Popcorn Chicken + Sauerkraut + Relish

Rating: 6/10

Popcorn chicken topped with sauerkraut and relish. Why not? I was debating between the chicken and a hotdog with the works before I realized the only reason I wanted hotdog was for the toppings, so best of both worlds here. The juicy-stringy, sour and sweet sauerkraut plus relish combo added an extra pow of flavor to the salty, crunchy, chewy chicken. The strength of taste was a bit overwhelming without something creamy to lighten it like maybe mashed potatoes or alfredo pasta. But it was interesting and I don't mind this outcome much. I'll take it over hotdog any day.

Fennel Arugula Salad + Rice Krispies Treat

Rating: 8/10

Fennel arugula salad eaten with Rice Krispies Treat. I haven't had Rice Krispies in maybe a decade now. But somehow it found itself on my counter top when I was stir frying the fennel, so I figure why not combine. The sweet, chewy, crunchy treat just adds another layer to the already tasteful, leafy salad. Taste buds a-tingle!

French Toast + Udon Noodles

Rating: 8/10

French toast eaten with udon noodle bowl. So many things go well with udon it's hard to pick. But the sweet, crunchy toast offers a lovely counterbalance to the salty, slippery soft noodles and soup. Perfect example of two things that are good separately also being good together. Not always the case. So cheers to this!

Mint Chocolate + Spicy Crab Risotto

Rating: 9/10

Dark chocolate mint pieces eaten with some spicy crab risotto. This turned out unexpectedly good. And I don't even like mint. Just thought what the heck it was in front of me so I might as well combine it with other foods. Such a pleasant surprise that the sweet, chocolatey mint chunks actually worked with the salty, spicy, soft rice dish. In a way, the spicy and minty sort of canceled each other out yet still leaving some semblance of the two characteristics in my mouth. It was a bit surreal and kind of awesome. Yay another one of those happy accidents in life. More please! And the chocolates are shaped like little Santas, which adds to the creepy-cool factor depending on which end of the spectrum you fall.

Cinnabon Pancakes + Sandwich Melt + Potato Soup

Rating: 9/10

What's a road trip without a stop at IHOP? The Cinn-A-Stack pancakes, Pot Roast Melt sandwich, and Potato Bacon soup eaten together is such a killer trifecta. Ah, the beauty of breakfast and lunch for dinner. Soup and sandwich is a pretty common combo, but add in some Cinnabon-style pancakes and you got a party in your mouth. The sweet, soft, Cinnabon-filled pancakes. The savory, chewy, toasted sandwich melt. The hot, creamy, chunky soup. There is no separation when eating the three, they are one.

Nutrition:

• 2 IHOP Cinn-A-Stack Pancakes =  445 Calories, 29g sugar, 6g fiber
• 1/2 IHOP Pot Roast Melt Sandwich = 530 Calories, 1580mg Sodium, 3g fiber
• bowl of IHOP Loaded Potato and Bacon Soup = 430 Calories, 1310mg Sodium, 1g fiber

Total Calories = 1,405
Rich meal but yum. And filling.

Feta Cheese + Naan Bread + Babaganush

Rating: 8/10

Naan bread dipped in babaganush eaten with feta cheese. I like flavorful cheese because otherwise you're just eating a tasteless block of goo. I'm no fan of cheese texture-wise unless it's melted. The salty, sour cheese goes so well with the salty, chewy naan and savory, garlicky creamy babaganush. Not as good as naan and babaganush with rotisserie chicken but worth the re-eat.

Buffalo Chicken Roller + Half Baked Ice Cream

Rating: 7.5/10

This was like a midnight snack except eaten at about 10 PM and as dinner. Result of a late night trip to 7-Eleven in a strange town for toilet paper that turned out rather unnecessary. I totally thought the rollers were some kind of taquito-like wrap, but no just fried chicken in stick form. Anyway, the strongly salty, spicy, chewy, crispy chicken was nicely complimented by the lighter touch of the sweet, creamy, chunky ice cream. Worth a nighttime redo.

Nutrition:

• 7-Eleven Buffalo Chicken Roller = 190 Calories, 880mg Sodium, 1g fiber, 10% of daily Calcium
• 1/4 Ben & Jerry's Half Baked ice cream = 270 Calories, 27g sugar, 10% of daily Calcium, 10% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 460
Not great but fairly harmless.

Beef Chili + Chocolate Eclair

Rating: 8/10

Beef chili eaten with chocolate eclair. I was debating between the eclair or a red velvet cupcake, but the eclair won out. I figure the light creamy custard and crunchy-chewy shell goes better than the heavy cream and cake taste/texture with the already heavy chili with its hot, savory, spicy, chunky taste/texture. Good call on my part. The chili could be better but this combo is killer.
(eaten @ Sculpture Garden Restaurant, Washington DC)

Scrambled Eggs + Ice Cream

Rating: 9/10

Scrambled eggs chock-full of turkey plus basil and cumin seasoning eaten with Haagen-Dazs Blueberry Crumble ice cream. I was going for ham and eggs scrambled but ran out of ham, so turkey slices to the rescue. Probably healthier anyway. The hot, moist, savory, salty, cumin tasting eggs wonderfully compliments its opposite in the ice cream's cold, chunky, creamy, sweet and sour range. I feel good about the world after eating this. I mean, with a start like this the rest of the day can do what it wants to me. I'm set.

Oreo Gelato + Bread Pudding

Rating: 10/10

Oreo gelato over freshly baked and glazed chocolate-caramel bread pudding. The combo's probably been done before since it's basically the same idea as a hot fudge brownie sundae. But so much better. The cold, creamy, sweet ice cream with the warmth of the sweet, chewy, moist cakey-pudding texture is just perfection. Any time these two amazing things can be put together, never not choose this option! Neither would meet its full potential without the other.
(eaten @ Phillips Flagship, Washington DC)

Rugelachs + Noodle

Rating: 7/10

Chocolate and raspberry walnut rugelachs eaten with fried-then-stirred garlic scallion noodles. I normally don't combine anything with rugelachs but milk, lest its deliciousness be polluted. But I was craving something sweet as I was eating the noodles and rugelachs were the only thing sweet I was in the mood for, so comes the sacrifice. The noodles' combined savory, garlicky, oil-glazed flavor and slippery texture totally overpowers the rugelach's sweet, creamy chewiness. Still good, but what a waste. Maybe some kind of fruit or ice cream would've sufficed with the noodles. The rugelach stands alone.

Fried Dumplings + Babaganush

Rating: 5/10

Had some stale pork fried dumplings lying around. Thought I'd try to dress it up a bit with babaganush. This turned out surprisingly bland. It wasn't terrible but certainly not worth repeating. The light savory of the dumplings and the savory, garlicky babaganush sort of cancelled each other out. The creamy vs. crispy-chewy difference between the two doesn't even register. Blah.

Boiled Peanuts + Kiwi

 







Rating: 6.5/10

Salt boiled peanuts eaten with fresh kiwi slices. Only kind of peanuts I like is the salty, moist boiled kind that's chewy rather than crunchy. This balanced well with the sweet and sour juicy kiwi, though it would've been better if the kiwi was in the less sour and more sweet dimension. As it was, comme ci comme ça.

Vodka Sauce + Feta Cheese + Naan Bread + Avocado

 



















Rating: 5.5/10

A lazy homemade pizza with random ingredients I found in the kitchen. First we have the kick of creamy, tomatoey vodka sauce poured over the chewy fluff of naan bread. Then cover it with chunky, salty-sour feta cheese crumbles and bake it in a toaster oven before topping it with the buttery, green lightness of sliced avocado. This turned out really salty, which I didn't particularly expect. But I guess basically everything combined here is salt-based and when you put them together it all adds. The avocado did nothing to calm the strength of  taste here. While not as much variety in flavor as I would prefer, still a somewhat pleasant experience. May work better with mozzarella and arugula instead of feta and avocado.

Nutrition:

• 1/5 Bertolli Vodka Sauce = 150 Calories, 730mg Sodium, 2g fiber, 15% of daily Vitamin A
• scoop of President Feta Crumbled = 70 Calories, 260mg Sodium, 10% of daily Calcium
• Reya Tandoor Baked Naan = 280 Calories, 740mg Sodium, 2g fiber, 16'% of daily Iron
• avocado = 240 Calories, 10g fiber, 25% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 740
Kept me full for the rest of the night. Wow looking at the Sodium count, that's almost a whole day's worth. But hey also got over half a day's worth of fiber too. Win some, lose some. Plus some Vitamin C & A, Calcium and Iron.

Hot Apple Cider + Tiramisu Ice Cream

Rating: 7/10

It's an apple cider float! With Ben & Jerry's Tiramisu! Looks awful but tastes pretty great. The hot, sweet and sour of the cider blends surprisingly well with the cold, creamy ice cream. It's like drinking chunks of frozen tundra floating in a boiling river Styx. The tongue is mesmerized. Though the texture and flavor of it does tend to be uneven as the ice cream melts and the cider cools. The tiramisu pieces dissolving in cider is actually tastier than I expected.

Nutrition:

• cup of Zeigler's Apple Cider = 120 Calories, 30g sugar
• Ben & Jerry's Volun-Tiramisu mini carton = 200 Calories, 19g sugar, 10% of daily Calcium

Total Calories = 320
Eh nothing worth mentioning here, except maybe I thought there would be some dietary fiber in apple cider.

Rotisserie Chicken + Babaganush + Naan Bread

Rating: 10/10

Creamy, garlicy eggplant babaganush and savory seasoned rotisserie chicken wrapped in hot-off-the-toaster-oven fluffy, chewy naan bread. It's basically the lazy man's chicken gyro. The babaganush is the glue that holds it all together and ramps up the flavor. This is like my favorite meal concoction right now and the last two meals I've had. Add in some fennel and/or arugula, this may be unstoppable.

Nutrition:

• 1/6 Kirkland Signature Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken = 140 Calories, 460mg Sodium
• 2 large scoops of Golden Taste Eggplant Babaganush Dip = 160 Calories, 280mg Sodium, 2g fiber
• Reya Tandoor Baked Naan = 280 Calories, 740mg Sodium, 2g fiber, 16'% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 580
Wow that's a lot of Sodium. No wonder I drank like 3 bottles of water afterwards.

Roti Pancake + Arugula + Cookie Butter

Rating: 9.5/10

Fresh arugula wrapped in fried roti pancakes dipped in cookie butter. Tried this with nutella too, cookie butter works better. The sharp arugula flavor and leafy texture rocks with the hot, chewy savoriness of onion roti. Add the subtle creamy, sweet goodness of cookie butter and we have liftoff.

Madeleines + Nutella

Rating: 10/10

Madeleine cookies dipped in nutella. I don't even remember when I first thought of combining these two amazing little European delights, but the result is orgasmic. The taste of nutella is so overpowering it goes best with light tasting things. Otherwise it just masks whatever else you eat it with, which is fine if you just want to taste the nutella. And why not right, nutella is amazing in its own right. But These buttery sweet and moist cookies that are like mini cakes but with a slight shell outside are just the right match for nutella's shot of creamy chocolate hazelnut deliciousness. Perfect with a glass of milk, too.

Nutrition:

• 3 spoonfuls of Ferrero Nutella = 300 Calories,1.5g fiber, 32g sugar
• 3 Superior Cake Products Madeleines = 330 Calories, 21g sugar, 12% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 630
Pretty rich snack but totally worth it. If I was going to waste Calories on anything, this would be it. And this is relatively filling, kept me full for awhile.

Cookie Butter + Pumpkin Butter + Half-baked Roll

Rating: 10/10

It's like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but better. Cookie butter has the consistency of peanut butter and pumpkin butter the consistency of jam, except it also tastes like eating graham crackers and pumpkin pie at the same time. Yummers! And half-baked ciabatta rolls beat regular bread any day of the week. I'm no fan of crust. Aww breakfast today was all Trader Joe's. Quick and easy, ready to run! The beauty is in the simplicity.

Nutrition:

• 2 spoonfuls of Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter = 180 Calories, 10g sugar
• 2 spoonfuls of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter = 80 Calories, 18g sugar, 20% of daily Vitamin A
• Trader Joe's Half Baked Idea French Roll = 130 Calories, 300mg Sodium, 10% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 390
Less sugar than I expected. Plus some Vitamin A and Iron. Nutrition-wise not bad, not great.

Red Velvet Ice Cream + Ranch Soy Chips

Rating: 8/10

Chips dipped in ice cream. Basically, a classic midnight snack here. I have no idea how these oven-baked soy chips got on my kitchen table but they actually go pretty well with Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake. The crunchy, airy texture with the kick of sour cream and onion flavor from the chips kind of rocks with the sweet, creamy, cakey mix of the ice cream. Thumbs up. Worth sneaking out of bed and lighting the kitchen with the refrigerator door for.

Cream Puffs + Paella

Rating: 7.5/10

Mini cream puffs eaten with meat & veggie paella. Dessert with entree is the way to go. You got your sweet, creamy, and chewy from cream puff. Plus your salty, savory, spicy and also chewy from the paella. One gentle and light, the other a jolt of flavor. If only the cream puffs were custard-filled I would be in my happy food place. Eh, minor flaw. Still good. Day fully started.

Fennel Arugula + Breaded Chicken + Cherry Garcia

Rating: 10/10

Salad, dessert, and entree all in one. This is what a complete meal is all about. Really, why wait when you can combine for the maximum taste trip? Breaded chicken seasoned with cumin and Italian herbs goes perfectly well eaten with the fennel arugula salad as it does covered in Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. The salty, savory, herby kick of the chicken is the center point of the meal with the ice cream and salad as alternating sides. I have to say stir fried fennel and raw arugula make the best salad combo: the anise crunch of the fennel and the punch of whatever it is you call the taste of arugula. I'd be happy to eat it just on its own. Same with the ice cream. But the chicken is naked without its sides.

Chocolate Graham Cracker + Shanghai Risotto

Rating: 8/10

Chocolate-covered graham eaten with Shanghai-style Chinese Risotto with veggies and meat. I love all things graham cracker with its sweet, grahamy crackerness, and to cover it in chocolate, awesome (just one marshmallow and camp fire away from s'mores). Plus the soft, salty, savory deletion of Shanghai cuisine. So much delight in my mouth for this salty-sweet combo. And it's relatively healthy, too.

In-N-Out Cheeseburger + Thai Iced Tea

Rating: 9/10

I heart In-N-Out burgers, it was love at first bite. Why eat it with Thai iced tea? Why not? I'd eat it with anything. And I heart Thai iced tea too, order it every time it's on any menu. Besides, the sweet, chalky smoothness of the iced tea flows nicely with the chewy, toasty, savory burger. Just can't go wrong with these two. Good every time. 

In-N-Out Animal Fries + Wendy's Frosty

Rating: 9/10

Can't beat In-N-Out when you do fast food, and I'd say Wendy's totally runner-up. The awesomeness of In-N-Out animal fries dipped in Wendy's chocolate frosty is beyond. Some would say that the animal fries with all it's salty, sour, savory, creamy, chewy, and crispy taste combos stand alone, but I say have it join forces with the frosty's sweet, frozen, creamy goodness and they're unstoppable.

Asiago Cheese + Udon Noodle Bowl

Rating: 8.5/10

I am all about hearty breakfasts, can't start my day without it. And this one started out amazingly. Asiago cheese eaten with Japanese-style udon noodles in a soup of garlic, egg, tomato, and salt fried in corn oil then cooked in chicken broth. The salty and creamy from the cheese blended so nicely with the chewy noodles and egg, the tart and juicy tomato, and the salty, savory flow of the soup. Mouth happy, stomach full, mission accomplished.

Meatballs with Polenta + Pineapple

Rating: 6.5/10

Meatballs and polenta in tomato sauce eaten with slices of pineapple. I'm not a fan of combining fruits with hot dishes but I just thought I'd try it since I had both on hand. Not a bad combo, not great though. The sour, crisp and juiciness of the pineapple sort of distracted from the meatball/polenta's soft texture and savoriness, but the sweetness complemented it well. Maybe some kind of dessert like alfajores or baklava would mix better with the meatballs/polenta. Still, a worthy pairing.

Spicy Fried Chicken + Pinkberry Hazelnut

Rating: 8/10

Deep fried chicken wings lined with hot sauce dipped in Pinkberry chocolate hazelnut frozen yogurt with toppings. Hitting all the taste receptors with this one. Not only do we have the hot and cold temperature combo of fried with frozen but also salty, spicy, savory, crispy, and chewy from the wings plus sweet, sour, juicy, and whatever awesome texture frozen yogurt is from the yogurt/toppings. Yes, my mouth feels sufficiently stimulated. Me likey!

Pierogies + Fried Pickles + Chipotle Dip

 
Rating: 7/10

Courtesy of food trucks, potato pierogies cooked with onions and deep fried pickles, both dipped in chipotle sauce. Mouth full of pow from both the fried pickles' zing of salty and sour as well as the chipotle dip's jab of spicy and savory. But somewhat calmed by the pierogies' mild savoriness. As for texture, you've got your crispy and juicy from the pickles, creamy from the dip, and chewy from the pierogies. I'd say that's a pretty tough combo to beat (if I liked pickles just a smidge more this would be so perfect). Taste buds still tingly and ready for battle. Arg, I feel like a Polish pirate right now. 

Oranges + Candied Pecans

Rating: 7/10

Whole oranges eaten with candied pecans. The coming together of the sweet, slightly sour, and juicy from the orange plus the salty, sweet, and crunchy from the pecan. Hitting most of the taste buds, with sweetness dominating. Definitely warrants a redo. 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies + Cherry Yogurt

Rating: 7/10

Oatmeal raisin cookies dipped in cherry yogurt. Not a terribly inspired combination this morning/noon, but I was feeling lazy on my day off and that's all I could find in the kitchen that was ready to eat without preparation. So here you have sweet, savory, and chewy from the cookies together with sweet, sour, and creamy from the yogurt. With a shot of cherry. Yum.