Training Table Sunday
In which Very First Steps reviews the finest in contemporary cuisine. Today's topic, KFC's Roasted Strips Meal.

Roasted chicken strips are the latest in the chain's effort to make you forget that its initials ever stood for Kentucky Fried Chicken. I had it this evening after several hours of errands. The meal includes three breast filet sections coated with a spice and flour crust and, yes, roasted in the oven. They were good, actually. Tender and juicy, not overcooked, the spices lively but not overpowering - it still "tastes like chicken."

It's the side dishes that bring this selection down. It comes with a serving of rice and a serving of green beans. The rice is bland and, disappointingly, without condiment options. I asked if there was soy sauce or gravy or anything else to be had and was told there was not. For pleasure in its own right, it can't hold a candle to the "dirty rice" at Bojangles. Perhaps it was just as well, since it performed a viable palate-clearing function between sessions of chicken and the green beans.

It's the green beans that bring the experience down. They are, of course canned, and they are, of course, boiled, to a color that you might use to paint WWII miniatures, a color that says, "I could not possibly have either vitamin or actual bean taste left in me."

So are they tasteless? Alas, no.Go to the cupboard and grab a bottle of Liquid Smoke and take a good long drink. If you have too much sense to have Liquid Smoke in your kitchen, trot off to the grocery store and hit the spice rack. Don't buy the stuff, mind you, just take a furtive swig during a slow time and stick the bottle back on the shelf. Nobody else is going to buy it either. Honest. I'm sure KFC gets their own from a wholesaler.

Point is, KFC's green beans are obviously boiled in a solution of water and liquid smoke, with some peppery spices dumped in the liquid. This certainly gives you something to think about besides "These have the texture, color and flavor of a Wehrmacht greatcoat." In my case, I found myself thinking, "I guess I'll have some rice after all." And I did. I ate it all up. So there's an ensemble effect working with this meal.

Prix Fixe price of four bucks at the KFC I went to, but drinks are extra. (I had fountain water in the little cup they allow you for such.) In all seriousness, the chicken really was good. And as you can see from K"F"C's official nutrition info, it's quite a creditable meal, really. Six grams of fiber! 38 grams of lean protein.

It did burn the roof of my mouth a bit.