I am in our church's mom's group here...I volunteer in the meals ministry which requires that I prepare occasional meals for new mothers and sometimes our two priests. The request was for two portions of a healthy dinner by 3p. The priests then warm them up whenever they are ready to eat.
So I decided to make my favorite breaded baked chicken breasts. Here is the breading mixture (the recipe is for nuggets, but I leave the breasts in tact), and here is the recipe for my side dish, Beets n Sweets. I'm also including a side of Uncle Ben's 90 second Wild n Brown Rice, and Symphony Brownies for dessert and two kiwis for a taste of fruit.
Here is where we need your help. I say, roasted vegetables are healthy. I've prepared this dish before and let me tell you it is TASTY. And healthy. And filling. And it re-heats well. And generally speaking, I've found people in the South love them some sweet potatoes. One of our priests is from Houston, the other is from India.
Clay says: Baked breaded chicken with wild rice and brownies are all fine - quite good, in fact. My problem is with the sweet potato, beet and onion concoction. Maybe I've become a tad jaded as the last month has yielded vegan culinary surprises such as mushroom loaf, crunchy vegetable risotto (not supposed to be crunchy), and four unopened quarts of non-dairy ice cream (why bother?!). Past experience notwithstanding, this roasted vegetable dish is far outside of what I'd call the generally accepted cooking practices. On the Interesting Food Spectrum, we've gone far beyond "unique," we just passed "hmm... interesting" and are perilously close to "Ugghhh - what IS this?!" All kidding aside, it's not a mainstream dish and isn't appropriate to serve to someone whose tastes you don't know.
So...help us out. Am I ridiculous for preparing a unique side dish? I find when we are the blessed recipients of prepared meals something unexpected is an appreciated change from the usual (albeit tasty) casserole. I bet they get casseroles 70% of the time. I just thought I'd mix it up.
So please vote on the right. Thanks for your help.
7 comments:
Make it for them. If they don't like it, they don't have to eat it. But I always like trying something new. sounds yummy! It would be new for me.
Funny, I just e-mailed you about food! We've had some "hmm...interesting" dishes, too. I'm just tired of everything I make yet want to make dinner as easy & healthy as possible. Such a hard time of day with baby and toddler...
This post just cracked me up. I especially like Clay's remarks...he is a trip. Good for you for serving something out of the ordinary....for me, I have to stick to ordinary or no one will eat it and it just gets wasted, along with my time while cooking. I'm not a beet fan, but would always try something new before throwing it out of my meal rotation.
This is hilarious! I love that Clay thinks that sweet potatoes, beets, and onions are some exotic dish! If you can buy all of the ingredients at your nearest Super Chain Grocery Store, I think you are fine.
We are firmly into Baby Season up here in Seattle and have a organized 'gravy train' for families once they finally deliver. The general rule is that unless someone specifically asks to not include a certain food, it is all fair game.
I wonder what Clay would think of my Polenta Lasagna with Kale and Feta...
I didn't mean to imply that sweet potatoes, beets and onions are exotic. I just think it's an ill-conceived and unpleasant combination.
I've had my share of exotic food - even sea urchin paste in Japan, which the locals consider a pretty varsity adventure.
Polenta lasagna with kale and feta sounds pretty good - especially compared with Beets N Sweets and mushroom loaf. :)
How about some votes from husbands and significant others... Frank, Scott, Dave and John - Help me out here! :)
Clay - I agree, mushroom loaf does sound a little suspect. But then again, 'loaf' is just not a pretty word...
Britt, while I agree with your intentions, and there is nothing wrong with providing new flavors to unfamiliar palates, it is entirely inappropriate to give beets to a priest. Those things are absolutely disgusting and are nothing if not candy from the devil himself. They should never cross the threshold of a house of worship. For using beets, I have to side with Clay.
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