I was making my way through my excruciatingly boring line-up of summer TiVo programs Saturday night, and I decided to settle in for a new episode of “Paula’s Home Cooking.” Y’all know I love Paula, and I’m constantly amazed by the ways she can take a perfectly healthy vegetable and transform it into a fat-laden, buttery delight. And after what I saw Saturday night, I think she may have outdone herself in the cholesterol-spiking department.
Here’s what she did. She took some perfectly lovely fresh ears of corn, slathered them with mayonnaise, rolled them in parmesan cheese, added chili powder and salt, wrapped them in foil, and then cooked them on the grill. The finished product looked delicious, though it didn’t resemble corn so much as some county-fair delicacy that had been battered and deep fried.
And I of course cannot wait to try it.
We have a propensity in the South for taking healthy foods and rendering them void of any redeeming nutritional value (see fried cheese, fried mushrooms, etc.), and I’m a little curious: do y’all have a favorite “healthy”-food-gone-wrong? I mean, yeah, you like broccoli on its own…but do you like it more when it’s covered in butter and cheese? Personally, I’m partial to a squash casserole where the squash, cooked down to the point that all those pesky vitamins are eliminated, is mixed with sour cream, cheese, onion, and topped with buttered cracker crumbs.
I’m not completely hopeless, just so you know. I love steamed asparagus with just a little salt and lemon juice on it.
But if you want to melt some cheese on top, you’ll get no complaints from me. :-)
Your a trip BM! BTW – I asked my MIL what shows she is TiVoing this summer and she mentioned a show called ‘The Closer’ – I think it’s a spy/detective knockoff. Anyways, just food for thought!
Oh, and love me some FRIED OKRA! I can’t eat it any other way…
I’m constantly amazed by the ways she can take a perfectly healthy vegetable and transform it into a fat-laden, buttery delight.
I admit that I watch Paula. It’s like a train wreck with me shouting, “no she didn’t!…. Wait!… Oh no! SHE.DIDN’T!”
I love asparagus – cooked anyway! – even Paula style. :)
Theresa, I LOOOOOVE me some fried okra.
And Heather, my absolute favorite Paula moment was when she took two ground beef patties, put bleu cheese in between them, and then fried them. I felt like I needed a stint in my heart just from watching.
I love her. :-)
I can’t stand fried okra — but your squash casserole it shouting out at me right now.
My favorite “health food gone wrong” would have to be smotherd chicken. a perfectly healthy chicken breast covered in bacon, mushrooms, onion, and tons of melted cheese.
oh and Fried Cheese is the best.
I do believe it was the south that came up with “fat back”, which was described to me once but blocked from memory – do you know what that is?
I’m originally from the north where we just eat white stuff, and if it isn’t white, we put somthing white like sause on it to make it white.
My favorit health food gone bad I think just became that ear of corn you described . . . but let see . .
Oh yes, come on you guys, fried zucini (I really can’t spell sorry, go phonic on me, it’ll help) dipped in melted cheeze! Yum!!!
I love fried okra, eggplant, squash, tomatoes–even pickles. If I won’t eat it fried, then I just won’t eat it. Like calamari for example.
My grandmother was the queen of all fried veggies. I wish I had paid more attention to how she cooked. She was always a bean pole too. Don’t know how she did it.