Social Media Food Trends
Welcome back to another installment of reviewing recent social media food trends. If you’re interested in reading previous round-ups of this, there are two that can be found here and here!
Green Goddess Salad
This salad is a mixture of garlic, shallots, lime juice, chives, olive oil, nuts, basil, spinach and nutritional yeast enveloped in a homemade green goddess dressing, which adds further flavor from lemon, rice vinegar, and seasonings (to name a few of the dressing ingredients). If you’re looking for a new way to enjoy greens, such as spinach, this may be a fun way to have a different flavor experience. If it’s safe for you to eat dairy, you may find it more satisfying to add a cheese such as Parmesan or feta to the mixture versus nutritional yeast. Diet culture does not get to own salads so if you’re interested in this recipe to try something new, go for it! Plan to add in some protein and a carbohydrate to make it a more complete meal.
Carrot Salad
This is a newer trend that I've seen circulating recently. This salad involves shaved carrots, an oil, apple cider vinegar and some seasonings. Having a different way to enjoy carrots may be valuable to you, however the claims behind this salad being “hormone balancing” are not evidence-based. Eating enough, which includes adequacy in terms of energy/calories and regularity of eating, is one of the best ways to make sure your body is in homeostasis. Additionally, fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, which can be found in carrots, require a source of fat for optimal digestion and absorption. While this recipe does contain a small amount of cooking oil, being sure to have adequacy in your fat intake also helps for overall better nutrient absorption. Similarly to the above salad, eating this on its own would not be an energy or nutrient dense snack or meal, so be sure to add in a few more food groups to make this more complete.
Salmon bowl
This is probably the most well-known viral trend as it’s been going around for a while now, but has not yet made it into one of these round-ups! These salmon bowls are pretty simple and can be a great way to repurpose leftover salmon and/or rice. All you need is salmon, rice (microwaved with an ice cube to create fluffier reheated rice), soy sauce, sriracha, avocado, and kimchi and eaten with seaweed. These bowls are pretty nutrient dense and boast carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, and a lot of flavor. This one is a yes!
Baked oats
If you genuinely like oatmeal, this can be a great option, and even something that can be prepped ahead of time to enjoy throughout the week. No, not as a “healthy cake-for breakfast” option or something “we also desperately want to love it in order to achieve ultimate health and wellness”, as the referenced resource mentions, but simply as a carbohydrate source for meals and snacks. However if you’re someone who really doesn’t care for oatmeal and would much rather eat a bagel or freezer waffles for breakfast then no matter how the oats are made (baked oats, overnight oats, in the microwave, etc) you are likely not going to get much satisfaction from the meal. You also don’t have to go through the process of making these baked oats as the recipe says if that feels out of your wheelhouse. Perhaps simply taking microwavable oats for a carbohydrate and adding nut butter for some protein and fat, fruit for some additional fiber, and chocolate chips for some extra pizazz would help you to enjoy oatmeal more. Whatever your choice, make sure your motivations are because you enjoy oatmeal and want to try it in different variations, not because it feels like something you need to eat.
Remember, checking in with your motivations to try new recipes, especially trending recipes, is really important and may help to illuminate certain food rules. If you feel as though you need help examining food rules further, working with an eating disordered informed professional, such as a Registered Dietitian or therapist can be really helpful. If you are someone who’s already working with a professional and trying to improve your relationship to food, remember that you can opt out of following any food trends that do not feel of interest or helpful for you and your recovery/journey.
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