How many items on a plate?

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We had a 1 dish meal tonight, stuffed peppers. They had rice, a protein (g. beef), veges in the stuffing (onions and garlic), and dairy (cheese), and the container was a vege (a bell pepper). One pepper and I was done., and I could have done without the last 4-5 bites. Craig managed 2 peppers, 1 decent sized and 1 smaller.
 
Don't Hawaiians also call that a "plate lunch?"

CD

Casey, for us in Hawaii, a plate lunch is kinda-sorta like the southern "meat and three" I suppose. A protein and then three sides.

Hawaii May 2012 199.jpg
[I went to a food truck rally in Ka Uka, MMM, a GF of mine owns a truck]
... be it steamed white rice (a must!), macaroni salad (another staple item), green salad (new to the plate), steamed purple potatoes (yum!), sometimes Kahuku Corn if you're really lucky and on Oahu ... you get this gist.
 
I'm enjoying your pics, kgirl. :yum:
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I live alone and cook for one 95% of the time and don't feel like I have to have a variety of 3 food groups on a plate for a main meal. I have eggs almost every morning and usually incorporate some kind of veggie into it....lately it's been omelets or scrambled eggs with bell peppers and asparagus, maybe with a slice of toasted whole wheat on the side. Or fruit.

Often I'll grill some chicken, or a tri tip, or a flank steak....enough for a few days. Then I use whatever veggies are on hand for a side to change it up a little.
 
Do holidays or buffet type meals count?

All bets are off when it comes to those types of meals. Same with patio BBQ's with friends and family. Several plates may be required per person just to fit in a few bites of everything. :LOL::wub:
 
I grew up being trained to the protein, starch, veg plate but rarely the fourth item.
We never had bread or rolls for dinner normally, unless it was garlic toast with a grilled meal.

I'm very carb restricted but I try to include them for the SC, although not for me.
Now nearly every meal has something green with a side veg. or a green salad.
I just don't feel a meal is balanced or healthy without something green.
 
Casey, for us in Hawaii, a plate lunch is kinda-sorta like the southern "meat and three" I suppose. A protein and then three sides... be it steamed white rice (a must!), macaroni salad (another staple item), green salad (new to the plate), steamed purple potatoes (yum!), sometimes Kahuku Corn if you're really lucky and on Oahu ... you get this gist.

Ah, yes, I remember now that macaroni salad is a must for the Hawaiian plate lunch -- and the white rice. IIRC, top that rice with a burger patty, a fried egg and some gravy, and you have a loco moco.

CD
 
Casey, for us in Hawaii, a plate lunch is kinda-sorta like the southern "meat and three" I suppose. A protein and then three sides.

View attachment 26308
[I went to a food truck rally in Ka Uka, MMM, a GF of mine owns a truck]
... be it steamed white rice (a must!), macaroni salad (another staple item), green salad (new to the plate), steamed purple potatoes (yum!), sometimes Kahuku Corn if you're really lucky and on Oahu ... you get this gist.
Rice, macaroni, potatoes and corn - quite the carb-fest ;) Here in the South, there would be a mess o' collards or some other cooked leaves on the plate [emoji38]
 
I grew up being trained to the protein, starch, veg plate but rarely the fourth item.
We never had bread or rolls for dinner normally, unless it was garlic toast with a grilled meal.

I'm very carb restricted but I try to include them for the SC, although not for me.
Now nearly every meal has something green with a side veg. or a green salad.
I just don't feel a meal is balanced or healthy without something green.

I just remembered that there is one meal I have to have as a threesome. Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and fried okra, all slathered with white gravy. It probably knocks a month or two off of my life expectancy, but I consider it worth it.

CD
 
It's three or one for me. Some meals are inherently one dish meals. The dish IS the meal: pizza?

But mostly my meals are meat, starch, vegetable. Chicken with rice and lima beans.

My own single dish meals are usually quick and dirty: a hamburger. Two tacos. A sandwich. When you get right down to it a taco is a Mexican sandwich.

I usually make salad to go with pizza, like when I make any other Italian dish.

Like peas and corn, beans (legumes) are a starch.
 
Now nearly every meal has something green with a side veg. or a green salad.
I just don't feel a meal is balanced or healthy without something green.

I feel the same way, although it doesn't necessarily have to be green. We eat bell peppers regularly in many different ways, and I usually have at least two colors of them in dishes where I use them.
 
I always try to include something green when Im eating a heavy carb dish ( pasta, bread...).
Whether it be a salad, or quick stir fry or steamed veggies.

On occasion Ill toss a soup into the mix also, all to try an minimize the amount of pasta I'm taking in, cause I can eat pasta non stop if I have nothing else to help fill me up.
 
If the dish calls for one pot and is yummy I eat it.
Like chicken fried rice, it has chicken, peas , rice and it is yummy. I am not going put it three different bowls just to eat " correctly" .

Some meals are best served in one pot.

And there are some I wouldnt mix, honestly lingon, meatballs, gravy, potatoes and pickled gurkin in one pot? That must be horrid.
 
I recently spent a few days visiting an old friend who is a great cook. She made some delicious meals but I noticed that most of them were one dish meals. In other words - there was one item to eat. As an example one night there was a pasta dish that was pasta tossed with some veggies, sauced and topped with a little parm. I found that I actually ate more at these meals than I might is there were more and varied items on my plate.


So I 'm taking note and making a personal pledge to always have 3 items (or more) at a meal even if it's just a side salad and an extra veg.

How often do you make a one dish meal?
I am culinary challenged cooking for my parents. I always try to get three items on the plate. When I make a hot dish, I still try to get three items on the plate--for my Mom, fruit or veggies are a must, with a hot dish, a slice of garlic toast is my cop out. Everything starts with the protein, then I add the fruit and then try to get a carb on the plate. For my Dad, I do a salad, my Mom can't eat greens, so salad for her is once a month. I have two of those 3-section plates that I use for my Mom and I try to fill each section 3 x a day. It is challenging.It is so frigging hard to come up something my Mom will eat and it drives me crazy. I so want to eat lots and lots of greens, chickpeas, etc. in an Indian dish...but they won't eat that.
 
Maybe I'm just not interpreting the question correctly, but I don't feel the need to have an arbitrary number of items on any plate of food. That said, most of my meals consist of two items - usually 5-6 oz of meat/fish and a cup of vegetables. But there are occasionally times I might only have meat, or a couple of eggs, or just a salad. And I do make a lot of one dish meals, such as pizza, curries, soup, or a casserole of some kind.

I think my current dietary choices also stem in part from the fact that I live alone. Things were different when I was putting food on the table for my family. I'll also add that I used to weigh close to 300 lbs in those days, and now one-third of me has vanished, so living a little more austere existence has its up sides as well. :)
 
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I so want to eat lots and lots of greens, chickpeas, etc. in an Indian dish...but they won't eat that.
Have you thought about making a large batch of some kind of dish you prefer once a week or so and eating some of that along with what you're making for your parents? I realize that would be extra work and you're under a lot of stress, but having something you really enjoy available might help reduce some of that stress. Just a thought.
 
Glenn loves bread and would probably love a meal of bread, with a bread for a side. Never mind.
MMM I used to be friends with bread. I miss bread. MMM bread.
I could, in a previous life, been, a bread-a-tarian.;)
 
I don't put potatoes in my pot roast anymore. I never liked them cooked that way growing up, but it never occurred to me to do it differently till someone here mentioned serving pot roast with mashed potatoes. So now I do that [emoji2]

The only thing that cooks with my pot roast is quartered mushroom caps. Mashed potatoes and veggie cooked separate and served on the side.

I'm one of those three-things-on-a-plate people. Protein++. The "++" used to be potato (or pasta) and a veggie, but more often it's been two veggies. I've even been moving toward four items on the plate, allowing even less space to the protein. I like different colored foods on our plates. :) Sometimes, though, the plate ends up looking pretty blonde in spite of my best efforts.

Salad, BTW, is always on its own plate. Ideally served before the entree plate, but that usually doesn't happen for "the cook" in this house. I just don't like salad dressing encroaching into my hot foods.

I like to serve grilled steak or chicken and a salad with a vinegar based dressing on the same plate. I like the flavor of the dressing with those two meats. When I make that meal there usually isn't a carb.
 
My choices too are based upon cooking for one. I'd just rather short the labor instead of cooking myself a gourmet, multi-item dinner every night. My criteria now are (1) tastes okay, (2) reasonably healthy, (3) enough to not go to bed hungry.

My diet counts too, in terms of eating less food than I used to. I'm willing to sacrifice enjoyment to get to my desired weight. Doesn't really matter how many items, whatever seems right. Steak and either potatoes or salad works. One day when I'm back to my normal weight I'll start thinking more in terms of culinary enjoyment.

But I'm not counting items. I just cook whatever looks like will get me through another day. Unless it's Asian (with s side of rice) the most common plan is "a few items, one of them a protein like meat, poultry, fish, etc.
 
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