What's eating congress?

Or rather, what's congress eating?

Some pretty good food, apparently:

Under Pelosi's signature "Green the Capitol" initiative, the House cafeterias will get a full-blown makeover Monday to the very latest in organic and locally grown cuisine under a new contract with Restaurant Associates, caterer to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The vast House food service operation that feeds the belly of the beast - more than 2.5 million meals a year for members, staff, tourists, lobbyists, lawyers, journalists and other highly regarded species that inhabit the Capitol - is switching to locally grown, organic, seasonal and generally healthy food. It will be served in compostable sugar cane and corn starch containers instead of petroleum-based plastics. Even the knives and forks will be biodegradable.

The menu sounds yummy:

--Composed salad tossed to order with choice of seasonal vegetables and proteins with house-made vinaigrette over a warm grilled Focaccia bread

-- Roasted chicken with fire-roasted tomatoes and goat cheese

-- Cedar-plank wild salmon with apple cilantro relish

-- Seared barramundi (fish), white beans and tomatoes with thyme

-- Smoked salmon, roasted beets and arugula

-- Steamed broccoli, Brussels sprouts, sage roasted butternut squash, herb couscous

-- Samplings from Indian, Chinese, Greek, Moroccan and Mexican cuisines

-- Locally made Gifford's Ice Cream from a 70-year-old Washington institution

What the hell is "composed" salad? Anyway, though all of those dishes are things I'd like to eat, I wonder if they aren't risking a backlash by not only making the food "greener" and healthier, but also fancier. Not everyone has such complex palates, and you don't want people who are used to eating the basics think that "healthy" = "nasty tasting." So leave the above dishes on the menu, but maybe offer the roast chicken without goat cheese as well.