Serving the CSRs, One Bowl at a Time

Today was a very special day in the office. No, not a pop-up Soup Club meeting, because those don’t exist and probably never will. Today we had a Lunch-n-Learn with our CSR team.

This whole thing started because Tam kicked off Lunch-n-Learns with the Admin team and apparently the CSR crew saw what was happening and said, “Yeah… we want in on that.” And by “that,” they obviously meant healthy WFPB food cooked by yours truly, with a lotta help from Surgeon Jenn, paired with an hour of me talking about evidence-based research, health, and wellness. Living the dream, people.

On the menu today was a nice cup of Butternut Bulgur Chili, paired with Island Heat Jamaican Jerk Jackfruit Tacos. For the accoutrements, because Soup Club energy never takes a day off, we had two varieties of hand cut salsa, sliced avocado, and pumpkin seeds.

There were a few firsts in this meal prep. I have made well over a thousand pots of chili in my lifetime and, let’s be honest, chili usually follows the same script. Peppers, onions, tomatoes, beans, spices, repeat. The idea of using butternut squash and bulgur made me pause for a second. Also, quick question, WTF is bulgur? Turns out it works. The prep itself was also different. Roasting a ton of peppers, tomatoes, and garlic, then blending it all up felt very chef-y and slightly suspicious, but I trusted the process.

Then there was the jackfruit. I have bought the processed, heat-and-eat stuff before and was pretty underwhelmed. This time we went full can-of-jackfruit and built it into tacos ourselves.

Now for some honesty. I have made and eaten a lot of tacos, both meat and vegan. These tacos were good, but also somehow among the worst I have personally made. Jenn was not impressed either. All I could taste was thyme. Just thyme everywhere. Thyme for days. So last night, I went into damage control mode. I added tomatoes, peppers, onions, red and black beans, and watered that thyme situation way down. Crisis averted. It totally worked.

The chili, on the other hand, turned out excellent. I would absolutely make this again. Probably with more beans. Maybe a wider variety. You know, make it extra hearty for certain critics.

Now for the scoring...

Soup Club Members:

• Kevin gave it an 8.5 without hot sauce, then quickly bumped it to a 9.0 once the hot sauce came out. While washing his bowl, that 9.0 somehow turned into a 9.3. Strong showing and possibly Kevin’s second highest score on one of my offerings.

• Adam had something borderline witchy happen. I saw him adding accoutrements on my way out of the kitchen. Then I got sent a video of his son drooling over the soup. Shortly after, I was hit with a very polite 9.5. I will accept all parts of that experience.

• Conlan is becoming easier to read. One look at his face and I knew he didn’t like it. He landed on a 7.0. All good bruh!

• I normally do not score my own soup, but in the interest of science and math, I am giving it a 9.0 to balance out that 7.0.

• That puts the official Soup Club score at 8.7.

Now the Campbell’s Crew:

• Meka came in with a 6.0 or 6.5, and obviously I am taking the 6.5. She gave the tacos a 10, but we are not opening the taco scoring can of worms today. Her feedback was that the chili was not hearty enough and needed more beans. When I asked what hearty meant, she said “you know, like thick.” For the record, you could have mortared brick with this chili consistency. But noted.

• Aubreigh had me doing repeated double takes. Double take when she grabbed two tacos and two bowls of chili at the same time. Double take when she crushed both tacos. Double take when she licked the second bowl of chili clean. Final double take when she hit me with a zero hesitation 10.0.

• Ian did not give me a score or a readable reaction. More probing required.

• Chris may have given me a score, but I forgot. Also requires probing.

• Felton absolutely raved about the food. No official score, but based on tone, history and the presence of hot sauce, I am guessing an 8.5.

• Hunter was thrilled to hand out a 9.5. Thanks man.

• Lucas followed suit with another 9.5.

• That gives the unofficial Campbell’s Crew score an 8.8.

I cannot speak for all the CSRs, but I had a great time. Lots of smiles, lots of laughs, and everyone walked out full. And maybe, just maybe, someone learned a thing or two along the way. Probably not!