Here is my recap of last night's Idol.

Remember Friday I said I was going to talk about a new project I'd be starting here that is food-related? Well I'm going to roll it out next week, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here is a mini-review of Treasure Island's "premium" dried salted green beans, a snack item that intrigued me for a long while before I decided to be adventurous yesterday and give them a try.

They look like regular green beans, only slightly mummified (this is not the brand I got but they look like this). Typically I'm not a big fan of dried produce, as I think it's just a less-filling, more high-calorie version of the fresh kind (an exception are those wasabi peas, which are a great cocktail accompaniment), but raw fresh green beans can be kinda...eh.

Anyway, tastewise, I'm not so sure about the beans. They don't really taste like beans. If anything, they taste more like..bananas? I know that's odd. When I sniff them, I can figure out where the bean is coming from, but something about the drying process gives me banana.

But when it comes to the crunch/salt/edibility factor, they're pretty addictive. They're light but not obnoxiously so like styrofoamy Pirate's Booty. Something about them just kept making me shovel them into my mouth, maybe because I don't typically eat much salty/crunchy food, so they were a treat in their own way. My thought process was something along the lines of, "Yum. Or do I mean ew? Or what? Ooh, just one more handful."

I was told by my dietitian friend that they are "good news," IE not terrible for you, so despite the fact that I find the beans equal parts confusing and enjoyable, I may try them again. Maybe I'll try the store's dried bananas, too, to see if they taste like beans.