Dining in College: The Importance of Creativity.

Turn this...

As a vegetarian especially, cafeteria-type dining arrangements can present a certain set of challenges in terms of trying to stay healthy and enjoy what you eat. In my experience, the dining hall at SMC has been pretty accommodating: there are tofu and seitan at the stir-fry option, every dinner offers a vegan entree, and if you really can't find what you need, the gluten-free and vegan fridge might have something for you.

And with all these options, there's a lot of room for creativity. Maybe the vegan option one night is black beans, rice and vegetables, but you're not really in the mood for veggies. You can grab a wrap, throw the beans and rice in it, grab some cheese from the sandwich/salad bar, add lettuce and hot sauce: BOOM, burrito.

...into this!

Another example: last night at dinner, they were offering roasted butternut squash with the meat option. Grabbing that, cheese, hummus, veggies and some condiments in a wrap made this veg-head a happy camper. Plus, you can reward your creative job well done with a side of fries, because we all know (I know) those are a force more tempting than Shmeagle's precious ring.

If I've learned anything the past couple years, it's that different foods are not separate entities. Sometimes breakfast sandwiches involve hummus, tomato soup and mayo. Or maybe you ask the omelette cook to throw some spinach in your order. When you look at all the food as a spectrum of options rather than concrete dishes, the possibilities become endless.

Thanks for reading!