"Be careful what you wish for, Mrs. Hillbilly Mom." Muttered Even Steven, suppressing an evil cackle, but still wringing his hands and smirking like the SLU Billiken.
Seems like only a couple days ago, I was bemoaning the fact that I can no longer order a Terrible Tater at one of my old favorite restaurants, it having gone out of business, leaving me to bake my own giant potato and add sour cream and barbecued pulled pork. Now Hardee's has betrayed me with a Chicken Bowl.
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned a Hardee's Chicken Bowl before. For a while, it was my favorite take-out lunch. That's before I got hooked on the Chicken Bacon Ranch Pinwheels from The Devil's Playground. A Hardee's Chicken Bowl has a layer of Spanish rice, a layer of refried beans, a sprinkling of shredded cheddar, some chunks of white-meat chicken, a glop of picante sauce, and a dab of sour cream. It's DELICIOUS! I've made my own at home, but it's not the same. Close. But different.
Anyhoo...on Sunday, I made the evening meal around noon, because I didn't want to do it later. Baby carrots, onions, potatoes, a little sprinkling of Hidden Valley Ranch powder, strips of bacon laid on top...mmm! Farmer H likes it, and we can eat it over the course of three days. I also had a package of Smoked Sausage that I baked, for a meat alternative. You know how Farmer H likes his meat (!).
By the time I got away for my daily 44 oz Diet Coke run, it was nearing 2:00. I was out of Chicken Bacon Ranch Pinwheels, and didn't want to take 20 minutes to make my own when I returned. I was all kitchened out, after peeling and chopping potatoes and onions for the roaster pan. So I had the bright idea of reuniting with my old pal, the Hardee's Chicken Bowl. It's probably been at least 6 months since I've partaken of this delicacy.
Well. I was sorely disappointed with their efforts. First of all, my Chicken Bowl did not fill the bowl. It barely rose over the half-way mark. The picante was pretty much just a couple drops to add color and say they included it. Only three lonely cubes of chicken sat on top. And the bit of sour cream was off to the side.
I can understand if a Chicken Bowl is not beautiful. Not suited for a TV commercial, or to grace the glossy coupon inserts. I cannot understand how a Chicken Bowl can be so dry. It's like they sprinkled it with one of those packets of desiccant that comes in a box with new shoes. It was like eating a sponge found in an abandoned storage unit. The more I chewed, the more moisture was sucked from my mucous membranes.
It was all I could do to swallow every bite.
2 comments:
To me, that chicken bowl sounds terrible! even the original one, the dried out version must be so much worse. Still, I probably eat stuff you wouldn't touch with a ten-foot-pole, so we're even.
I plan on roasting some vegetables myself today, and getting a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, splitting that with a friend, because a whole chicken is too much for both of us, so we take turns buying one and each get half which lasts me about three days and her four days.
River,
They used to be good! The Chicken Bowls I make at home have a problem with the Spanish rice being TOO MOIST! I'm a regular Goldilocks when it comes to my Chicken Bowls.
We're having the roasted carrots/onions/potatoes again tonight, with the smoked sausage. Plus Farmer H is having the bacon. I didn't think it went as well with the vegetables, so he can have it all to himself!
The dogs loved the stale bread that I laid in the bacon drippings overnight.
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