Health for life

Todays question comes from the weather.

Q: Oh, spring. How you delight us with your sunshine and your warmer temperatures and your happy, happy flowers.

(We will not mention pollen.)

(I SAID DONT MENTION IT!)

Perhaps your greatest gift, however, is that of asparagus. The crispy verdant stalks are in-season all too briefly, and we must take advantage of their fleeting goodness.

So, sweet readers - whats your favorite asparagus recipe?

A: This is mine, hands down: Pasta with Asparagus and Mushrooms.

Though, come to think of it, this slight variation is pretty good, too: Spaghetti with Asparagus, Egg, and Parmesan.

Readers?

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.

Before I head out to vote, its a quickie (but a toughie) thatll help guide the blog over the next few weeks:

Q: Straight up, what are your favorite Thanksgiving side dishes?

A: Last week, we covered portable sides. This week, were throwing our arms around the whole shebang. They don’t have to be inexpensive, they don’t have to be remotely healthy – that’s our job, to adapt them as such. Mine are:

• Ma’s Sweet Potatoes. Uh. Muh. Guh.
• Dad’s stuffing. He got it out of a 1984 article in Newsday, and it uses about four pounds of butter, every ounce of which is pure delight.
• Giada DeLaurentiis’ Turkey Sausage and Chestnut Stuffing. It costs approximately a bagillion dollars to make (jarred chestnuts, anyone?), but its so rich and awesome, you wont mind bankruptcy.

Fire away, folks! I’ve already commenced drooling. I mean it. Its getting on my shirt.

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.

Sweet readers!

It’s me, Kris. Hi!

This Sunday, I’m marrying this guy I like, hurricane permitting. And for a few weeks after that, we’re gonna drive around Italy, searching for duomos and large plates of spaghetti. (And wine. Always wine.)

During that time, and Leigh (of Veggie Might fame) will be running CHG. The schedule will stay the same. There’ll just be a slightly different voice behind it – namely, a vegetarian one with cute hair and much better cooking skills.

I really enjoy keeping this blog, and will miss our discussions while Im away. In the meantime, hope y’all have wonderful Septembers, and Ill speak to you soon!

P.S. Oh, yeah! The results of last week’s Ask the Internet are as follows:

36 votes: Tomatoes

26 votes: Onions

19 votes: Leafy greens (Kale, lettuce, collards, etc.)

17 votes: Bell peppers

16 votes: Asparagus, Broccoli

15 votes: Corn, Peas (all kinds), Sweet Potatoes

12 votes: Spinach

11 votes: Carrots, Garlic, Potatoes

10 votes: Mushrooms

9 votes: Cucumbers

8 votes: Brussels sprouts

7 votes: Avocado

6 votes: Zucchini

5 votes: Beets, Eggplant

4 votes: Artichokes, Cauliflower, Green Beans, Winter Squash (Butternut, Kabocha, etc.)

3 votes: Garlic and onions (whole Allium family), Hot peppers, Parsnips

2 votes: Cabbage, Leeks, Lima Beans, Pumpkin

1 vote: Broccoli Rabe, Celery, Edamame, Fennel, Lentils, Okra, Red Cabbage, Romanesco Broccoli, Yellow Squash

Tomatoes, for the win.

You know what, sweet readers? I’m tired of doing the same ol’ link roundup each Friday. So, this week, I thought I’d change it up and present you with my top ten very favorite things in life. (It’s kind of like Oprah’s list, except no one gets a Volvo in the end.) For special fun, let’s count ‘em down backwards. Hope you enjoy!

10) Golf
Is it a sport? A game? A hobby? A long walk over interminable greens taken by doughy white guys (and Tiger Woods) for eons at a time, narrated by men who are actually whispering, so as not to awaken the seniors who have mistaken the course for their retirement home living rooms? Only god and my dad know for sure.

9) The finale of Roseanne
(SPOILER ALERT) C’mon. You know Dan should have died in Season 5, anyway.

8) The country of Andorra
Once upon a time, I rode with family and friends through terrifying mountains and aneurysm-inducing switchbacks to reach this fine nation, one of the smallest in the world, only to find it’s a big mall for Vespa helmets. But the fine selection of Andorran Sausages (bologna), procured at a rustic local eatery (old diner), consumed next to an awe-inducing collection of European athletes (Luxembourg’s Winter Olympic team – not kidding) made up for the scooter ephemera.

7) Hootie and the Blowfish
Who didn’t hear “Only Want to Be With You” all through high school – in cars and restaurants, Starbucks bathrooms and Girl Scout potlucks, Buddhist retreats and Catholic mausoleums? I can only assume its demanding melody and complex lyrics (“I only wanna be with you / I only wanna be with you”) still resound for young Republicans even today.

6) Sandra Lee’s Baked Potato Ice Cream Recipe
It’s ice cream, dressed like a potato! Think of it like pizza in a lima bean suit, or Jon Hamm wearing a Kim Jong-il costume, or something that you love made to look homely and kind of melting. Sweet!

5) The subway
I wouldn’t trade any of it, whether it’s the surprisingly powerful 94-year-old woman elbowing me on to the third rail, the Williamsburg manorexic ironically wearing the same eyeglasses I was forced to don all through elementary school, or the seemingly button-down businessman clipping his nails over a screeching pack of Park Slope seventh graders all named Julian. I mean it.

4) Armando Benitez
Being a Mets fan would be great if it wasn’t for the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings of every ballgame. Fortunately, we’ve always had guys like ‘90s reliever Armando Benitez, who made sure that every pitch was as exciting as it could possibly be. Sometimes, you could actually see him thinking: Up by 12 runs against the Yankees? Let’s make this into nail-biter!

3) The Prince of Tides novel by Pat Conroy
This book makes me wish I didn’t have emotions.

2) Sinusitis
It’s really neat, that with all the junk packing our skulls – brains and muscles and arteries and whatnot – that our maker left a few holes full o’ nothin’. And it’s even neater that sometimes, those holes can get filled with stuff. And that stuff can be any color of the rainbow, and as soft and squishy or as elastic and bizarrely putty-like as you’ve ever seen. We’re like walking art projects, really, just waiting to be forcefully expectorated on to the nearest Kleenex canvas of life.

1) Mayonnaise
Wow! Mayonnaise is so …

I mean, I love the way it …

Um, so smooshy and…

Okay, you know this is an April Fool’s thing now. I can’t even pretend. Happy Friday, everybody!

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