Everyone has a guilty pleasure when it comes to food, most often in the form of fast food french fries or a slice (or three) of chocolate cake from a favorite local bakery. But sometimes our secret food obsessions manifest as an unlikely combination of two ordinary ingredients.
We’ve seen some of these combos cross into the mainstream, like pizza dipped in ranch dressing or peanuts dropped into a Coke. Such mismatched snacks got us thinking about our own food habits here at 225 Dine, and we’ve discovered that a few of our staffers are mixing up some pretty weird concoctions. So we asked our coworkers for some of the strangest food combos—and whether or not they’d be willing to try out someone else’s weird combo of choice.
Raw spinach + cottage cheese
225 staff writer Cynthea Corfah says she used to mix cottage cheese and baby spinach together and eat it like a salad. “My friends thought I was so weird in high school,” Corfah says, “but it was such a good snack!”
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Would the rest of us try it? Three of us were willing to give it a shot. But the other three maintained a “no way” position.
Jelly toast + scrambled eggs
Corfah blends a little savory and sweet when it comes to breakfast foods. “I like making jelly toast sometimes and putting scrambled eggs on top,” Corfah says. “It’s like the ultimate breakfast sandwich!”
Would the rest of us try it? Everyone supports this idea. This one’s going on the need-to-try list.
Potato chips + cottage cheese
“When I was a kid, I was convinced I was a little genius for inventing this food pairing: salty potato chips dipped in creamy cottage cheese,” says 225 editor Jennifer Tormo, “I even turned a few adults in my family onto it.”
Would the rest of us try it? This combo received two thumbs up, two hard passes and one hesitant maybe.
Peanut butter & jelly + burger
Tormo is also a big fan of another unlikely food combo gone viral. “I have to admit I’m all about the peanut butter-topped burger trend and/or burgers topped with fruit,” Tormo says. “Try the Peanut Butter & Jelly Bacon Burger by Our Mom’s or Fat Cow’s Napa Burger, which is topped with pear slices, red onion marmalade and goat cheese. YUM.”
Would the rest of us try it? Just about the whole team is supportive of this food trend. But one is sticking to her guns in opposition.
Granola + coffee
“I keep an emergency stash of granola at my desk for those days I forget to bring breakfast,” says 225 managing editor Ben Leger. “Even though I’m not much of a coffee drinker, sometimes I’ll put the granola in a coffee mug, head over to the office coffeemaker, and pour a little bit of coffee over it for some sort of caffeinated cereal-and-milk hybrid. It gets the job done, at least!”
Would the rest of us try it? Four team members are pretty excited about last-minute breakfast. Who doesn’t love a little coffee and granola? Two of our staffers, actually.
Yogurt + roasted veggies for breakfast
This savory yogurt blend is another one of Leger’s breakfast hacks. “My go-to breakfast is usually plain yogurt with frozen berries and some honey added to it,” Leger says. “But I’ve been trying to cut back on sugar, so I started researching online for alternatives and came across some savory yogurt recipes that I’ve been testing out: roasted vegetables instead of fruit, crumbled up sesame crackers for crunch instead of granola. It’s taken some getting used to, but I’ve slowly acquired the taste for it.”
Would the rest of us try it? This was an even split: three nos and three yeses.
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Zapp’s potato chips + chicken salad sandwich
“This is a fairly common pairing, but I never eat a sandwich without chips on it,” says 225 digital content editor Mark Clements. “Doesn’t matter what kind of sandwich. Doesn’t matter what kind of chips. They’re going on the sandwich. Cheetos on a turkey sub? Yep. Zapp’s on chicken salad? You bet.”
Would the rest of us try it? Turns out, all six of our participating staffers are chips-on-a-sandwich lovers. This one got a gold stamp of approval.
What are some food combos you love but others might find strange? Let us know in the comments!