Hypocrisy At Its Foodiest

I’ll get to that title in a little.

First, I present to you a little more Pleasantville photography, since it got such good feedback last time 🙂

 

If you can’t tell, I love the color red. So much so that, when I was 13, I begged my dad to let me paint my room red. My dad—wisely considering that (1) I was a pubescently moody and sassy teenager and (2) red is known to invoke anger—denied me this decorative freedom. So now, a decade later and still red room-deprived, I channel my crimson attraction toward my food photography. If the Pleasantville pics creep you out, father dearest is to blame.

Now that I’ve professed my love for a color, let’s move along.

Yesterday morning I woke up with no idea what I wanted for breakfast. I hate uninspired mornings because I hate settling on something I don’t really want to eat. That said, I slowly (and not prematurely) sipped a big cup of coffee and enjoyed a soon-to-be-out-of-season dinosaur plum while I waited for breakfast brilliance to strike.

Well, brilliance never showed—but presents did!

    

Muchos gracias to Kim Bensen, the creator and owner of Kim’s Light Bagels, for sending me such a generous sample package of her 110-calorie bagels to review! After losing over 200 pounds, Kim, a self-proclaimed bagel lover, couldn’t find a healthy, good-tasting bagel that fit into her maintenance plan. So, she created her own. I’ve been e-mailing with Kim to set up an interview so I can give you all some insight into the woman behind bagel 🙂

Once I try all of the six flavors, I’ll write up a full review. But, for now, I’ll let you know what I think on a flavor-to-flavor basis.

I decided to use one of Kim’s wheat bagels for the basis of my still unbeknownst breakfast.

But before I divulge how I dressed it up and what I thought of the bagel, let me address the title of this post.

Yesterday was a day of foodie hypocrisy—from start to finish.

As a New Yorker, I always feel sacrilegious when I tell people that I don’t really like bagels and pizza. Who doesn’t like bagels and pizza? Especially NEW YORK CITY bagels and pizza. I think it’s because I’m such a fan of the innards of my eats (innards sounds so gross) that I don’t like super bready-based foods that take away from the stars of the show. For example, on a bagel, I like to taste the cream cheese more than the bagel. The same goes for the cheese on my pizza. And don’t get me started on sandwiches. I do not like sandwiches on focaccia or any bulky breads because they mess up my innards:outtards(?)ratio of preference. God, I sound like a bread diva, but my stomach just has a keen perception of its likes and dislikes 😉

That said, I ate bagels and pizza yesterday. And, understatedly, liked them both. First, the bagel.

I topped half of a toasted Kim’s whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and the other half with raspberry preserves. Atop both halves went an overripe banana, mashed to perfection.

 

Overripe naner=amazing spread.

  

Uncharacteristic of my PB-lovin’ self, I liked the mashed banana & preserves half better!

As for Kim’s Light Bagels, I think I may have met my bagel match. Because the bagel was light—and by nature a bit flatter and smaller than your average NY monstrosity—its doughiness wasn’t overwhelming and gave my toppings their due spotlight. I really liked the texture of the wheat bagel, and I think it’d be a great sandwich base. I can’t wait to try out the other flavors and figure out if yesterday’s bagel loving was a one time fling or the start of something special… (Why is it so easy to romanticize food? Maybe that’s just me…)

Lunch was Tuesday night’s Mediterranean potato salad—which was exponentially more flavorful after marinating overnight. It took everything in me (read: the fact that my contractor was over) not to lick the bowl.

 

Alongside I had half a whole wheat pita stuffed with hummus and roasted corn. I LOVE this combo.

‘Twas a perfect way to make a dent in my Sabra stash. (P.S. I got a bajillion comments and emails inquiring into exactly how I acquired so much Sabra. Well, the hummus hoarding was not my doing. As is the case with my attraction to red-hued photography, my father is to blame—or in this case, thank.)

When I got a little snacky, I busted out some rice cakes to satisfy my voracious popcorn craving.

Have you ever tried Mother’s rice cakes? I found these at WF a few months back, and it was love at first bite. I’m not usually a buttah-girl, but these are GOOD.

Onto foodie hypocrisy #2 of el dia. Pizza. I’ve seen these pita pizzas popping up on some of your blogs—and, in the spirit of trying to cleanse myself of my usual pizza and bagel-hating blasphemy—I decided to try ‘em out.

Hello, my name is Sarah, and I LOVE pizza. Well, pita pizzas, anyway.

Seriously, check out those toppings.

Veggie Packed Pita Pizza:

• Lightly brush one side of a whole wheat pita with EVOO and season with salt. Bake for 6 minutes at 375 degrees. Brush & season the other side, and bake for another 6 minutes.
• Remove from oven. Top with 3 tbsp. hummus.
• Top with veggies of your choice. (I topped with broccoli, grilled mushrooms, roasted cherry tomatoes, and sautéed onions & red bell peppers.
• Top with 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
• Return to oven and broil for an additional 3-5 minutes, depending on how crispy you want your pita “crust.”

I seasoned mine with my favorite salt-blend, Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Salt.

I like Jane because she can spell Krazy with a K, and she can like it. (I know at least some of you listened to Something Corporate’s ‘Konstantine’ in high school…)

  

Baked hummus, grilled veggies, and melty mozz, oh my!

 

I cut it into quarters to ease devouring consumption.

AH-MAZE-ING. I think that, as with the bagels, my newfound love of this previously condemned good stemmed from the fact that the base wasn’t bread-ily overwhelming. Especially with the pizza, I loved being able to taste the hummus-cheese-vegetable ménage trois in all its revolutionary deliciousness.

I was really, really full after dinner, but somehow mustered up the appetite for a baby bowl of chocolate raspberry cheesecake fro-yo and a not-so-baby dollop of whipped cream.

This was my attempt to ward off my popcorn addiction. But, I’m realizing, craving popcorn for dessert is probably the least of all junk food evils. Perhaps I shouldn’t be forcing a sweet tooth upon myself when I’m really a staunch salty girl? Not saying this wasn’t delish…

Happy Thursday, amigos. Almost everyone’s favorite day!

-Sarah

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bagels, banana, breakfast, cheesecake, coffee, corn, dessert, dinner, dinosaur plum, grilled vegetables, hummus, ice cream, jelly, kim bensen, kim's light, lunch, mediterranean salad, peanut butter, pita, pizza, pleasantville, potato, product, Recipe, Review, veggies, whole wheat

September 24, 2009

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