If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? What is the ONE Meal a Human Can Live On?
As a person who dreams about food ALL of the time, I have never been more prepared or passionate about answering this one question.
“If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?”
Of course, this question, when asked, is usually attached to “if you were on a desert island and you could only pick one thing…” though realistically, why would this desert island offer any of us a choice, or even have any of the supplies ready to prepare our choice, as simple or lavish the meal we chose may be.
If we were thinking realistically, this question would come up a lot fewer times than it does, but we are all dreamers with wild and hungry imaginations, so we ask ourselves a surprisingly hard question (hard because to narrow down all of our favorite delicious, melty, fried foods to only choosing one is torturous) and we love a good challenge.
And this question does come up a lot! The number of times I have heard it asked on a first date or ice breaker, or the number of times I have sat with my top pants button open at the end of eating at a buffet and asked everyone at the table this question…
All imagination and hypothetical question asking aside, it is also a real question to the downsizer, to the picky eaters, to the people who have no time or energy to cook, or to the people who are confused about meal prepping (yes, meal prepping is just eating leftovers over and over, but that’s another little question to ask and answer). I see you, so let’s answer it.
Many of my own first choices are simple: fried chicken, fries, potstickers, Hot Cheetos. Meat heavy. Sodium content way over the daily recommended. No veggies, please. But how long would it be before I keel over, if not to a lack of nutrition, to constipation? So, the key is tasty, rich umami flavors, but also healthy.
Since we are being relatively serious about answering this question, we also have to ask, “If you could (or have to) only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what IS the one meal a human can actually live on?”
I’d have to enjoy the meal so I don’t get sick of it and it has to be relatively healthy because otherwise, I would probably only get to eat the meal a handful of times. (Of course, if the question were different and there were no real health consequences then my answer would be different, but because I want to live through this meal more than 10 times, we have to think about the nutritional value of this meal.)
I think about this question so much more than I should (because what really are any of our odds of having to eat one meal only for the rest of our lives…?) Nevertheless, the long-awaited answer is a poké bowl!
Most poké bowls are layered: a base (usually your carbs), protein(s) of choice, veggies, sauce, and then the final toppings for the bowl. In each of these steps is the chance to choose options to make sure you have rich nutrients to make it as healthy and still absolutely as tasty as possible.
For me, I would choose a base of quinoa and mixed greens. My protein choice would be salmon, tuna, shrimp, and scallops. The veggies I would pair in this bowl are cucumber, corn, cilantro, carrot, green onions, edamame, mangos, pineapples, mushroom, onion, asparagus, and tomatoes. My sauce choice would be a mix of ponzu, spicy mayo, and sometimes an eel sauce. (The sauces will add many extra calories, so you can be cautious when choosing your sauce. Or, bite the calories, lean in, and relax about the count, after all, how much else are you eating?) Finally, for the toppings on my bowl and a great crunch, I would choose avocado, seaweed salad, sesame seeds, pickled ginger, crispy garlic, and fried onions.
And there you have it! The ultimate bowl that is super healthy because you can add so many good things that are actually a bunch of really healthy things on their own into this one meal, ensuring that you don’t miss out on any of your nutrients.
It will always taste so good and the variety in the bowl itself will keep me from feeling too sick of the repetitiveness of the one meal. The best part is however you vary and customize your favorite items to put in more or less of some things in quantity to make it as “healthy” as you want it, s will always be a tasty meal.
To me, the only correct answer, if I could only LIVE on one meal for the rest of my life, is a poké bowl. I would be so happy to eat this every day, and this one meal might actually be healthier than much of whatever we already eat.
