My Beef with Hungry Girl

When Hungry Girl first started appearing on the Food Network I was curious. I had heard of her cookbooks but I never actually checked any of them out. I've since watched a few of her shows and am not impressed. I know there are many people that follow her food philosophy religiously and love what she does, but I am not one of them. I think she has some good ideas, but overall, I hate how she uses fake food as a way to eat more: frozen veggie burgers, spice packets loaded with sodium, whatever she can do to eat more, she will do.

I am on the opposite end of the spectrum: eat REAL, whole, full-flavored, full-fat foods in moderation.  I know this philosophy doesn't work for everyone, but the idea of pumping my body full of the processed, chemically-induced foods just so I can eat more doesn't seem healthy to me in the slightest.

To give you an example: just look at all the fake food ingredients in her no-nonsense egg nog:

• vanilla soymilk
• sugar-free fat-free vanilla instant pudding mix
• no-calorie sweetener
• imitation rum extract
• nutmeg

 None of those ingredients appeal to me in the least, except maybe the REAL nutmeg.

I don't want to knock ALL of Hungry Girl's ideas. She does have a few good swaps that are better and healthier for you (replacing every other layer of noodles in lasagna with eggplant, using spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti, etc.) but I guess I just get irritated that her food philosophy is sometimes touted as healthier eating. It's not healthier eating when you're replacing real food with fake food. And it irritates me even further that even Dr. Oz has gotten on the Hungry Girl bandwagon and had her on his show a few times. What is up with that? 

But I didn't want to knock her food until I at least gave it a try, so I decided to make her "Lord of the Onion Rings" recipe where she uses her faux-frying technique of replacing breadcrumbs with Fiber One cereal and then baking in the oven.

Lord of the Onion Rings Adapted from the Hungry Girl cookbook by Lisa Lillien

Serves 1-2

1 large onion
1/2 cup Fiber One cereal (original)
1/4 fat-free liquid egg substitute (Not gonna lie. I used real eggs. Cuz that's how I roll)
Dash of salt
Optional: black pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, etc.

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut ends off onion and remove outer layer.. Cut into 1/2-inch wide slices and separate into rings. 

Using a food processor, grind cereal into a breadcrumb-like consistency. Pour into a small dish and mix in salt and any additional spices you would like. 

Fill a small bowl with egg substitute (or real eggs if you're like me). Coat each ring first in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs. Give each ring a shake after  the egg bath. 

Place rings evenly on a baking sheet with nonstick spray. Cook for 20-25 minutes, flipping rings over about halfway through.

My attempt at Hungry Girl's version of onion rings

So how did they turn out? Eh. They were edible, but I wouldn't say they taste "just like" regular onion rings as Lillien often touts. I think this recipe is theoretically a good idea since Fiber One cereal is actually pretty good for you, but in execution, I wasn't impressed. The Fiber One breadcrumbs were dry and gave me a cotton mouth feel when I ate them. The flavor and crunch was decent, but I just couldn't get over that dry mouth feel when I ate them.

After reading through her first cookbook and watching her show, I have to say that Hungry Girl's ideas aren't all bad, but I feel like you have to be discerning with them. Pick and choose what you use. Don't follow her philosophy to the letter. If you read a recipe and it is loaded with processed, chemically-induced ingredients, walk away from it. But also keep in mind that some of her advice is helpful when she's discussing the use of REAL food in recipes (like the layers of eggplant in lasagna I discussed earlier).

So now that I've gone and probably ticked people off, tell me what you like or dislike about Hungry Girl.