By Marc Butcavage, Video Editor

If you’ve done your job as a freshman, you’ve probably made all sorts of friends by this time; and if you went above and beyond, you have at least one friend with a car. This comes in handy when the usual Lackmann fare sours your appetite and it’s time to personally shop for food. Having a plethora of different markets available, from places like Torres to large chains like Waldbaums, makes it quite easy to put together cheap, easy meals that go down and stay down.

But what about the students with too much meal plan and a shortage of transportation? Sure, you can take a Saturday bus to Target and spend three hours there, but the last time I stayed in one longer than 45 minutes I began talking to clothes racks and nearly had to be escorted off the premises.

My goal this week is to construct a good meal out of less than desirable parts without leaving campus. When I had set out to complete such a task, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to make. Naturally, my first stop was Dutch Treats. There, I figured I could at least get some inspiration amongst the Chex Mix and questionable fruit. It was actually while perusing the latter that I found my muse, an avocado, and not just any avocado: the only one that didn’t have the consistency of a wet hacky sack. The end product would be a chipotle chicken sandwich, and it would make me a god, or at least a little less hungry. From there, I headed to the Student Center’s salad bar, where I picked up some grilled chicken and shredded cheddar cheese. A quick stop at American Kitchen for a side of chipotle sauce, and I was ready to cook.

The meal itself is fairly easy to create, and takes all of five minutes. However, if you’ve never opened and pitted an avocado, it could take you a little longer. The best method to pit an avocado is to vertically cut into your avocado until you hit the pit. Continue to run your knife all the way around and twist slightly to separate the two halves. Carefully slam the blade of the knife into the pit and remove it. From there, you can use the knife to peel off the skin and slice the avocado to the size of your liking. If you’re only making one sandwich, you’ll still have half an avocado left over, so you can either wrap it and save it for later, or use it as a side. For example, you can fry it flesh-side down for about 30 seconds and fill the excess left by the pit with salsa and sour cream, or whip up a quick guacamole.     

From here on out, the procedure is pretty simple. The chicken comes precut, but it is my recommendation to pull the chicken by hand to get it down to a nice shredded pile of meat. Spread chipotle sauce on the bread, top one slice with avocado, and the other with the chicken and cheese. Heat up a pan to a low to medium heat, and coat with a light pad of butter. Now just fry the sandwich like you would a grilled cheese, for about 45 seconds on each side until both are golden brown and the cheese is melted.

Overall, the sandwich came out fairly tasty for something that was improvised. If I were to do it again, I’d probably add some different spices to the chicken, or a quick marinade. But even without these quick fixes, the sandwich was still better than what’s offered at most on-campus eateries. The ingredients will run you about the same as a meal, but if you’re simply looking for variation without travelling off-campus, this sandwich does the trick. Feel free to have some fun with this one. Add your own touches to your taste, and you just might have something to pull you out of the Lackmann rut.

The Chipotle Chicken Griller perfectly marries chicken and avocado with a kick of chipotle. (Marc Butcavage/The Chronicle)