“The Ideal Meal”: Defined

With this category, my hope is to look at meals (and the components that make up these meals) we see in restaurants, frozen dinners or ones we cook ourselves; and hold them up to a standard that supports a balanced way of eating.  A common misconception people have when they decide to start “eating healthy” is that they need to completely renovate their current menu, never to have any of the current favorites again.  While in extreme cases (ie. someone who eats every meal from a vending machine or fast food joint) this may be true, often it is much more realistic to take a look at your current diet and make a few small changes, additions or subtractions.

Let me illustrate this point with a story:  I recently saw a commercial for a chicken dinner chain-type place.  The meal they were selling as “complete” had chicken, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese and a fountain drink.  Oh, and maybe a dinner roll.  My jaw dropped.  They call that a meal?!?  For starters, everything on the plate was the same color; there were at least 6 ounces of meat (more than I need PER DAY), and 2-3 different starchy side dishes.  In my mind, eating a balanced diet is best broken down meal by meal.  A simple way to get what you need each day from each food group is to include a variety of them at every meal.  So how would I change the meal on my TV screen to fit this approach?   Let’s first define what I mean by an “Ideal Meal”.

Start with at least 1 cup of veggies, with bonus points for at least 3 different colors of veggies.  Then add some sort of complex carbohydrate (starch with fiber).  This is anything from the grain group (bonus points for whole grain products), or starchy vegetables (like corn, potatoes or winter squash, to name a few).  Next is a lean protein source like skinless chicken breast, fish, lean red meats or vegetarian choices like dry beans or soy products.  The amounts from each component depend on what your daily needs are from this group, and how much you’ve already had.  If you get creative with marinates, rubs, vegetable based sauces, spices, herbs and other aromatics, the possibilities are virtually endless with this basic formula.

So, what would I change about the meal I saw on TV?  Well, I would decide between EITHER the mashed potatoes OR the macaroni and cheese.  Then I would add a mixture of non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, purple cabbage and carrots (because I love how green, purple and orange look together, AND they are all very powerful colors from an antioxidant perspective), steamed in chicken stock,  sprinkled with minced garlic and zest some fresh lemon over all.  Then I would ask myself if I was in the mood for a chicken thigh, breast or leg?  And then I would pick one, not all three.  In reality, I’m about 100% more likely to just prepare that meal myself, sharing any veggie scraps with our dog Otto (kale stems are an enthusiastic favorite crunchy treat of his, followed closely by carrot peelings).  I enjoy the process of dreaming up and cooking meals from scratch far too much to let someone else have all the fun…