Vishesh's Mediterranean Veggie Wrap

As delicious as soul food, fried meat, and melted cheese can be, some ripe fruits and vegetables can be a refreshing delight. Inspired by East Side Pockets, this veggie wrap pulls on some bright flavors from the Mediterranean repertoire for a light meal to go. Crunchy lettuce and juicy tomato plus tangy capers and strong olives make my mouth water!

Vishesh's Mediterranean Veggie Wrap 
plain or herb wrap
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
diced onion
diced or sliced tomato
crisp lettuce
chopped olives
capers
crumbled feta cheese
salt and pepper

Layer a small plate with diced onion, and mix with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to lightly coat them. Microwave for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. To the wrap, layer in order the onion, lettuce, and tomato, and then sprinkle with feta, olives, and capers. Finish with just a dash of salt and pepper, and wrap it up!

Nadya's Soft Serve Affogato

If you've never had an affogato, take your right hand and grab your left shoulder and your left hand and grab your right shoulder and squeeze. Our condolences. You've been missing out on an Italian dessert of luscious vanilla gelato doused in smooth espresso. But fear not! Nadya came up with a way to almost recreate the dessert in the Ratty - now how do you say Ratty in Italian?

Nadya's Soft Serve Affogato
soft-serve vanilla ice cream
hot coffee
chocolate sprinkles (or whatever toppings you desire)

Put ice cream in a mug. Pour coffee inside. Immediately after, add chocolate sprinkles or other topping(s) on top.

Nadya's Breakfast Panino

We love panini. And we love breakfast. So I think you know what's coming...yes, why not a breakfast panino?? I know what you're thinking - that's a genius idea! And you're absolutely correct. We want to thank Nadya Kim for her gorgeous photo and creative recipe giving new life to the fried eggs we all know and love from the omelette station. You can customize it anyway you like, jazz it up with cheese and other panino fixin's, and grill it to perfection.

Nadya's Breakfast Panino 
1 fried egg from the egg station at the Ratty with mushrooms, onions, peppers, and tomatoes
Two slices of bread
One slice of cheese
Ham or other sandwich meat
Ketchup

Go to the egg station at the Ratty and order one fried egg with the desired condiments (I usually ask for all the veggies). Once you pick up you fried egg, get two slices of bread. Spread ketchup on the slices of bread Add the egg, slice(s) of cheese, and ham (or other sandwich meat), between the bread slices Put it in the panini press for approximately 2 minutes or until golden brown.

Jennifer's Wafflewich Panini

What do you get when you cross a waffle with a panini? A wafflewich panini! (or waffini...or paniffle...?)

Special thanks to Jennifer Pan for sending us this ingenious recipe. According to Jennifer, "you can do a lot more with waffle paninis" - we're thinking roast beef and swiss; grilled chicken and roasted red peppers; chicken fingers, lettuce, and honey mustard sauce...the wafflewich panini possibilities are endless.

Jennifer's Wafflewich Panini
1 waffle
1 slice ham
1 slice turkey
1-2 slices cheese
lettuce

Make a waffle, cut in half. The two halves are now your "bread." If you're really hungry you can just make 2 separate waffles.

Pile one of your waffle halves with everything you'd like in your panini. I usually go for ham, turkey, cheese and lettuce. Drizzle the other waffle half with maple syrup. (If you don't want syrup in your panini you can skip this step, it's still good.)

Put the 2 waffle halves together so that the syrup side is on the inside of the sandwich. Panini press it.

Vishesh's Bread Stuffing 'Meatballs' on Pink Vodka Penne Pasta, with Portobello and Parmesan

The Ratty is famous for a number of finely crafted, salivation-inducing entrees: Cajun Chicken Pasta, Castle Hill Inn Pork Spare Ribs, Polynesian Chicken Wings, Spicy Herb Baked Chicken, and Salmon with Minted Pea Puree, to name a few.

Vegetarian entrees, however, often don't get their share in the limelight. Cue the boundless creativity of our fellow vegetarian Ratty-going Brunonians!

A big thanks to Vishesh Jain, chef and mastermind of the following recipe featuring "meatballs" with pink vodka penne pasta. Utilizing hearty bread stuffing in the shape of meatballs and topped with savory mushrooms and Parmesan cheese, it is sure to satisfy even the stubbornest of meaty cravings.

In the chef's words: "First, I did not plan the alliteration--it just happened. Yesterday they had meatballs in the Ratty, and I was craving some warm, condensed deliciousness. I'm vegetarian though, so I decided to make my own with bread stuffing, plus some portobello for marinated meatiness."

Vishesh's Bread Stuffing 'Meatballs' on Pink Vodka Penne Pasta, with Portobello and Parmesan
1 cup cooked penne pasta
2 tsp Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup pink vodka sauce
6-8 slices of portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup of bread stuffing
Oregano, basil, salt, and pepper to taste

Mix 1 tsp Parmesan cheese and the bread stuffing well, and mold into balls by hand or with a spoon. On a plate, microwave for 50s, flipping them over and compressing them at 25s. Microwave the portobello lined on the side of a bowl for 30s, and press them to drain the excess liquid.

Add the sauce and stir in the seasonings to taste, and microwave for 30s more, or until the sauce has reduced to desired consistency. (The Ratty's pink vodka sauce is often a little thin and watery for my taste; if you like it that way, use less sauce and reduce it less.)

On a plate, add in order the penne, meatballs, portobello, excess sauce, and Parmesan. Microwave for 30s, and enjoy it hot!

Ashley's Festive Bowtie Pasta

It's that time of year again - the post-thanksgiving-pre-winter-break slump. It is the time of year when snow really should stop procrastinating its act, when CVS starts thinking it's okay to play only Christmas songs, when people start hoping for donuts at the sci li, and when most of our stomachs are still recovering from pounds of roast poultry, potatoes, pie, and more pie.

Fortunately, the Ratty has just the antidote. A hearty thanks to Ashley So for sharing her elegant pasta recipe - delicately balanced with the tartness of tomatoes and feta against savory morsels of hot dog a la refectorie de sharpe, and drizzled in heart healthy basil infused extra virgin olive oil, this dish is light, fresh, and sure to delight.

Ashley's Festive Bowtie Pasta
bowtie pasta
parmesan cheese
feta cheese
cherry tomatoes
sliced hotdog
lots of basil infused extra virgin olive oil
dash of salt and pepper

Mix cheese, tomatoes, and hotdog with pasta. Drizzle generously with olive oil; add salt and pepper to taste.

Paul's Buffalo Chicken Salad

Friday lunch isn't Friday lunch if it's not at the V-dub. We're pretty sure by now that the location of the V-dub is no longer a secret and neither are its gorgeous deep fried strips of tender poultry goodness. What might not be so obvious, however, are the creative applications in which one can enjoy this beloved Friday lunchtime staple.

Voila, Paul's Buffalo Chicken Salad! Special thanks to Paul Martino for sharing his go-to recipe for jazzing up what might be Brown Dining's most heavily sought after menu item. It is an exquisite interplay of tangy/creamy crunchy/savory goodness, all on a top of a leafy bed of romaine and veggies for added vitamins; a meal that will surely satisfy your taste buds, your muscles, your brain, and your soul.

Paul's Buffalo Chicken Salad
romaine lettuce
3 chicken fingers (sliced, diced, or whole, I usually just chop them up as I eat the salad)
shredded carrots
chopped egg (from the salad bar)
2 ladles of buffalo sauce
2 tablespoons of bleu cheese cressing
cucumber slices

Place the chicken fingers, egg, and carrots over a bed of the romaine lettuce. Add the cucumber slices, pour on the dressing and drizzle with buffalo sauce. Try it, it's great! 

Vishesh's Berry Tostadas

Tostada means "toasted" in Spanish. Usually, the "toasted" is referring to the golden fried tortilla upon which toppings, usually of the savory variety, are piled. Owing to the delightful cornucopia of seasonal ingredients at the Ratty and the boundless creativity of Brown students, tostadas at the Ratty need not be restricted by their usual meat and salt-laden accompaniments.

Special thanks to Vishesh Jain for emailing us with this elegant recipe for berry tostadas! According to Vishesh, these crunchy chips can be topped with "all kinds of yogurts and berries" - truly a recipe that is only limited by one's imagination (and the whims of the Ratty).

Vishesh's Berry Tostadas
strawberries, sliced
raspberries
blueberries
tostada chips
whipped cream
honey
mint leaves, shredded

Spread tostada chips in a circular monolayer on plate. Put dollops of whipped cream on top, then top with berries. Garnish with mint and a drizzle of honey.

Jonathan's Chicago Dog

To put it in the wise words of Wikipedia itself: "A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago Dog, or Chicago Red Hot is an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois. The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard; chopped white onions; bright green sweet pickle relish; a dill pickle spear; tomato slices or wedges; pickled sport peppers; and a dash of celery salt. The complete assembly of a Chicago hot dog is said to be 'dragged through the garden' due to the many toppings."

Jonathan Sit emailed us with a fantastic recipe for a unique version of Chicago Dog "dragged through the Ratty Grill Line." Feel free to get creative with your toppings - but whatever you do, don't make the preposterous error of squirting ketchup on your Chicago Dog.

Jonathan's Chicago Dog

hotdog and bun

tomato slice

pickle spear (end of sandwich line)

onions

relish

banana peppers

yellow mustard

celery salt

Put the hotdog in the bun. Add relish, onions, banana peppers, and mustard. Cut tomato slice in half, add halves to bun. Add pickle spear. Add dash of celery salt. Done! 

Jonathan's Deviled Eggs

Hard boiled eggs. Boring, right? Wrong! As a matter of fact, the Ratty comes fully armed with an arsenal of ingredients to transform these humble protein morsels into decadent deviled eggs. We want to thank Jonathan Sit for his ingenious recipe and gorgeous photos. Enjoy!

Jonathan's Deviled Eggs

12 hard boiled eggs (served only at breakfast and lunch)

mayo

relish

yellow mustard
bacon (for the adventurous) 

Get a dozen hard boiled eggs. Peel and cut in half with a knife. They are easier to peel when warm so do it quickly! Put all the yolks in a cup. Now, using a soup spoon (the larger one not the dinky tea spoon), mix in 4 parts mayo, 1 part relish, and 1 part mustard. Mix! Season with a dash of salt and pepper. Carefully spoon back the mixture into the now empty egg-white halves. Now you can garnish it with more pepper or paprika (if they have it) or if you're feeling adventurous, bacon bits from the salad line! (I made this as a dish for a potluck so it makes a lot of servings!)