I first met the DIRT man when I was on assignment as a newspaper reporter.  I was on location in Thailand, covering a child slave trade operation while working in conjunction with local authorities to uncover valuable information that would bust the whole thing wide open.

Okay… it was actually a small town newspaper in Maryland.  And the assignment?  ahem… I was covering a holiday bazaar at the local elementary school.

But I did meet the DIRT man there.

And I was pretty stoked, too.

Most of the other booths were crafts, tupperware, jewelry…yawn…so it was a happy day when I saw the DIRT man with samples of his seasonings, presented in dip form alongside some tasty, soft bread with which to transport it to my salivating mouth.  He must have noticed my look of nirvana after tasting one of every sample, because he chatted me up a bit, filled me in on all the details of how he became the DIRT man, and even offered me some samples to take home.

Did I mention I was pretty stoked?

After the adrenaline pumping Holiday Bazaar was finally over, I drove straight home and began using my DIRT samples on pretty much everything from scrambled eggs to baked snack crackers – and every time it made it all taste fabulous.  My favorite had to be the DIRT steaks, though, which took just a smidgen of a sprinkling to add a ton of flavor.  I contacted the DIRT man recently to see if he’d be willing to send me a few bottles of DIRT in exchange for a bit of word of mouth, and he very graciously popped some in the mail (along with his cookbook!!) the very next day.  I was, to say the least, very stoked!

I decided to keep it simple with the DIRT this time around.  I made some DIRT deviled eggs and DIRT chicken strips (I guess I was in kind of a picnic-y mood??), an easy and fun dinner that elevated me to “cool mom” status, at least temporarily.  And if you’d like to try some DIRT for yourself, go ahead and check him out.  He’s worth the look!

wickedly DIRTy deviled eggs

• 6 hard boiled eggs
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/2 T. DIRT seasoning
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• paprika

Making deviled eggs is pretty much common knowledge, so I won’t bore you with it here.  If you’d like detailed instructions, drop me a line and I’d be glad to help you out!

wickedly DIRTy chicken strips

• 1 cup homemade breadcrumbs
• 1 T. DIRT seasoning
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• some parmesan is good thrown into the mix, too, if you’re in the mood!
• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Slice chicken breasts into strips.

Mix breadcrumbs, DIRT and parmesan together in a large plastic bag.  Pour melted butter over chicken and add to bag.  Coat chicken evenly with DIRT mixture.  Bake at 375 for approximately 20 minutes.

Enjoy!