the easiest. really. and REAL. ::::
All the rage are farm-to-table, organic burger places in our area of the country. They have popped up everywhere like ramen shops in Japan. And so we had to try one, Peach being a big fan of cheeseburgers, Grub and Sky-Girl fans of French fries.
Yeah, so we went to one of these places, which shall remain unnamed, Yeah. Yeah, Burger. Yeah! Burger. (See what I did there?)
The kids and Eat sat down and went up to the counter to order. “Do you have have any real cheese, as in not American cheese?” This is one of my standard questions, in any burger or diner-type eatery. American cheese is an abomination. It’s. Not. Cheese.
He responded, “We only use organic ingredients, including American cheese.”
“Your American cheese is organic?” This does not compute. Run error.
He sighed impatiently and pointed to the menu. Yup, there it was: Organic American Cheese.
WTFork?
Why bother going through making artificial cheese and making it organic when one can eat real cheese made with actual organic milk? Or just REAL milk? What is the utility of organic artificial cheese? Isn’t that a contradiction? Are we not contributing to the destruction of our planet by creating and consuming this? I imagine the resources needed to create such a product take up much too large a piece of the carbon footprint. As a community, no, as a global population, we would be better served using the time and energy for something else. American cheese products have no place in this universe.
An even better reason: it tastes like $&@#.
Today’s recipe is actually not about cheese. It’s about real food. How about steel cut oats, savory style, draped with a fried egg and a drizzle of sesame oil? THAT is real food. Better yet, it only takes a few minutes. Steel cut oats take a long time to cook. The trick: start them the night before. Total cook time: one minute! Allowing them to sit overnight to absorb liquid and soften keeps the stove off and less time stirring a pot of oats. Reheat the oats while you fry the egg and chop green onions in the morning. Real food. Real time.
One year ago: crockpot spinach dip
Two years ago: pandan-coconut-blueberry popsicles and homemade chewy fruit snacks
Three years ago: za’atar spiced beet dip with goat cheese and marinated manchego
Four years ago: breakfast casserole and pasta with pork, pine nuts, and olives
From the lovely Marin Mama Cooks blog.
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 eggs (1 egg per bowl/ person)
- sesame oil, to drizzle
- sesame seeds, toasted
- 1 to 2 green onions, chopped
- Bring water to a full boil. Add salt. Pour in oats and cook uncovered for 1 minute. Set a timer. The oats may bubble up: just stir or turn down the heat.
- When the timer goes off, turn off the heat, give the oats another stir, and cover them. Leave them overnight.
- The next morning, stir the oats and warm up either over medium heat in the same pot, or scoop desired portions into bowls and microwave.
- Fry the egg (I like a sunny-side-up egg here), place carefully on top of the oatmeal, drizzle with sesame oil and a few sprinkles of green onion and sesame seeds.
