Wednesday, January 27, 2010

ABC's Nightline "Got Milk" Segment

I try to stay abreast, to some extent, of standard practices in today's factory farms.  I don't really want to know the details, but I like to keep a couple of factoids in my back pocket when people begin to give me the usual nonsense about how there's absolutely nothing wrong with eating meat.

Without getting into all of that, I happened across a segment from ABC's Nightline, called "Got Milk".  Yikes.  I had to cover the screen for about two minutes of the presentation, then shut it off completely for the final two.  I am not a vegan, but this is definitely going to affect my eating habits.

WARNING: This video contains (what I consider, at least) graphic footage of the abuse of cows.



Monday, January 11, 2010

The Verdict: Kitchens of India - Black Gram Lentils Curry



I didn't feel like cooking, and I was unapologetic about it.  I was in the grocery store, determined to buy an "out of the box" (a derogatory term in this instance) dinner.

I ended up in the international section, and spotted a huge selection of Indian food entrees from the "Kitchens of India" brand.  Unversed in Indian cuisine, I didn't really know which one to buy.  I settled on the "Black Gram Lentils Curry", because it looked the most appetizing.

Furthering my lazy determination, I also bought a package (of 4) Uncle Ben's boil-in-bag brown rice.

Preparation of the Lentil Curry was easy.  There were several ways to prepare, but not wishing to even dirty a dish, I simply boiled the inner package in hot water for about 5 minutes.  Once both the rice and lentils were done heating, I opened both packets and stirred them up.  Which looked just like this:



The ingredients were simple.  I don't know if it's because it's made in India, and thus their labeling requirements are different, but there were no odd additives at all.  Here is the list:

Water, Tomato Puree, Whole Black Gram Lentils, Cream, Butter, Garlic, Salt, Ginger and Red Chili Powder

Seriously?  Where's all the junk?

I have to admit, this was an extremely tasty dish.  I was starving and ate it in about five minutes, so I don't have a Food Network-eque detail by detail description of the "subtle mix of flavors" and "delectable mouth feel", but I wanted to let the world know that it was damn good.

The only complaint I had, was that it was not a large enough portion for me.  It says that there are 2.5 servings in the package - and we all know that servings sizes can be quite deceptive - but I thought that in addition to the rice it would be enough to make me full.  It did not.  I know it looks like a big mound of food, but it was not sufficient for my large appetite that evening.

However, I would highly recommend the product, as it really did taste delicious.