Giant Pizza + Pirate's Booty

Rating: 6.5/10

Giant pizza topped with Pirate's Booty cheese puffs. What's an afternoon of TV and games with friends without a giant pizza and junk food? Because I can't stand plain-ness of any kind, I must impose toppings on plain pizza even of the giant variety. And what's at hand? A bag of Pirate's Booty. Not bad as toppings go. The crispy, airy, cheesy puffs add some bite to the chewy, salty, saucy pizza. Plain-ness gone! Mission accomplished.

Nutrition:

• slice of giant plain pizza = 720 Calories, 1319mg Sodium, 6g fiber, 70% of daily Calcium, 40% of daily Vitamin A, 30% of daily Iron, 20% of daily Vitamin C
• Pirate's Booty Aged White Cheddar Corn Puff (handful) = 130 Calories, 140mg Sodium

Total Calories = 850
Not the worst thing you can eat when it comes to junk/fast food. More than half the Sodium you need in a day, but decent supply of Calcium, Iron, and vitamins.

Pumpkin Seeds + Pasta

 Rating: 8.5/10

Tomato-based rotini pasta topped with roasted pumpkin seeds in shell. The pasta was kind of boring to eat by itself, and the seeds were right nearby, so I decided to sprinkle them all over like Parmesan.  The combo gave just the right amount of tough, salty bite from the seeds and soft, saucy chewiness from the pasta. And always eat pumpkin seeds with shells, adds extra flavor and texture.

Nutrition:

• bowl of rotini pasta with tomato sauce = 450 Calories, 5g fiber, 10% of daily Iron, 10% of daily Vitamin A, 10% of daily Vitamin C
• handful of Trader Joe's In Shell Pumpkin Seeds Dry Roasted and Lightly Salted = 180 Calories, 2g fiber, 10% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 630
Rough estimates here but decent amount of Iron and fiber in this meal.

Pizza + Peach

Rating: 7/10

Slice of cold supreme pizza eaten with a fresh white peach. Trying to make a meal out of leftovers from earlier in the day. Normally pizza's like a 5/10 for me, so I'm always looking for something to make it a better eating experience. Well, adding the lightly sweet, juicy, crunchy peach to the chewy umami of the pizza did the job. My taste buds are satisfied. Odd since I'm not a fan of pineapple on pizza and generally don't like fruits mixed with meals. But I guess peach isn't as strong a flavor as pineapples and it just worked. The peach also sort of quenched my thirst that usually follow eating pizza while I was still eating, so two birds one stone.

Nutrition:

• slice of Pizza Hut Supreme Pizza = 280 Calories, 2g fiber, 650mg Sodium
• peach = 59 Calories, 2.2g fiber, 285mg Potassium, 16% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 339

Lobster Guacamole + Yucca Fries

Rating: 6.5/10

Yucca fries dipped in lobster guacamole. You know just to change up the typical chips in guac and fries in ketchup triteness. A promising combo in theory but reality falls short. They're both so mild tasting that it's just bland when together. I mean it's not terrible but there are better combos out there for both of them with more of a punch in flavor. The creamy, chunky guac and starchy yucca just don't cut it in a match. But I tried. Empanadas would probably work better with the guacamole.
(eaten @ La Cerveceria, NYC)

Nutrition:

• lobster guacamole (1/4 cup) = 116 Calories, 342mg Potassium, 3.8g fiber, 10% of daily Vitamin C
• 5 yucca fries = 242 Calories, 3g fiber, 20mg Sodium, 420mg Potassium, 51% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 358
Got in a bunch of fiber, Potassium, and Vitamin C

Fried Catfish + Jambalaya Pasta

Rating: 9/10

Fried catfish eaten with jambalaya pasta. Cajun style, baby! The crispy, tender, and savory catfish rocks with chewy, saucy, spicy, and savory pasta. Who knew catfish could tastes so good? Or jambalaya could be in pasta form? Well, day of firsts today. I say if you travel to a new place, try some new food. Otherwise, what's the point? Catfish, looks like chicken tenders but way more moist in texture than chicken and not even the least bit fishy tasting. I also tried the jambalaya with some fried alligator but not as rockin' a combo as with the catfish. Alligator meat is surprisingly rubbery, interesting but not worth repeating.
(eaten @ Pier 424, New Orleans LA)

Rainbow Milkshake

Rating: 8/10

Jammin' homemade milkshake. Just toss an Italian rainbow cookie, some gelato, milk, and ice in a blender. Voila! Icy, creamy texture plus the cakey bits of the cookie that adds some colorful specks of pink, green, and yellow amidst the frosty white. Pretty and delicious.

Pumpkin Butter + Mini Fried Dumplings

Rating: 8/10

Mini dumplings fried pot-sticker style dipped in pumpkin butter. These tiny little fried things filled with chives, pork, and cabbage are just precious. The savory, salty, chivey crispy, chewy flavor is totally complemented by the pumpkin butter's sweet, jamy, pumpkiny zest. It's like one supplies the taste the other is missing, and together they complete each other to make for happy mouth.

Nutrition:

• spoonful of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter = 40 Calories, 9g sugar, 10% of daily Vitamin A
• 15 CJ Pork & Vegetable Dumplings = 360 Calories, 2g fiber, 10% of daily Vitamin C, 10% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 400
Some sprinklings of vitamins, fiber, and Iron but nothing to write home about. 

Jambalaya + Pierogies

Rating: 8.5/10

Creole jambalaya eaten with potato pierogies. This is kind of feeding my two new food obsessions of late: colorful rice dishes and dumplings of any variety. Plus, the contrast between the strong flavor of the salty, savory, chunky jambalaya and the mild, soft, and chewy pierogies only heightens the experience of both in my mouth. Makes me want to stalk befriend more Caribbean and Polish people so they'll invite me over for dinner.
(eaten @ Hell's Kitchen Lounge, Newark, NJ)

French Roll + Japanese Sausages + Swedish Lingonberry

Rating: 8.5/10

It's like an international festival here. Not really, but that was fun to say. Basically a sandwich of little Japanese sausages and Lingonberry jam in a half-baked french roll. I basically just saw some random leftover pieces of meals throughout the day lying around on the counter and decided to turn it into dinner. The salty, herby, teriyaki-sweet sausages plus the sweet and sour lingonberry jam on soft, fluffy, chewy french roll is a pretty delicious fluke I must say, and easy. Just heated up the sausages and bread and spread on some jam.

Nutrition:

• 2 Berkshire Japanese Sausages = 170 Calories, 480mg Sodium, 8% of daily Iron
• Trader Joe's Half Baked Idea French Roll = 130 Calories, 300mg Sodium, 10% of daily Iron
• 2 spoonfuls of Ikea Food Sylt Lingon = 70 Calories, 7g sugar

Total Calories = 370
Some Iron, some Sodium. Not much of value or interest here.

Feta Cheese + Garlic Noodles

Rating: 7/10

Stir-fry garlic noodles sprinkled with feta cheese. The lightly salty, garlicky, chewy, smooth noodles only benefits from the strong flavor of salty, sour, chalky feta. Adds a real kick and texture to the meal. I'm trying to figure out more things to go with feta because it's awesome and I have like a whole tub of it I want to finish before it goes bad.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.