn):

I went with the more traditional pairing of peanut butter and chocolate. Like Cara, I started by slicing my cake in half sideways. I smeared on a knifeful of Jiff-like peanut butter on the bottom half of my cake before replacing the top. I then scooped on a mound chocolatey “Peanut Butter Swirl” ice cream and drizzled the whole thing with Hershey’s chocolate syrup, both of which were from the ice cream cart. I finished off the dessert with a few peanuts; these can be found at the miscellaneous salad topping table.

My version of this chocolate cake was an intensely decadent explosion of chocolate and peanut butter. The cake was soft, the peanut butter creamy, and the peanuts crunchy–balanced, but heavily so. If you’re into sumptuous endnotes, I’d say go for it. For me though, I think it was a bit much. I liked Cara’s version much more.

Next time you’re at Usdan and thinking that there is nothing good to eat, or are just bored by the recycled meal options…take a look around and assemble your meal using ingredients from a few different stations!