The Today Show did a piece today called “What is a ‘salad lasagna’? This low-carb lasagna is made with lettuce”. The story is one of those silly things that the Today Show specializes in:

If you’ve ever wondered how to trick a pasta-loving kid (or perhaps even a carb-obsessed adult) into eating more vegetables, then a “lasagna salad” may just be the very green answer to your prayers.

This virtually carb-free creation consists of seven layers of vitamin-rich veggies including a base of iceberg lettuce, layers of sliced onion and slivers of red tomatoes. There is no cheese and zero meat products are involved. And, it should go without saying, no noodles.

Behold this beautifully layered, un-tossed salad.

But read further:

The carefully crafted dish, however, isn’t some maniacal, pro-keto joke. Dick Chmeller, a watercraft engineer from Cardiff, U.K., told TODAY Food that he created the dish to impress his wife, Melanie Chmeller-Smith, and her new friend, Omar Pasha, whom he was meeting for the first time. As he was planning the meal, Chmeller “panicked” when he learned that Pasha follows a strictly vegan diet.

“I’d never prepared a meal for a vegan before,” Chmeller told TODAY. “Using my engineers’ thinking, I came up with the idea of a salad served in an appealing geometric fashion.”

On Saturday night, dinner was served and, according to Chmeller, “Omar was very pleased with the thought behind the gesture.”

Chmeller and his wife enjoyed the veggie dish with a dollop of light Hellmann’s mayonnaise on top, while Pasha opted for an egg-free vinaigrette to add some flavor.

I don’t know if it is ” maniacal” or “pro-keto” but it is a joke. Check out the name. Dick Chmeller? Really. And his wife’s new friend “Omar Pasha?” From Cardiff, UK.

Apparently, the perpetrator of this fraud started out to have some fun. He copied a picture from Facebook, posted in on a sub-reddit where it was guaranteed to generate discussion. Apparently, this was just for his own amusement.

There was divine intervention when a writer for Today named Julia Curley stumbled upon it.

That led to this request:

Screengrab from https://twitter.com/kindman69/status/1124372044806795264

What followed next was simply inspired:

Curley tones down the story…Chmellar’s wife’s lover is now her “new friend”…and the tragic maiming of Chmeller is ignored. They don’t pick up on the cuck reference. But they do give photo credit where it is due:

a guy from 4chan fooled the today show with a cuck story and the name dick chmeller pic.twitter.com/qnTBsNceux

— coochiepls (@kindman69) May 3, 2019

Now, of course, this could be an elaborate prank on behalf of Today though I doubt it. But, you know what, even if it is, I’m proud to have been suckered by the story.