Week Two: Rice Bowl

One of the biggest similarities between the three plates is the emphasis on variety in the diet.
All three plates encourage meals to incorporate all different groups of food. Another similarity amongst
the plates is the emphasis on moderation of foods that aren’t super nutrient dense such as sugary drinks
and limiting starchy veggies. Another commonality is the push for water consumption. I think that often
times we get so wrapped up in eating healthy that we forget that one of the easiest ways we could
improve our diet is to just drink more water. 

One difference that I thought was important to bring up about the plates was the fact that the USDA plate
lacked any additional information, it was purely a visual. While this is beneficial for people to have an
image to make their dinner plate reflect, it can make it challenging to implement if they lack additional
instructions on how to make it happen. Another difference amongst the plates was their opinion on
butter as a fat. The Harvard plate discourages it whereas the Food as Medicine plate encourages it
within moderation. Another difference about the Food as Medicine plate is that it calls attention to
herbs and spices, thus really bringing up the point that herbs have different chemical constituents and
can be functional foods in the diet. A great example of this is incorporating turmeric into a meal with
some dietary fat in order to fight of inflammation in the body. 

One thing that I somewhat don’t agree with is the USDA plate’s emphasis on having dairy at every meal.
I understand the reasoning behind why it's there, that its really challenging to make a model diet for the
general population that has the adequate amount of calcium without incorporating dairy, but I’m not sure
that consuming that much dairy is beneficial. Dairy can cause inflammation to occur in the body which
can lead to other negative side effects. Furthermore, the dairy that the USDA is promoting is low fat and
therefore lacks the fat make the beverage satiating. 

This week for my home cooking assignment the meal that I chose to prepare was a rice bowl with lentils,
roasted vegetables and a spinoff of the carrot pâté that we made in lab this week. The plate that I chose
to compare this meal to was the Food as Medicine plate because it most accurately reflected my
approach to nutrition that I implement within my life. 

One thing that was lacking in my meal was the variety in the ways that I prepared my vegetables. I did
not incorporate fermented vegetables simply because I didn’t plan far enough ahead to ferment any, nor
did I want to run out to the store and pick up sauerkraut or kimchi. My goal with this meal was to utilize
vegetables that I had before they went bad and I had to throw them out. I also didn’t have any raw
vegetables because I have a hard time digesting them. 

One of the  things that my meal encorporated and aligned with the plate was the use of herbs and spices.
I used turmeric in my almond pâté as well as some smoked paprika. One thing that I made sure to do
was pair my turmeric with a healthy fat source in order to spread its anti-inflammatory effects throughout
my body rather than just having it act within the GI tract. I also had lentils paired with rice which made
a complete protein source as I didn’t and typically don’t cook with meat. 

One modification I would make in the future is to plan ahead a bit more and to ferment some cabbage in
order to bring some acidity to the meal in addition to some probiotics. I also would maybe try to bring in
a second grain for some additional dimension to the dish.

To make the rice bowl I chose to roast my vegetables, including the carrots that I blended up for the pâté.
I also utilized almonds and shredded coconut in place of the cashews. The rice and lentils I used I
cooked and froze at an earlier date so I had to thaw them in order to utilize them. Once the carrots
were roasted I blended them up with the almonds and coconut in addition to soy sauce, miso, turmeric
and lemon juice. From there I plated the meal and sprinkled some black sesame seeds on top for
aesthetics.