Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Peanut Sauce & Veggies

Yet another reason to keep a well-stocked pantry: the ability to make peanut sauce at a moment's notice.


This sauce has a similar flavor profile to Pad Thai: salty, sweet, sour, and spicy. All its components are long-keeping, so once you buy them, you'll have them until you run out, and can make this easy peanut sauce again and again. I pour it over soba noodles, tofu, use it as a base for stir-frying veggies - it's really versatile.


It tastes just right on shrimp, and it's rich enough that a light meal of just shrimp and an Asian-inspired veggie mix is completely satisfying - especially on a sweltering summer night.


INGREDIENTS

about 1 lb. raw peeled and deveined shrimp
1 red onion, in large chunks
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1 bunch fresh bok choy, cut into pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, in chunks
big handful sugar snap peas
handful fresh cilantro, chopped
sesame oil
salt and pepper

FOR PEANUT SAUCE:
big scoop natural peanut butter
about 1/3 cup tamari or regular soy sauce
squeeze of Sriracha
a few tablespoons brown sugar
several dashes rice wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
juice of one lime
1-2 T. sesame oil


DIRECTIONS

STEP 1:

Whisk together all the peanut sauce ingredients and set aside. Create the skewers: if you're cooking them on an outdoor gas or charcoal grill, soak the skewers first for about 30 minutes. If you're cooking them on a grill pan, no need to pre-soak. Place shrimp, some onion, and grape tomatoes on the skewers, alternating each ingredient.

STEP 2:

Preheat a grill pan over medium high heat. Also preheat a pan for the veggie saute. When the pan for the veggies saute is hot, add some sesame oil, then add the veggies, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat until veggies are crisp-tender.

STEP 3:

Cook the skewers on the grill pan, spooning or brushing the peanut sauce onto them. Flip each skewer and cook on the other side until the shrimp are cooked through. Serve and enjoy!


Hope you're having a delicious, relaxing summer! More soon...

Negra Modelo Chicken & Fiesta Ensalada

I just returned from spending a fantastic week in Arlington with my better half. We did a little cooking, a good bit of eating out, and not a whole lot that was more stressful than that.

Summer always makes me crave lime-drenched Mexican food, and since Ross has a grill - and an entire backyard (which, to my Chicago-weary eyes might as well have been the Garden of Eden) - I wanted to make juicy grilled chicken.


He also lives within walking distance of a great, inexpensive Mexican grocery store, which made picking up the ingredients ridiculously affordable - 10 limes for $1, for instance (in Chicago, they are 2 for $1). They had some interesting meats - chicken feet, beef tongue, various offal - but I stuck with a good, reliable cut of chicken. I really like to grill meat on the bone because I think it stays more moist and has more flavor, but of course you could use boneless, skinless chicken breast or whatever you want. This marinade would be good for any meat - steak, pork, even a good sturdy fish like swordfish or salmon.

I know that the long list of ingredients makes it look complicated, and I admit I got a little excited at the bodega, but almost every component of the meal uses the same basic ingredients. The salad could probably have been made a bit simpler, but what can I say - it was summer, I was blissfully enjoying my time in DC, I had a Negro Modelo in hand - I'm not to be blamed for the cornucopia of veggies. In short, if you want to try this at home, feel free to use less ingredients, but whatever you do, don't even turn on the grill without a delicious, cold beer in your hand.

NEGRA MODELO CHICKEN & FIESTA ENSALADA

INGREDIENTS

Marinade:

1 bottle Negra Modelo or other dark Mexican beer
juice of 2 limes
2 T. cumin
2 T. ground oregano (if you can't find ground, use regular dried)
a couple shakes hot ground chili (I used ground chile de arbol; use cayenne or whatever you have. Or just sub in hot sauce.)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

For the chicken:

4 chicken legs, bone-in, skin removed (you could use any cut you want, boneless or bone-in)
3 T. butter, melted
several good hearty shakes of your favorite hot sauce (I used Louisiana hot sauce)
juice of one lime
shake of cumin
shake of oregano

Sauce for the chicken:

1/2 c. sour cream
a few shakes of hot sauce
juice of 1/2 a lime
fresh chopped cilantro
pinch of cumin
regular red salsa, whatever kind you have

For the Fiesta Ensalada:

2 T. olive oil
2 avocados, chunked
1 pt. cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
3 ears of corn, boiled, kernels cut off (or use 1 cup thawed frozen kernels)
1 can black beans, drained and well-rinsed
1 smallish zucchini, quartered then cut into chunks
1 sweet yellow onion, cut into chunks
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
crumbled queso fresco (or you could use feta or ricotta salata)
juice of 2 limes
2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper
pinch of hot chile powder
pinch of cumin
pinch of oregano
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped roughly



STEP ONE:

Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade. Place the raw chicken in the marinade in a large zip-top bag or an airtight plastic container. Marinate for 30 minutes, or however long you want. When you're ready to grill the chicken, discard the marinade.

STEP TWO:

Get the grill ready. While it's heating, mix together the rest of the ingredients under "for the chicken" in a small bowl. While the chicken is grilling, brush or spoon it over the chicken on both sides. Turn the chicken when it has dark, crusty grill marks on the underside, and cook until cooked through.



STEP THREE:

In a small skillet, heat the olive oil. Cook the onion, seasoning with salt and pepper, until it is getting dark around the edges and soft all over. Add the zucchini and cook until it begins to color and is tender. Assemble all the vegetable ingredients (including the cooked onion and zucchini) and the cheese in a large bowl for the salad. In a small bowl, mix the lime juice, olive oil, and the rest of the seasonings. Whisk together, then pour over the vegetables and toss gently to combine, careful to not break up the avocado chunks.

STEP FOUR:

Mix together all the ingredients for the sauce for the chicken EXCEPT for the salsa. Spread a couple big spoonfuls of the Ensalada on each of four plates. Place a chicken leg on top of each one, and top with the sour cream sauce and a little of the salsa. Garnish with lime wedges or cilantro sprigs if desired. Serve with margaritas or Mexican beers. Enjoy!



The chicken came out moist and delicious - I was worried it might be too spicy, but it was perfect. The salad was also delicious, although Cameron (Ross' ex-roommate and dinner guest) pointed out that a little more lime juice might've done it good. (I agree.) Ross described it as a "fiesta of flavors parading through his mouth," and a "pinata of deliciousness radiating bandoliers of Mexicanness." I couldn't have said it better myself.


Thanks for reading! More soon...

The Night of Grilled Pizza

Isn't it great when something turns out better than you expected?


I fully expected that my first time grilling pizza would culminate in an utter disaster: singed eyebrows, charred dough, and undercooked toppings. Shockingly, I grilled 8 pizzas (with the indispensable help of my lovely sous chef, Kara), and each one of them was delicious in their own way.

I won't belabor this post, since the pictures really say it all (thanks to fab photog Josh), and there are many, many comments to sift through, but I will say that The Night of Grilled Pizza was most definitely one of the most successful, delicious, and all-around fun blogs to date! I hope it will become a summer tradition for some of you as well.

GRILLED PIZZA

INGREDIENTS

2 batches of fresh pizza dough, cut into 8 sections
olive oil for brushing
flour for rolling

Assorted sauces and toppings:

marinara (recipe follows)
pesto (recipe follows)
roasted red peppers
sauteed mushrooms
caramelized onions
kalamata olives
dried figs (sounds weird, but with chevre, is amazing)
ricotta cheese
chevre
fresh mozzarella
fresh baby spinach
grape tomatoes
parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated



EQUIPMENT

a grill (we used a charcoal grill)
ample surface area - we brought out two small tables, then had another one for the wine and glasses
rolling pin
pizza slicer
grill tongs
large spatula with a long handle
sharp grill skewers or a sharp paring knife to poke holes in the dough bubbles
brush (for the olive oil)
large tray (for setting grilled dough on, and used as a surface on which to top the pizzas)
cutting boards


DIRECTIONS & TIPS:

- Remember that there is no heat source above the pizzas, so all your toppings should be chosen with that in mind; things like onions, mushrooms, and the like, which aren't very good on a pizza when they're raw, should be pre-cooked - by caramelizing, sauteeing, and the like. Things like fresh baby spinach and tomatoes are fine raw, although you could pre-cook them if you wanted. We used only vegetarian toppings, although you of course have an assortment of meats, as long as they were all pre-cooked: crumbled bacon, Italian sausage, chopped chicken, etc.



- You need to grill one side of the pizza first (the side which will eventually have the toppings on it). Our method took tow people: Kara stood by the grill, tray ready, while I grilled two pizza dough rounds on the grill. When they were browning and had nice grill marks and bubbled up on the raw side (the side facing up), I poked holes in the bubbles with skewers and slid them off the grill with a spatula and onto Kara's tray.



We then turned them over, so they were grilled-side up, and brushed them with olive oil before we topped them (except when we topped them with pesto - they don't need any more oil than is already in the pesto). Then we returned them to the grill (topped side up, raw dough side down, obviously), and closed the lid, checking on them every few minutes.



Once they were nice and crispy on the bottom, and the toppings were heated, we put them back on the tray, then transferred them to a side table where we cut and served them. So basically, we had 2 pizzas at a time, adding up to 8 pizzas over the course of about an hour and a half. This was a good method.

- We found that most delicious combinations of toppings were the simplest: fig and chevre; pesto and ricotta. When you start to add too many toppings, not only can the crust become too weighted to be light and crisp, it can also get soggy; also, too many toppings tend to cause competing flavors.


- I think the key to having really delicious, simple pizzas, is the quality of the toppings. For instance, rather than buy pre-made pesto and marinara, I made my own (not as hard as it sounds). Check out the recipes below. Besides that, just make sure you buy good cheese (since cheese is integral to a great pizza), and fresh toppings. It's as simple as that. NOTE: we could only find SunMaid dried figs, which, out of the package, are crusted with sugar and much too sweet. I just soaked them in a warm water bath for about 10 minutes, then drained and dried them. They are much better that way.

QUICK MARINARA RECIPE:

drizzle olive oil
3 garlic cloves, mashed but kept whole
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2-3 T. balsamic vinegar
splash of wine (white or red is fine)
fresh chopped parsley
dried Italian herbs (oregano, basil, whatever you have)
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes

Heat the olive oil in a pot. Cook the garlic cloves for a few minutes in the oil, until fragrant (you will fish them out later). Pour in the rest of the ingredients and cook over medium-high heat until the sauce is reduced/thickened. Fish out the whole garlic cloves and discard.



BY-HAND PESTO RECIPE:

1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
lots of fresh basil, finely chopped
3/4 c. nuts (I used walnuts, but pine nuts are traditional)
big handful grated parmesan cheese
a few garlic cloves, finely minced
glug olive oil
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients. The mixture, when left sitting, will have a tendency to separate, so just stir it before putting it on the pizza. You could of course use a blender or food processor, but I like the by-hand method; I think it tastes fresher, and I like it a little chunkier.



I didn't realize until I was rolling out the dough, with Adam watching intently over my shoulder, that he would be an especially tough judge of my abilities. Why? Because his family owns and runs a pizza joint in the Chicago suburbs! Adam has been lobbying to come over for a blog for forever, and of course it would be my luck that I chose to cook the one thing he probably knows best. Of course, we had a pizza-throwing contest (he was the clear winner). I was, however, successful at getting flour on myself from head to toe.




THE FINAL EIGHT (topping combinations), plus JUDGES' COMMENTS:

Pesto/ricotta/parmesan (2) (I made it a second time because it was so popular the first time)

"This is everything I love about the earth on pizza dough." - Kara

"NIce, thin crust that's not too crispy - it still has a nice chew to it." - Kara and Josh

"It's like if dessert had salt in it. But my slice had a bite taken out, so that was annoying." - Jess

Marinara/spinach/mozzarella/tomato

"A little plain." - Jess

"To be able to anticipate the simplicity of this is great." - Sarah

Olive oil/fig/goat cheese/parmesan

"Ooh, this is a weird one...what's going on here?" [Me: "Fig and goat cheese."] "I did not expect to like the fig one, but it's good." - Adam

"Rustic. Authentic." - Sarah

"This is surprisingly good." - Josh


Marinara/mozzarella/olives/mushrooms

"Loved it, but maybe the olives and mushrooms were competing." - Sarah

"I think you should lose the olives." - Kara

"Love the spice! Dig it!" - Jess

"I continue to not like olives." - Adam

Marinara/Pesto/Caramelized onions/ricotta

"The taste of the marinara and the pesto slightly competes. I enjoy them both so much on their own, I didn't need the combo." - Kara

"Loved it. Perfectly rich." - Jess

"I loved it because of the onions." - Sarah

"I really liked the mix. Loved the onions. Anything with goat cheese, though, has me sold." - Shawn


Marinara/roasted red peppers/mushrooms/mozzarella

"Good combo. I love soft cheese." - Sarah

"Favorite so far, although something about it made the crust soggy." - Jess

"It was just 'eh' to me." - Kara

Olive oil/goat cheese/fig/carmelized onion/parmesan

"Decadent." - Sarah [NOTE: my favorite comment of the night.]

"Oh, I thought it was really good. I'm trying to think of something cool to say...mmmmmmm." - Kara

"I still like the original fig one better. I love the simplicity of the first one. It wasn't even like pizza. Just, whatever the hell that was, I liked it." - Adam

"I liked it." - Josh

"The perfect combination of sweet and savory." - Jess (?)

GENERAL COMMENTS:

"I've been reading about these dinners forever, and it exceeded my expectations." - Adam

About Shawn's delicious salad:

"Pleasantly surprised." - Adam

"Coming from someone who doesn't eat salad, I loved it. When I first saw the onions in there I was skeptical, but I ate it all and it was soooo good." - The Fearless Cook

"Refreshing and light." - Kara and Sarah

"This entire night has opened my eyes to a whole new world of culinary experiences which I never knew existed....which basically means figs and grapes." - Adam

Thanks to Jess, who recorded all this with aplomb, and also looked totes adorbs in her tiara:



My vote on my dish(es): 9 stars. I'm giving myself extra credit for A.) fearlessness, and B.) not completely screwing up the whole process. The pizzas were all delicious in their own way, and I'm really glad I decided to try grilling pizzas in the first place! Who'd a thunk?

Thanks so much to photog/grillmaster Josh, court reporter Jess, pizza expert Adam, salad creator extrordinaire Shawn, brave out of town guest Sarah, amazing sous chef Kara, and to everyone for reading! More soon...

Herbed Chicken & Grilled Romaine with Lemon Sauce

Some people will grill anything. And by some people, I mean men.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. There's nothing like the flavor of those perfectly spaced, charred black lines on a piece of meat. But on lettuce...who knew it could be so amazing?!


I wanted to use up the romaine I had bought for my Green Goddess salad dressing post, and I'd been wanting to try grilling it for some time (something I saw awhile back on the Food Network). Despite my distaste for salads, I actually love lettuce. Strange, given it's not all that flavorful, but there are much worse things to nibble on, right?

I wanted to make this meal with tilapia, but Trader Joe's (and this is its one downfall) only stocks salmon, most of which is already seasoned (I HATE buying pre-seasoned meat - it's like cheating on a test in my opinion). So I settled on chicken - always a safe bet.

I had to change several of my plans for this dish; I wanted to have the whole grilled chicken breast on top of the lettuce, but I got impatient waiting for it to grill that I just sliced it up and tossed it in with the tomatoes and sauce. I think that actually improved it, since the chicken sort of soaked up the lemony sauce as it finished cooking, but it didn't turn out as pretty as I would've liked.

HERBED CHICKEN & GRILLED ROMAINE WITH LEMON & TOMATOES

INGREDIENTS

1 small chicken breast, fresh
1 romaine heart, halved lengthwise
1 c. grape tomatoes, whole
2 slices prosciutto, rolled up and sliced
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper
all-purpose salt-free seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
more olive oil for brushing on the grill pan
chopped fresh parsley

STEP ONE:

Heat a grill pan over medium heat and brush with olive oil. Season the chicken on both sides with salt, pepper, and all-purpose seasoning. Grill on both sides until almost cooked through (still a little pink in the middle). Set aside.


STEP TWO:

Wipe out the grill pan and re-brush with oil. Grill the romaine, seasoning on both sides with salt and pepper, until lightly brown and caramelized on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Set aside and keep warm.


STEP THREE:

In a skillet, saute the prosciutto until lightly browned. Remove from pan. Heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Saute the garlic and shallots for about a minute. Add the lemon juice and the tomatoes. Slice the chicken breast and return it, with any stray juices, back into the pan. Add the parsley and a little salt and pepper, and saute until chicken is cooked and tomatoes are hot. Serve alongside the lettuce. Enjoy!



The lettuce takes on such a delicious, almost sweet flavor when it's grilled, and the lemon-butter sauce was the perfect accent to the chicken and tomatoes. Next time, I'd leave out the prosciutto, since I don't feel like it really added anything. And I think it actually tastes better uncooked (well, it's already cooked, so it doesn't need anything further to be perfect).

This was a fresh, Spring-y meal that came together quickly and was surprisingly tasty. Definitely give grilled romaine a try if you're curious - it's delish!

Thanks for reading! More soon.

King Corn

It all started Sunday at noon, with this text to my friend Stef:

Im in over my head with this bbq. Can u come over around 3?


Actually, it all started last Fall, when I saw the trailer for the documentary King Corn. Two young filmmakers quit their jobs in Boston and move to Iowa for a year to plant, grow, and harvest a single acre of corn to find out how we as a species are now subsisting almost entirely on this one crop.


I knew imediately that I wanted to see it, but time got away from me, and I never saw it on the big screen.

Cut to April, 2008. I read the book The Omnivore's Dilemma, and the whole first third of the book goes into incredible detail about how virtually everything we put into our bodies is somehow derived from corn.

It seemed like this particular area of interest was trying to get my attention. So I set out to document a little experiment of my own: Create an entire Spring BBQ menu, using ONLY ingredients that contain no trace of corn, and serve it while we have a screening of the documentary.

Adam drizzles the finishing touches of EVOO on his hummus.


Lindsay gets the party started.


The corn-free menu turned out to be much, much harder than it sounds. When you consider that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is in about 99% of processed food (things like buns and condiments included), not to mention that almost all meat we buy in America was fed on a diet of corn, grocery shopping for this endeavor was no small feat.

FEARLESS FACTOR: A billion. When you take into account the stringent menu guidelines, and the fact that my guest list started at 10 and grew like corn in June into about 20, it's easy to see why I sent Stef the frantic text (special thanks to her, my hard-working sous-chef).


I wanted to grill mini-burgers (sliders being a popular Chicago bar treat), so I headed to Whole Foods to find some grass-fed beef. Here's a re-creation of my conversation with the butcher:

ME: Hi, I'm trying to do this themed BBQ where everything has to be, er--anyway, do you have any grass-fed beef?

HIM: Actually, no, we don't have any.

ME: [Crestfallen] Oh.

HIM: But our bison is grass-fed.

ME: I'll take 4 pounds.




I also planned out a pasta salad and from-scratch crockpot baked beans, and Adam brought his world-famous hummus, which got demolished in literally under 5 minutes. (Special thanks, Adam, and also to Lindsay, who brought the most amazing Lemon Bars--note to self, Lemon Bars are not an acceptable breakfast food).


Making the baked beans was fully a two-day process: soaking the beans overnight, then letting them simmer all day in the crockpot takes some time. I also had to be careful to buy only organic ketchup, since most ketchup is packed with high-fructose corn syrup. (I'd like to take a moment to address any of you who are caught up in the ongoing Heinz vs. Hunt's ketchup debate. Organic ketchup tastes about 1000% better than either of those brands, so consider this my conscientitious objection to the condiment war.) I would've also liked to add some pork, but finding pork that hasn't been grain-fed (wild pigs, I found out, eat acorns) is impossible. So the beans became vegetarian.

The pasta salad was pretty easy to keep corn-free. Even the most processed pasta tends not to contain corn (but I bought organic just to be safe), and I added some veggies and goat cheese (admittedly, I cannot confirm that the goat who made our cheese was not fed corn, but I took some creative license).

I was careful to read the ingredient label on everything I bought, including the ciabatta rolls I used as hamburger buns. That's one great thing about living in a big city: Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are always there when you want to throw a party with a needlessly complicated menu.


Veggie Trays by Stef.


PASTA SALAD

2 12-oz. bags tri-colored veggie pasta (rotini or other noodle)
12 oz. log goat cheese
1 English cucumber
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved and seeded
2 c. arugula leaves
juice of 1 Meyer lemon
1/4 c. EVOO
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes to taste
2 T. chopped fresh dill
2 T. chopped fresh basil
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. mustard

Cut the cucumber in half, then slice it into thin half-moons. Halve and seed the tomatoes. Place in a bowl and add some salt. Let sit in the fridge for about an hour, until the salt has drawn the water out. Drain in a colander, and rinse. Shake dry. Boil the pasta. While it's cooking, in a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, salt and pepper, dill, basil, red pepper flakes, sugar, and mustard. Whisk in the EVOO slowly. Set aside. Drain the pasta, and pour it back in its cooking pot. Add the cucumbers, tomoatoes, and arugula. Working quickly so that the pasta stays warm, stir in the dressing mixture and crumble in the goat cheese, and stir until the goat cheese is melted and evenly coats the pasta (it will look like a creamy mayo-based pasta salad). Refrigerate until ready to serve.


Kelly and Adam!


BAKED BEANS

2 lbs. dried beans (I used 1 lb. small red beans and 1 lb. pinto beans, but navy beans are the ones most commonly used)
1 bottle organic ketchup
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. mustard
2 T. Worchestershire sauce
1 c. bean cooking liquid
salt and pepper

In a large pot, soak the beans in the fridge overnight with enough water to generously cover the beans. The next day, simmer the beans in the same water they soaked in for about 2 hours (do not salt the water), until they begin to get tender. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Place the beans in the crockpot. Pour in the rest of the ingredients and stir until well-mixed. Put the crockpot on low and cook for about 4 hours, then turn the crockpot on high and cook for 2 more hours, stirring occasionally. The last 30 minutes and while serving, leave the lid of the crockpot off so the beans thicken.

If I were the type of woman who used the word "Tablescape," I'd use that word now.



BISON MINI-BURGERS ON CIABATTA ROLLS (I've cut the recipe I made down to 1/4 of what I made, so this is based on 1 lb. of meat)

1 lb. ground bison (buffalo) meat
generous drizzle olive oil
1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
salt and pepper for grilling
sliced Cheddar cheese (optional)
6 bake-at-home Ciabatta rolls (or other bun)
Toppings like tomato, lettuce, ketchup, mayo, etc.

Get the charcoal grill ready about an hour before you want to start cooking. Add the olive oil and Worchestershire sauce to the meat and squish around until it's incorporated. Form into six mini-burgers. Salt and pepper both sides of each patty, and place on the grill. Cook about 3 minutes on each side, or until desired doneness. When you flip them, add the cheese to the top and let it melt while the other side cooks. Serve on the buns with desired toppings.



Portobello "burgers" for the veg-heads.


Always season your meat.



THEY CAME, THEY SAW, THEY GRILLED: THE SCREENING

The film was pretty good. It wasn't an all-out gross-fest like Fast Food Nation, but it was just as eye-opening. It got a little shaky when they showed the cow with a hole in its side (caused by acidosis, a condition cows get when they're fed an unnatural diet of--you guessed it--corn), making the contents of its stomach available for all to see (and scoop out). (Thank you, grass-fed bison farmers of the world!)

Had I actually bothered watching the film that I dragged all my friends into BEFORE the much-ballyhooed screening, I might have thought twice about planning an entire party around it. It wasn't boring, but it wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs, either (truth be told, at times, it was kind of a downer). It lacked the caustic voiceover acrobatics and contrived mega-drama of a Michael Moore film, but was shocking in its own right. I think that a lifelong aversion to soda (basically HFCS and food coloring in a can, and the best possible way to cause obesity and diabetes) is the most lasting effect it will have on my consumption. (Interestingly, rendering irrelevant the Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola debate--peace at last, and all thanks to corn!).


So, since there were far too many judges to record their comments here (although feel free, Corn-Free guests, to comment here on the blog), I'll have to make my own decisions:

THE FILM: 7 stars.

THE FOOD: 8 stars.


Self-congratulatory? Perhaps. But I'd argue that without a good solid menu, I'd have been hard-pressed to get 20 people into my living room to watch a documentary about farming.



I proved to myself (once again), that try as I might, I simply do not like arugula. I want to SO BADLY! It's so...elegant! And delicate! Peppery! Trendy! But alas, if I could do it over again, I'd leave it out of my otherwise delicious pasta salad. The beans came out great, to my utter shock, and despite seeming highly time-consuming, they're actually very low-maintenance. I might have to make this a signature BBQ dish. As for the burgers, again, I was shocked to find them quite tasty. I was worried all along that bison, being a very lean meat, would dry out on the grill, which is why I preemptively added the olive oil. It seemed to work, and with all the great things bison has going for it nutritionally, I could be a full-on bison believer (I am, at the very least, a grass-fed believer, thanks to the open-wound-cow-stomach-thing).

THE BOTTOM LINE: Fast Food Nation didn't succeed in turning me off to (scrumptious) Egg McMuffins forever. And only time will tell if I will take the time to seek out grass-fed bison (or beef, if it's available) in the long run. But what the film did (and what I suspect was its intention) was to further make us all aware that what you see isn't always what you get, and that it does take a higher level of consciousness to eat truly healthfully (not just for the health of our bodies but the health of the bodies that end up inside ours, as well).

I'll end with a quote from Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and one of the interviewees on the film):
"Everything we eat is no more and no less than the body of the world."

Ross proudly showcases the contraband.


Thanks to guests and blans alike. More soon.