To which I can add only, “Awesome.”
America, when it comes to food, you’re kinda messed-up. I should know… I’m one of millions of food-obsessing, calorie-counting, bacon-adoring goofballs who contributes more or less equally to purveyors of fitness equipment and makers of artisan cheeses. And after years of struggling, ultimately I’m good with that.
What makes me a little crazy, though, are those occasions — and there are lots of them — where perfectly good food is made bad by wanton disregard for the outcome. Like salmon (good for you!) poached in butter (bad for you!). A big pile of just-picked garden greens dosed liberally with Caesar salad dressing. A baked-potato smothered in sour cream. Or, for those who’ve given up altogether, the bacon explosion.
Air-popped popcorn has 31 calories per cup, no fat, 6 grams of carbs and 1 gram of good-for-you fiber. It’s also not worth eating as it tastes rather like dusty styrofoam. Fortunately, there’s a reasonable middle ground. (Thanks, Alton.)
Salmon poached in butter? That sounds disgusting. A layer of hollendaise (made properly which never includes powder from an envelope) over poached salmon is a thing of beauty to be enjoyed with the same moderation as fine wine.
Sadly, there is no redemption for baked potatoes. The butter or sour cream might make them very slightly better because they moderate the effects of the carb explosion but is still best thought of as a treat, like candy.
As for the movie popcorn being compared to McDonald’s. That is an unfair comparison. The price of tickets plus the price of the popcorn makes the per calorie cost so high that McDonald’s is way more dangerous. Even the poorest people can afford a deadly dose of Big Macs while my budget allows less than one movie a month.
Eew. It’s troubling to contemplate calorie dollars in terms of lethal doses of fat and sodium. (What’s LD50 for Big Macs, anyway?)
I prefer to spend my movie dollars on Netflix, and indulge in bowls of Snyder’s pretzels, or maybe some of the Trail’s End Light Butter Popcorn we bought from an enterprising local cub scout.