First came the cucumber, finely grated.

Next was minced garlic.

Don’t forget the mint.

Gotta spice it up with jalapeno peppers.

Tomatoes are always utilitarian--at the very least.

Cilantro, spices and salt are added for seasonings.

“If I say spicy, it’s going to be spicy,” said chef Maribel Alchin.

Anthony Adams didn’t spill any of the above ingredients. Better yet, he didn’t fumble. One day after his Chicago Bears were thumped by the Green Bay Packers, defensive lineman Adams got into the culinary arts’ end zone Monday by successfully assembling a container of spicy Indian dip at the Meijer store in Niles, with the helpful directions of store healthy living advisor Alchin.

The unlikely pair, chef’s uniform-adorned Alchin and the affable 308-pound Adams, entertained store patrons with a late-afternoon food display before Adams signed autographs before an appreciative throng that snapped photos while he chopped and mixed.  Nothing would make a big guy forget the previous afternoon’s travail at the arch-rival’s hands than some fancy preparing or just mere talk of food.

Adams is the only Bear scheduled to appear as part of the celebrity food-prepping program at the Niles store. But if autograph hounds are patient until winter, Meijer events coordinator Becky McConnell  believes she’ll be able to land a Blackhawks player.

Constantly moving up and down the ice, the hockey players burn off calories quickly.  Just the thought of food, though, might slow down Adams’ metabolism.

“I’m a basic guy,” he said in response to Alchin’s inquiries on his favorite foods.

“I like calories.”

More specifically, Adams loves his grilled cheese  and peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches. He won’t burn his food if asked to cook. “I’ve made grilled chicken,” he said.

“Think you can do this at home?” Alchin queried Adams.

“Yeah!” replied the big Bear. His good humor was welcomed. “I’m pretty sore,” he said of the beating the Packers had administered.

Alchin won’t ask her celebrity guests to prepare a dish too far.

“Maribel always makes recipes that are realistic,” McConnell said.

Realistic even for a giant of a man?

“I have to maintain my weight,” Adams said, relating how he can be fined $480 per day for each pound over his prescribed weight.

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