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Best Of 2013, Guest Editors: They Might Be Giants On Kale Caesar Salad

As 2013 comes to an end, we are taking a look back at some of our favorite posts of the year by our guest editors.

TMBGLogoPerhaps it’s poetic license that has seen They Might Be Giants—Johns Flansburgh and Linnell—through a voluminous series of ups, downs and holding patterns over its three decades in operation. TMBG’s second adult album in five years and its 16th overall, Nanobots (Idlewild/Megaforce) boasts 25 new songs. Much of Nanobots takes advantage of what is now a fully acclimated quintet that also includes guitarist Dan Miller, bassist Danny Weinkauf and drummer Marty Beller. “We’d been functioning as a two-piece for 10 years, and we really just sort of talked ourselves into it,” says Linnell of the bumpy transition, which began in 1992. “It’s still John and I making the decisions, but we lean heavily on the other guys for a lot of the musical resources. It’s a benevolent dictatorship.” Flansburgh will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new TMBG feature.

Flansburgh: I thought I was alive—I thought I’d been living a complete life with all the experiences a fulfilled person needs to experience. I wasn’t a foodie or a hippie, just an experienced, sentient citizen of the world. But I had never had tasted kale Caesar salad, and I was completely wrong.
 Sure, kale is really good for you—better than broccoli, evidently. But that’s not why I eat it, and it’s not why I’m recommending it. This is a salad I first experienced at a restaurant called Il Buco in New York, but even though that sounds fancy, it’s not hard to make at home. Here’s how: Get some kale; dinosaur kale is good, but red kale or curly kale are fine. Take a knife and remove the stalks—the more the better. Then cut it into 1/4-inch strips. Make some Caesar dressing—which is what?—a raw egg yolk (or coddled if you are nervous), half a clove of garlic, a couple of anchovies, lemon juice, olive oil, a drop of Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and a lot of freshly grated Parmesan. Mix it up, toss it in. Add some grated Parmesan on top, too. Make a lot. It’s even better the next day (just refrigerate it). 
This is better than a regular salad, and it’s better than kale any other way. I have yet to meet anyone who has experienced it who didn’t like it. If you are going to a pot luck, make this and your friends will be dazzled. It’s a real crowd pleaser.

Video after the jump.