Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

It doesn't offend me that you don't like them, rather I am humoured that so many people think the same way as you. It is truly a matter of knowledge. For instance, a few years ago I abhored tequila. I tasted Patron and all the other popular bar tequilas that were supposedly better than Jose Cuervo and Sauza and I still didn't like it. When I delved into the brands that most people were not familiar with, I discovered there was a whole other world out there. These traditional yet unpopular brands had so much flavor it was shocking. It's the same with tomatoes. When all you're used to tasting is vegetal, bitter, bland, watery, herbal tomatoey flavors you are completely shocked when you first bite into a tomato that tastes like candy.

in my high school we had 4 stations and a decent amount of options, yet i would only get 5 things - ever! friday was pizza day and i would always dip my pizza in the mini salad and dressing it came with.
wed was chicken ranchero day - chicken patty topped with bacon, american cheese and the obligatory lettuce and tomato slice and you top it yourself with ranch dressing on a kaiser roll and it usually came with baked mac and cheese - the line on wed was always rediculously long!
the other days i had a bagel with cream cheese, fries and an arizona iced tea. or cheese nachos loaded with toppings (i don't eat beef) or a cheese sandwich on a kaiser as i have always been adverse to lunch meat.
i am very surprised i have normal cholesterol these days - i can't imagine what it was back then...although growing up in a vegetarian household my other meals must have cancelled out the cholesterol loaded fest during the school week.

Some things to remember: poblano peppers are nothing like green chiles; New Mexico green chiles come in many varieties, from mild to XX hot, and they are grown up and down the Rio Grande valley from Chama to Las Cruces; Hatch chiles are widely known, but they are not always the best, since they are often grown to mass production standards; in-the-know locals buy their chiles in small batches directly from the growers at Farmer's Markets and roadside stands around the state; no matter where or what variety you buy, the roasting and steaming process can make a huge difference in how the chile tastes. For best results, chile should be blistered and charred at very hot temps for a few minutes, then cooked a little longer at low heat, then sealed in a plastic bag for at least an hour to steam. It's an art, and finding a competent roastmaster is as important as finding the right chile.
I've been enjoying NM chile for 28 years now, and cannot imagine living without it. In my freezer right now are medium, hot and extra hot varieties from four different growers in Chimayo, San Felipe Pueblo, Corrales and Lemitar. I even have a few bags of standout batches dating back to '07 that I'm hoarding for special occasions.

in both HS & college (Tokyo), noodle stations (ramen, udon and soba) were pretty good. but in HS I rarely had time to eat lunch at the cafeteria, so I'd buy chicken karaage and yukari onigiri combo if I didn't bring bento.
My favorite dish from the college cafeteria was Bang bang ji tofu.

Ooh - someone reminded me of the chili and chicken noodle soup my elementary school used to serve. I don't know what it was, but both were fabulous. As I got older & I was able to participate in my church hosted blood drives, I always looked forward to the half a peanut butter sandwich & the bowl of chicken noodle soup they'd serve to anyone that donated. MUCH better than the Ritz crackers & Lorna Doones I make do with now.

And yes - totally looked forward to the Thanksgiving & Christmas lunches, mostly because in addition to actual pumpkin pie, we got to choose a little container (paper peel-off lid) of ice cream: vanilla, chocolate swirl, or strawberry swirl. I always went with chocolate. Always.

After graduating I really missed cafeteria food. I loved drinking carton milk over ice and eating halved kiwis. The turkey a la king was so good back then and students would actually run to the lunch room for it. I also miss enchiladas on Wednesday, Mexican food day. Oh, and the lunch ladies used to offer Frito Pie on the side. Chili and cheese served from separate crock pots would be ladled into a bag of chips of your choice. I chose Hot Cheetos! It was so gross and delicious and would leave you with heart burn afterwards.

1955-1958. Lawrence High School, Lawrence, L.I., N.Y.
Sausages on top of mashed potatoes with gravy.
I still think about it after all these years.

In grammar school, they made kickass french toast sticks. Then the problem was that they started out giving each person five, but a few years later it dropped to four, then three. Cheapskates. I also always looked forward to chocolate milk in the tiny carton.
I never bought lunch in high school because the food was revolting, but I occasionally indulged in one of those underbaked cookies.
My college cafeteria isn't much better. They do awesome wraps, and any form of potato is hard to mess up, but the produce is atrocious. They reuse the same batch of vegetables for days, the salad bar is continuously wilted and brown, and the "vegetarian station" always, ALWAYS consists of lukewarm bean burritos. Ugh.

Four flat even small chipped almost underbakes chocolate chip cookies for 1$. The bakery that sells the batter to my old school caf sells them in their store... six of them in giant plate-sized portions for about 5$. I get them everytime I fly home.

Apple crisp. Oh, mama!

Greasy-crunchy grilled cheese.

Tuna Melts that had buttey salted buns too long under heat so they were gnawable hard in which melted cheese enveloped tuna salad. God-awful and awful good.

They called it vegetable-beef soup, but what it really was was leftovers from everything they'd made the previous few days - hamburger, veggies, and even spaghetti sometimes. I always loved it and the obvious layers of grease on top.

At my rural southern Virginia school, the lady that was in charge of the lunches for all three elementary schools, one middle and one high school had several recipes for homemade bread that were staples on our menu - delicious rolls/buns for hamburgers, hot dogs and most other meals, Italian bread for spaghetti days, and the weekly treat of her yummy homemade cinnamon rolls.

I don't know if it's just the province of Canada I live in: but we really didn't have cafeterias. We had food you could buy: but not like on the movies.

That being said: High School French Fries were Nasty...but I craved them :p