Dying to know what food-related links are top-of-mind for me this week? No? Well, just humor me anyway.
Taco Bell: Going Paleo?
Once upon a time, I proudly declared Taco Bell to be my favorite fast-food joint. As a high schooler, I made a Run To The Border™ on a regular basis with my fellow pimply-faced pals to order (and then annihilate) pile after pile of crunchy, cheesy Taco Supremes. I even wanted my very own caulking gun to squeeze reduced-fat sour cream on…well, everything. Weirdly and disgustingly enough, I have fond memories of Taco Bell. That’s why this Bloomberg article suggesting that Taco Bell’s attempting to tap into the Paleo market actually made me hopeful…for a nanosecond.
Upon closer inspection of Taco Bell’s press release announcing its new “Cantina Power Menu,” though, it’s painfully obvious that the company’s just upping the protein on the menu without doing anything to improve the quality of the ingredients. And despite the misleading headline of the Bloomberg piece, Taco Bell’s new menu clearly doesn’t aim to be Paleo at all. After all, they should know that Paleos won’t stuff junk into our mouths just ’cause the protein volume’s been doubled. Our mascot may be a caveman, but we’re not stupid; Taco Bell’s food products—no matter how high protein or low carb—are nowhere near Paleo-friendly.
I still kind of want a Taco Supreme, though.
Guess Who (I Wish) Was Coming to Dinner
I’m not usually a fan of icebreaker activities, but there’s one get-to-know-you question I really dig. Melicious posed it to me a while back: “You can have dinner with any characters from movies, TV, or books that you want. Table for 8. Who’s at the table?”
Clearly, I have a hard time with reading comprehension, because instead of offering up a bunch of fictional characters like she asked, I spat out a list of celebrities like Andy Cohen, Anthony Bourdain, and George Takei. The only non-celeb on my list was BMO from Adventure Time — the best robot companion in the Land of Ooo.
But now, I’m thinking about swapping BMO out for the hardest working man in show business, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Sorry, BMO, but a guy with 16 jobs trumps a cute little robot. Even one with an alter ego named Football.
Not only has Questlove dazzled audiences (including Late Night fans) as the drummer/frontman of The Roots, but he also happens to be obsessed with eating fabulous food.
Questlove recently began hosting a series of food salons at his apartment, and
this peek inside made me jealous of the guests. I’d kill to be a fly on the wall and to see how his eclectic group of famous pals (David Cross, Bjork, Solange Knowles, etc.) mix it up with big-name chefs (April Bloomfield, Danny Bowien, et al.). And, of course, I’d eat all the food in sight.
More Celebrity Paleos
Love it or hate it, celebrity endorsements matter to the general public, so I’m all for famous people helping Paleo make its way into mainstream culture. And I’m especially supportive when stars who reveal their grass-fed-meat-eating ways also happen to be extra-dreamy, like People Magazine’s Hottest Bachelor, Joe Manganiello, and Tim Howard, the goalie for the U.S, World Cup team!
Yeah, I’ve been spending an obscene amount of time surfing celebrity gossip instead of creating recipes or doing the laundry this week. Next thing you know, I’ll be watching reality TV with curlers in my hair, eating (Paleo-friendly) bon-bons and ignoring my children.
Food Science!
A few years ago, after enjoying some pesto, my tastebuds were out of whack for days. I had no idea what happened, and was a little freaked out that everything tasted “off” and sort of metallic. Finally, the mystery’s solved: I was the victim of pine mouth!
Have you ever brushed your teeth and then taken a swig of orange juice? It tastes super nasty, right? But why? The folks at Wired have explanations for all this stuff—and tell you why certain food combinations are just plain gross. Read about it here and impress your pals with your newfound knowledge.
Not nerdy enough? Well, if you dig food science but you’re more of a visual learner (i.e., you hate reading as much as I do), check out Compound Interest for cool visuals and science knowledge. The nerd in me loved seeing the actual chemical structures that give you stank breath after eating garlic.
How Much Food is Just Right?
I was baffled by portion sizes when I first went Paleo. I mean, how much bacon is too much bacon? (Is there such a thing as too much bacon?)
I was no longer shackled to my scale, but I still wasn’t sure about how much meat, vegetables, and fat were needed to fill me up.
Luckily, Steph Gaudreau of Stupid Easy Paleo totally understands that many of us need guidance on proper portion sizes. She wrote a terrifically useful article that gives us an idea of how much is right for each of us. Read it and eat!
Comics + Cavepeople = Us
Publisher’s Weekly recently reached out to us to talk about about the inner workings behind our mom and pop enterprise—including this blog, our iPad app, and our cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo: Food For Humans. I, for one, was thrilled with the resulting article—mostly because it made us sound much more competent than we are in real life.
Also, if you don’t have our cookbook yet, what are you waiting for? It was named one of The Savory’s Top 5 Food Books of the Summer!
Josh’s Going Back to Cali
My pal, Joshua Weissman, will be visiting his old stomping grounds in California for the next leg of The Slim Palate Paleo Cookbook tour! Josh’ll be in San Francisco on July 19th signing books at Book Passage and at Pages in Los Angeles on July 25th. Check out the deets here if you’re local to either event, ’cause you won’t want to miss your chance to meet this remarkable young cookbook author. Besides, when he’s dominating the world in a few years, you’ll be able to say you knew him when!
I just made the Pistachio-Crusted Salmon from Josh’s cookbook for dinner the other night, and trust me: this kid knows his stuff.
And in case you didn’t know, Josh wrote and shot all the pictures for his cookbook when he was just 17 years old. SEVENTEEN. In comparison, when I was seventeen, my greatest accomplishment was getting blacklisted from winning radio contests.
I can’t wait to see what Josh cooks up now that he’s graduated from high school.
Man, just writing that sentence makes me feel old.
Tasty Vittles
Never fear: I’m always hunting and gathering recipes to try. Here are some of my recent faves:
- These simple herb-crusted lamb skewers from Serious Eats are going on my grill ASAP. And if I change my mind about my protein choice, I can just consult Serious Eats’ epic Grilling 101 post.
- I really want Deviled Eggs Bars to pop up everywhere, especially if they’re as inventive and delicious as the ones inspired by Michael Ruhlman.
- Eat hearty salads for breakfast to start your day off right. Try this one from So Let’s Hang Out, and get your greens in early!
- Need more salad ideas? Irena Macri of Eat Drink Paleo came up with a bunch of portable and nutritious Paleo Salads in a Jar. SO. DANG. CUTE.
Peace out, peoples! May you eat well, sleep soundly, live long, prosper, and all that other good stuff.
Looking for recipes? Head on over to my Recipe Index! You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPad® app, and in my New York Times bestselling cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel 2013).
