Cheesy Broccoli with Rhode Island Chicken Salad

What does that look like to you? A cyclops? Ah, great minds think alike. Yes, it is the Cyclops Salad. Odysseus would be proud.

Cheesy Broccoli with Rhode Island Chicken Salad

1 plate of raw broccoli from the salad bar

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup shredded cheese from burrito bar

1/4 cup Rhode Island Chicken Salad (the one with grapes and apples!)

1 cyclops pupil (tomato slice for Greek mythology non-fans)

1. Put broccoli and mushrooms on a plate, and cover with another plate. Steam on high power in the microwave for 80-90 seconds, until broccoli is just barely cooked through (you don't want mushy broccoli, do you?).

2. Top with shredded cheese, and microwave, uncovered, for 30 seconds to just melt the cheese.

3. Put a dollop of chicken salad on top, and garnish with a beautiful slice of tomato. Admire the cyclopsness of the dish before you, and take a moment to be thankful for both of your eyes.

Lemon Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Sandwich

For those of us who are done with finals, almost done with finals, plowing through those last four pages of that final paper, not leaving until the 21st, in need of dessert, missing the snow, missed the NDR, in need of sleep, tired of the same old vanilla soft serve in a cone - we offer this humble, three-ingredient ice cream sandwich. Happy (almost) holidays

Lemon Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Sandwich
2 lemon cookies
vanilla soft serve ice cream
oreo pieces

Dispense soft serve into a bowl and sandwich between two cookies. Shower liberally with crushed oreo topping.

Fruity Chicken Caesar Salad

With finals approaching, it may be tempting to skip lunch for that review session, but listen to your stomach and brain when they cry out for nourishment. Try whipping up something quick such as this Fruity Chicken Caesar Salad, inspired by the talented chef Yanqiang Tan. Crispy bites of chicken pack the protein and energy while raisins and fresh cherry tomatoes give a vitamin-rich boost. Your brain (and maybe even your GPA) will thank you.

Fruity Chicken Caesar Salad

1 plateful of shredded romaine lettuce
5-8 cherry tomatoes
6-7 croutons
2 tablespoons raisins
2-3 pieces chicken fingers
2 tablespoons Caesar salad dressing

With a butter knife, dice the chicken fingers into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss the lettuce, tomatoes, and raisins with Caesar salad dressing and top with croutons and diced chicken.

Asian/Asian American Heritage Series 2011 Stir Fry Night

A huge thanks to the Brown University Dining Services staff for making AAHS Stir Fry Night possible! Stir fries were inspired by East, Southeast, and South Asian cuisine and included Beef and Broccoli Szechuan, Pineapple Fried Rice, and Vegan Chana Masala along with condiments of lime, chili sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic, and ginger.



We owe a lot to the talented chefs who cooked batch after batch of aromatic stir fries this evening.

If you have comments or ideas for future AAHS events, please email brown.aahm@gmail.com.

Cilantro Grilled Chicken with Apple Butter Mushrooms

What's the difference between regular ol' grilled chicken and Gourmet Grilled Chicken? The secret is in the Mushroom Sauce. There might be a few secrets in the grilling too, but for those of us who aren't in charge of the grilling, we can still make a hot buttery sauce to dress up our bird.

With some white space on the plate and a healthy dose of imagination, you might just trick yourself into thinking you're dining at l'refectorie Sharpe.

Cilantro Grilled Chicken with Apple Butter Mushrooms
1 large piece of roasted sweet potato
broccoli rabe
1 Cilantro Grilled Chicken breast
Apple Butter Mushrooms (see recipe below)

Scrape out the flesh of the sweet potato and mash with a fork. Discard the skin. Place mashed sweet potato on plate, then top with broccoli rabe and grilled chicken. Finish with a spoonful or two of Apple Butter Mushrooms.

Apple Butter Mushrooms
1/4 cup apple juice
2 butter packets (1 Tbps)
5-6 mushroom slices
pinch salt

Put all ingredients in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute or until butter melts and mushrooms are cooked.

Muenster Muffin Melt

When Providence weather gives you the chills, make yourself a Muenster Muffin Melt. Thanks to our friend Yanqiang for yet another oozingly scrumptious creation!

(I confess that I personally did not taste the finished product but who really would doubt hot melted cheese on toasted English muffins?)



Yanqiang's Muenster Muffin Melt
slice of muenster
sliced mushrooms
sliced zucchini
roast beef
1 English muffin, sliced and toasted

Toast the English muffin. Place bottom of muffin on a plate, and top with veggies, beef, and cheese. Top with other half of muffin. Microwave for 40 seconds or until cheese is melted and oozing onto the plate. Eat on a chilly autumn day.

Three Course Meal

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, school is once more in full swing. Is there anything better than being welcomed back into the warm innards of our faithful friend, the Ratty, and sitting down to a three course meal a la soft serve machine and microwave? Before you answer, please wipe that drool from your chin.

Dessert: Honey Balsamic Drizzled Vanilla Soft Serve with Pepitas (inspired and approved by renowned pastry chef Yanqiang Tan)

Main: Slow-Roasted Beef with Garden Vegetables, Kidney Beans, and Melted Cheese

Appetizer: Creamy Pepperjack Mushrooms (by guest chef Yanqiang Tan)

Wrong order, you say? You got a problem with dessert first? I'm sorry we can't be friends anymore...But I digress. Allow me to analyze the beauty of this meal. Beef, broccoli, mushrooms, and cheese are just meant for each other. They are like good friends you shouldn't separate. The hearty richness of the beef and creamy, milky, salty cheese create the perfect umami base for refreshing broccoli and savory earthy mushrooms. And the assertive flavors of balsamic and honey are smoothed out by bright notes of vanilla and the warm crunch of pepitas. Bon appetit!

Creamy Pepperjack Mushrooms

1/2 cup mushrooms

1 1/2 slices pepperjack cheese

1. Place mushrooms in a bowl. Top with cheese.

2. Microwave on high for 60 seconds until cheese is melted and bubbly and mushrooms are cooked through.

Slow-Roasted Beef with Garden Vegetables, Kidney Beans, and Melted Cheese

1 plate of broccoli and spinach

1/4 cup kidney beans

1/4 cup mushrooms

1/4 cup shredded cheese

1/2 cup braised beef

1. Place a plate upside down over a plate piled high with broccoli and spinach. Microwave for 2 minutes, or until veggies are just cooked through.

2. Add mushrooms, kidney beans, and cheese. Microwave for 50 seconds just to melt the cheese.

3. Spoon beef on top.

Honey Balsamic Drizzled Vanilla Soft Serve with Pepitas

1 small bowl of ice

2.1784 second swirl of vanilla soft serve

drizzle of honey

dash of balsamic vinegar

a few shakes of pepitas

1. Dispense vanilla soft serve on a bowl filled with ice.

2. Carefully dodge people holding trays as you speed-walk to the salad bar dressings. Working quickly so ice cream doesn't melt, drizzle honey over soft serve and add a splash of balsamic vinegar.

3. Shake some pepitas over ice cream.

Green, Purple, and Orange Salad

Ah, the start of another year.
Gotta take advantage of those stone fruits while they're in season.

Green, Purple, and Orange Salad

mixed greens
sliced green bell pepper
sliced cucumber
feta cheese
plums
apple cider vinegar
olive oil

Mix up the veggies, fruit, and cheese and drizzle with olive oil and apple cider vinegar.

Nathan's Vanilla Soft Serve

In honor of the end of another year at Brown, and in celebration of the summer to come. A warm thanks to our friend Nathan who graciously allowed me to intrude upon his enjoyment of this humble yet intensely addictive frozen treat, courtesy of the beloved V-dub soft serve machines. 'til next semester, adieu!

Nathan's Vanilla Soft Serve

cake cone

vanilla soft serve

Dispense the soft serve into a neat spiral on cake cone, and enjoy when the sun's out...or any time you feel like it.

Spinach with Pink Vodka Ravioli

The Ratty's pink vodka sauce is delicious. Even if you don't like spinach or mushrooms or beans, or any veggies at all - try mixing them with some pink vodka sauce from the Ratty. Now that's a combination that Sam I Am should've offered with his Green Eggs and Ham...

Spinach with Pink Vodka Ravioli

baby spinach

ravioli with pink vodka sauce

mushrooms, sliced

beans

1. Microwave spinach and mushrooms for 1.5 minutes.

2. Top with a few ravioli with pink vodka sauce and beans, and enjoy!