The Great American Pastime

Here are some new over-the-top food items as reported by CBS Sports (www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/best-mlb-ballpark-foods-for-2019-ribs-giant-hot-dogs-and-egg-rolls-among-the-most-intriguing-new-menu-items/).

• Avocado Bites: deep fried and served with habanero sauce.
• MQ Rib Sandwich: slow-cooked baby back rib meat with MQ’s black cherry BBQ garnished with dill pickles and white onions on a soft white roll.
• The Foul Pole: A 2-pound battered and fried chicken tender (yes, singular) with waffle fries and sides of honey mustard and ranch dressing. (How big was that chicken??)
• 16-inch slice of pepperoni or cheese pizza.
• PB and bacon Sandwich
• Chicken and waffle cone: Filled with chicken tenders and a slab of bacon drizzled with maple syrup.
• Dinger Dog: fried 1-foot beef dog wrapped in puff pastry with cheddar and bacon jam.
• Chili cheese crunch dog: a 1-foot-long hot dog with chili, cheddar cheese, and crushed Fritos on top.
• Fritos pie corn dog: hot dog dipped in corn chip batter, fried, and topped with white cheese and chili
• Donut burger: a burger topped with bacon pepper jam served on a glazed donut
• Going Yard: 16.5-inch jalapeño cheddar sausage topped with grilled onion, roasted corn, avocado relish, and drizzled with sour cream.
• Crispy maple chicken sandwich; spicy maple sauce drizzled over fried chicken with white cheddar spread and pickles on a toasted bun.
• Smokin’ thighs sandwich: roasted skin-on chicken thighs with garlic aioli, caramelized onion, cilantro, pickled jalapenos, and romaine on a toasted baguette.
• Fries covered with, you name it, sliced gyro meat, feta cheese, nacho cheese, bacon…

• Dessert sweet potato fries: topped with powdered sugar, chopped pecans, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and Nutella.
• Bulgogi beef egg rolls filled with beef, carrots, onions,  rice, and Gochujang Sauce.
• Coney dog egg roll: crispy egg roll filled with a hot dog and chili drizzled with yellow mustard and a sprinkle of diced onion. 

Baseball has always been about going to the ballpark, getting a hot dog and a beer, and relaxing. This food selection is on steroids. The theme seems big: bacon, spicy, hot, bacon (yes, I said that twice), maple syrup, waffles, and a hint of Asian. Oh yeah, and a lot of calories. I honestly can’t blame anyone for having food cravings.

Target Field has vegan:

• Sriracha brats and Italian sausages
• Daiya cheese pizza
• Tacos and burritos
• Field Roast burgers and dogs

Globe Park features a vegan cart with the following:

• Vegan nacho’s Grande
• The vegan top Frito pie with Beyond Meat Crumbles and house-made chili
• Veggie wraps with Beyond Meat chicken, burger and dogs

Most stadiums have a veggie burger or hot dog, but finding them is difficult because they’re not in too many spots. Vegan tacos, veggie burritos, and nacho cheese alternatives are increasing. One stadium had seared tofu flatbreads and a cauliflower cheesesteak with vegan cheese.

I would happily get a charcoal-grilled Beyond Meat burger with all the fixings and Daiya cheese. I’d even splurge on some fresh-cut fries, and that habanero sauce sounded good, too. 

If CBS ever wanted me to visit stadiums and search out vegan or good vegetarian options, I’d be happy to do it. If any ballpark food service wanted to make great vegan recipes for carnivores, I could help there, too. After all, that’s what I do; I even wrote a book about it. Another thing to remember when you eat the vegan options is that you can leave the antacid tablets at home because you won’t get acid reflux from vegetables, not even spicy ones. At least, I don’t.

See you at the game!