Ants Not Included

 Happy National Picnic Day!!

(Picnic is one of those word, btw, that if looked at too long, ceases to be an actual word. Picnic. Picnic. Picnic.  Like summing Beetlejuice, only not like that even a little bit.)

Despite the pleasant weather in our part of the world, we held our picnic indoors. I respect all living creatures, but I prefer to enjoy my food without flies and mosquitoes joining in.

Deviled eggs, which never last long around here (looking at you, Matt), a garlicky roasted potato salad, an Earth Fare-like smoked Gouda pasta salad, plant-based barbecue chipped ham sandwiches (holla to Western PA), and, at Alex's request, Snickerdoodles. And a cool glass of lemonade. 

The only thing missing was a checkered, plastic tablecloth.

(This is a re/cross-post from my Tumblr, for Misfit Day.)


You didn’t think I’d let the day go by without another culinary creation, did you??

(Truth: I have three more, but my camera has been behaving badly and I either can’t take photos - as in, it won’t turn on - or because it won’t turn on, I can’t upload anything. It’s frustrating, for obvious reasons and the fact the darn thing’s only a few months old! So, with any luck I’ll have a few more treats to share with you tomorrow. If I can coax the darn thing into working again.)


Behold! The Charlie Chicken Sandwich of Awesome!!

I wanted to come up with a sandwich of ridiculousness (kind of like the Outrageous Burgers Turhan’s Bey Company and I like to make), using the sort of components Charlie might assemble from a diner’s menu.

So, I give you this surprisingly well-balanced (flavor-wise), messy-as-all-get-out (seriously, don’t wear anything nice or make this for a first date and make sure you have a stack of napkins handy) and definitely not calorie-friendly concoction.

Ok.

Start with a layer of (deep-fried) onion rings. Add (this is a brilliant little recipe/hack I learned about last year and had been dying to try out) cheese sticks - but not just ANY cheese sticks! string cheese that has been rolled up in egg roll wrappers and quickly fried! Genius. You get self-contained, crunch and wow, so much easier than battering/coating and less mess- I layered three across.

Next, and I really and truly wish the color hadn’t faded, chicken tenders that have marinated in buttermilk for an hour or so and then dredged in a mixture of rice flour and CRUSHED ANDY CAPP HOT FRIES.


YES.


The color was the same as Charlie’s hair. It was meant to be.

Fry ‘em.

Two slices of melt-y cheese, I used organic ‘orange’ and a Pepperjack.

Bacon. Super-crispy and lots of it.

BARBECUE POTATO CHIPS.

(not pictured here because this was the omnivore version and he won’t eat them - spear/slices of bread and butter pickles*)

Lettuce (for this I like to use Bibb or Boston), nice slice of tomato (we’re finally getting into tomato season!) and a hearty slathering of mayo.

All on a squishy roll.

Smoosh to eat. Laugh at the mess but make lots of “mmmmmm!’ noises.

Happy Misfit Day!




*I made a vegetarian version for NinjaSpyBoy and me - Gardein (and several other companies) makes decent faux ‘tenders’ that hold up to just about any cooking preparation, and of course you can get veggie bacon from companies like Morningstar Farms. All are becoming more and more available in mainstream grocery stores. I’m sure a vegan recipe could be worked up, but we’re ovo-lacto, and that’s not my area of ‘expertise’, but I can point you in the direction of places like VeganEssentials, who carry vegan alternatives for just about everything.

Social Media Burger

Friend of a friend. A co-worker's mom. The lady from church. The hostess at a Tupperware party.

That's how we used to discover new recipes.

Now we have blogs, food products and magazines online, Facebook...you name it.

A few weeks ago on Twitter, someone I follow retweeted the Instagram of a burger they'd had...somewhere. It looked and sounded amazing, so Matt and I decided to replicate it at home

Quality beef burger (veggie ones for the non-meat eaters, of course), bacon, chipotle barbecue sauce and tempura-d avacodo on a roll. 

And yes, it was as good as you think.