14 June 2010
My Weekend in Food: THE ITIS
I just tweeted about coming down with a case of the Itis. The Itis is a phrase from one of my favorite episodes of The Boondocks in which Granddad opens a restaurant serving heavy but delicious food (including The Luther: “A full pound burger patty covered in cheese. Grilled onions, five strips of bacon, all sandwiched between…two Krispy Kreme donuts.” The Itis comes after the meal, when you literally feel incapable of doing ANYTHING. As Urban Dictionary puts it:
[The Itis] is the general feeling of lethargy and well-being experienced after eating a satisfying meal. This phenomena is particularly triggered by foods high in carbohydrates and meats containing the amino acid tryptophan.
Though I do love all kinds of food, I’m a Nutritionista at heart. That means too much good, but non-nutritious, food can definitely do me in. This weekend was one of those times. Totally worth it, but I’m paying for it now. Tune in later this week to find out good ways of dealing with the Itis!
So which foods led me down the Itis path? It all started at dinner on Friday with an impromptu trip to my favorite BBQ joint in Detroit, Slows. Even though in my mind, I can’t get enough of this place, it would probably be a bad idea to go more than once every couple months. It’s a fast trip to Itis-ville! But I still feel good about indulging in their fare: All their meats come from Niman Ranch and everything they make is very high-quality and delish.
I chose The Big Three: a tasting of Slows’ pulled pork, pulled chicken, and sliced brisket. For my sides, I chose their rightfully infamous mac & cheese and green beans (which they cook with onions and coat in a spicy mustard sauce).
They make their own BBQ sauces — all FIVE! There’s North Carolina, Spicy, Sweet, Apple, and Mustard. I usually try a little of each. I topped off the perfect meal with a Celis White beer, which is definitely my new summer go-to brew. So light and fruity!
To continue with the weekend Itis, I headed to Rachel’s on Saturday to see her compete in a stand-up competition (she took home second place, but she was funnier than all of her competition!).
I can always count on a good meal at Rachel’s. She asked me to bring some fun beer, and I couldn’t resist this guy I spied at Whole Foods.
Banana bread beer?? Don’t mind if I do! I loved the subtle banana flavor of this — definitely not too overpowering.
For our meal, Rachel cooked chicken thighs with a ranch rub from Wiliams-Sonoma that I’m sure she’ll write about soon. (Stay tuned dressing lovers! I have another ranch-related post coming up later this week.)
Along with the chicken we had greens with pine nuts and dates, along with some polenta. The feast:
Perfect light summer dinner!
I completed my Itis-inducing weekend with a trip to Beans & Cornbread on Sunday. I didn’t take any pics, but just assume that fried chicken, catfish, and sweet potato muffins were consumed in large quantities. My gluten-hating stomach is none too pleased. Oh well.
Once in a while, the Itis is 100% worth it. Did anything give YOU the Itis this weekend? Leave a comment here or on Facebook!
