Once in a while, I get a craving for KFC's Original Recipe. Once in very great while, I give in, and indulge myself. I've been wanting it for a couple of months, and last week, I gave in. It's been over a year since the last time I sinned indulged, so it's not too horribly unhealthy. There's just something about the whole idea of just cooked KFC chicken; it's not just the fried chicken, which is reliably tender and tasty, but the mashed potatoes and gravy, and the slaw (or the other sides; most of which are not bad). There's the convenience of it being already cooked, and ready to eat, without any need to wash dishes even. And while fried chicken isn't the healthiest meal in the world, it is awfully good—and for those of you wishing something less calorie-laden, there are alternatives, like the much-advertised grilled chicken, which I admit, I'm not even interested in trying. Just give me a piece of breast, original recipe, with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy, and one of slaw. I used to love the biscuits, but since KFC replaced the packets of honey with weird rather vile corn syrup packets, I'm less enamored of the biscuits. The gravy, though, is still pretty fabulous—I have a friend whose "secret gravy recipe" for Thanksgiving requires going to KFC the day before and buying a quart of their gravy to go. She's been doing this for over twenty years now, and I think I'm the only one who knows her "secret recipe."

For those of us consumed by the desire to know exactly what we're ingesting, KFC provides a fairly complete breakdown of the nutritional values of its entire menu, with some decent suggestions about eating, if not healthily, at least with less of an invitation to coronary disaster. They're no longer using oils with trans fats for cooking (they now use soybean oil), which is much healthier, and there is even a useful printable exchange list here, for those on restricted diets based on food exchanges.

While KFC is a franchise (YUM! Brands owns KFC, A&W Restaurants, Long John Silver's, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell), it's an international one, and there's a surprising amount of leeway regarding the menu both here and abroad. According to the nutritional breakdown, somewhere other than New England, Washington, or California, there are KFCs offering greens as a side. I am envious. There's a KFC in South Carolina, near Charleston, that has hushpuppies that are incredible, red beans and rice, and roasted battered potato wedges that are fairly spicy, but those are very much not a standard menu item. On Maui, you can get sides of Hawaiian potato salad (it includes macaroni) and Mahi mahi sandwiches. The international KFCs, so I'm told by globe-trotting friends, offer various sorts of kebabs, including chicken and beef-based kebabs. For any other hungry bloggers out there who just want an almost home-cooked meal, there are KFC coupons here.