Pick Or Pass On These Foods And We'll Reveal What To Cook Tonight
- by Brittany Brown
- – on
- in Lifestyle
Most people grow out of disliking a lot of foods from childhood, but we all know a picky eater. It's the friend that at the coolest, most innovative place in town, gets chicken fingers and fries. Don't get me wrong, chicken fingers are great, but there's a time and place for everything. Hopefully you're not a picky eater with dietary restrictions. Avoiding gluten or dairy is hard enough as it is.
Here we have a selection of popular foods, drinks, and desserts to choose from. Some are as common as it comes like coffee or steak and potatoes, but we've thrown in a couple of curve balls. Ever thought about eating raw ground beef with an egg on top or the seared pancreas of a lamb?
This quiz is perfect for those nights when it's hard to figure out what to eat for dinner. You're definitely hungry, but the possibilities are endless and you're indecisive. Maybe the same old meal prep just won't do it tonight. There's only so many nights of grilled chicken with steamed vegetables a person can take.
So, preheat that oven to 350° and get ready to pick or pass some foods because we'll be cooking tonight.
Pick or Pass: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Spaghetti and meatballs is a popular Italian-American food. Traditionally, it’s put together with long thin noodles, tomato sauce, ground beef packed into rounds, and topped with Parmesan cheese. If it’s possible, go for homemade! There are also a lot of variations of this traditional dish, such as the meat used for the meatballs.
Pick or Pass: Apple Pie
There's nothing more classic than an apple pie. This pie is a staple for many families in the United States around Thanksgiving or Christmas. Sometimes apple pie is accompanied with ice cream, whipped cream, or even cheddar cheese. Honey Crisp and Granny Smith apples are popular choices for a pie filling.
Pick or Pass: Buttered Popcorn
Forget about the ballgame, take me out to the movie theater. Popcorn is the quintessential snack for movie theaters, but it wasn’t always welcome in front of the big screen. Movie theaters wanted to appeal to a sophisticated crowd like regular theaters, that don’t allow food. During the Great Depression, movie theaters became especially popular with this inexpensive snack.
Pick or Pass: Seafood Paella
Seafood Paella is a traditional dish from Spain. A fish mixture of typically shrimp, mussels, lobster, and cuttlefish is combined with seasoned white rice. The dish is a combination of Roman and Arab cultures. Paella refers to the kind of pan that is typically used to make this tasty dish.
Pick or Pass: Poutine
This dish, that looks like a Garbage Plate from Western New York, comes from Quebec, Canada. Poutine is a combination of French fries and cheese curds topped with gravy. We promise it tastes better than it looks, especially after 3:00am. Once a pub or hockey rink food is now made all over the world.
Pick or Pass: Tacos
There are a lot of modern variations of tacos, but they are traditionally a handmade soft corn or flour tortilla, a protein base, and an endless combination of salsa, cheese, guacamole, and other toppings. American tacos will be of a crunchy hard shell variety, like a tortilla chip, with ground meat.
Pick or Pass: Toast with Jam
Toast is a common breakfast choice due to how easy it is to make. Take a slice of bread, put it in the toaster and voilà. There'a also endless toppings and spreads to change up this easy breakfast. But, how do you feel about jam? There's a jam for pretty much every fruit.
Pick or Pass: French Toast
Although this breakfast food is thought of to be a French dish, the first example of French Toast can be seen as early as the Roman Empire. In France it's referred to as pain perdu, or lost bread. This is because stale bread, that would be otherwise be thrown away, would be used to make French Toast.
Pick or Pass: Chicken Parmesan
This fan favorite Italian-American dish consists of breaded chicken covered in cheese and marinara sauce. What's not to love? Usually it is served with a pasta side and if it is from Olive Garden there's endless soup, salad and bread sticks in your future. For vegetarians, try Eggplant Parmesan.
Pick or Pass: Hummus
If you're a vegetarian or vegan, this popular Mediterranean chickpea dip or spread is an essential at the grocery store. Hummus is a combination of blended chickpea, or garbanzo beans, herbs, spices, and oils. It's popular to drip pita bread, vegetables, or crackers into hummus. It can also be used in sandwiches.
Pick or Pass: Fish and Chips
This dish originates from England, but is now served all over the world. It consists of a battered and fried white fish fillet and french fries. The fried dish will often be served on white paper and newspaper. Regionally, this dish will be called different things such as cod and chips, or a fish fry.
Pick or Pass: Sweetbreads
Don't be fooled, this dish has nothing to do with bread or grain. No sweet breads here. A Sweetbread is a thymus gland or pancreas collected from either a calf or lamb. It's considered a delicacy, and when done right are very tender and flavorful. Sweetbreads are typically pan or deep fried.
Pick or Pass: Coffee
People are passionate about their coffee. There are a lot of different varieties of this roasted bean drink, but people tend to feel extremes one way or the other about it. Some need it to function completely (guilty) while others won't even touch a fancy latte or cappuccino.
Pick or Pass: Pho
Pho is an Asian noodle soup that consists of broth and rice noodles. Chicken or beef is usually included as well. Originating in Vietnam, it's a popular street food. This dish spread to other countries though refugees of the Vietnam War. The herbs and noodles used may vary depending on where in Vietnam the Pho is eaten.
Pick or Pass: Fajitas
Fajitas are considered of the Tex-Mex variety. Skirt steak is the most popular meat used in this dish, but any protein can be used - or the vegetables can be eaten alone. The vegetables in Fajitas are typically onions and peppers, and with the meat, will be wrapped in a flour tortilla.
Pick or Pass: Avocado Toast
This combination of toasted bread topped with avocado is most commonly associated with the millennial generation. These open faced sandwiches can be topped with more than avocado though. Popular choices are a poached or fried egg, tomato, or smoked salmon. If you're more simplistic, no worries, just salt and pepper is fine too.
Pick or Pass: Lasagna
The favorite food of Garfield, an animated orange cat character created by American cartoonist Jim Davis, lasagna is a popular Italian among humans as well. Long, flat noodles are layered with vegetables, cheese, meat, and sauce to create a casserole-like structure. Lasagna is simple enough to make with utilizing boxed pasta, and can easily feed a crowd.
Pick or Pass: Chocolate Croissant
With no pain there's no gain in the pastry would. Like a traditional croissant, this pastry is light, buttery, and flaky, but filled with dark chocolate. One might see this treat labeled as a pain au chocolat as well, which is the french translation for chocolate croissant. For an extra treat, get a latte to sip as well.
Pick or Pass: Chicken Noodle Soup
One may remember eating chicken noodle soup as a child with a cough of cold. It's also perfect for a chilly winter day with some crusty bread. Yum! Take chicken noodle soup to the next level in a crock pot. This easy soup recipe just got easier...but, get it from the can if you must.
Pick or Pass: Corn on the Cob
There's nothing like sweet corn in the summer. Corn on the cob is typically a side dish that is eaten with barbecue or Cajun seafood. There are many ways to cook corn on the cob from boiling to grilling. Most common seasonings are salt, pepper, and butter. Corn with lime, cheese, chili powder, and mayonnaise is called Elote.
Pick or Pass: Lobster Roll
One can find this classic New England sandwich anywhere on the North East coast of the United States. A Lobster Roll is a buttery toasted roll with a lobster meat salad overflowing from the top. The filling will include either butter or mayonnaise depending on the region of New England.
Pick or Pass: Cheeseburger
A cheeseburger is one of the most common dishes on the menu of restaurants. Not to mention that most of our fast food is hamburger or cheeseburger based. There are many ways to do a cheeseburger, but traditionally it's a beef burger patty with a slice (or two) or cheese on top.
Pick or Pass: Shrimp Cocktail
Shrimp cocktail is a popular appetizer or hors d'œuvre in the United States and Great Britain. It usually just consists of cooked and cleaned shrimp with the tails on with a dipping sauce. The sauce is called cocktail sauce and it can be store bought or made with mayonnaise, ketchup, and horseradish.
Pick or Pass: Steak and Potatoes
One might hear a person be called a "steak and potatoes kind of guy or girl". Now, there's nothing wrong with a juicy steak or some mean mashed potatoes, but it generally refers to a person who is unpretentious or basic. It's a classic paring, but there's really nothing groundbreaking about it.
Pick or Pass: Macaroni and Cheese
The great thing about mac and cheese is that it can be a main or side dish. It's all about the portion and maybe what's inside it. Loaded mac and cheese with all the fixings might be too heavy for a side. However, we're not here to judge macaroni and cheese consumption.
Pick or Pass: Lobster Bisque
A bisque is a cream based soup and the lobster part isn't as luxurious as lobster is typically considered. Lobster bisque was originally created from the seafood that wasn't deemed quality enough for market. That may not be the case with modern lobster bisque, but traditionally, ground up shells from crustaceans make up the soup as well.
Pick or Pass: Key Lime Pie
What makes a Key Lime different than any old lime? This citrus hybrid is smaller but packs a larger punch in both acidity and flavor. They also mostly come from the Florida Keys. A Key Lime pie is a combination of these limes, condensed milk, and egg yolks in a graham cracker crust.
Pick or Pass: Lemonade
No, we're not talking about the most recent Beyoncé album. Nothing beats a large, cold, and sweet glass of lemonade on a hot summers day. That is, if you're a fan of sweet citrus drinks. Like many things we enjoy today, one of the first examples of a lemonade like drink is seen in ancient Egypt.
Pick or Pass: Hot Dogs
Hot dog, look at these hot dogs. This family picnic favorite is a processed meat sausage typically served in a white bun. There are many different toppings on can put on a hot dog, and there are even combinations of toppings that warrant a name of that kind of hot dog.
Pick or Pass: Sushi
Sushi is a cold dish that originates from Japan. Fish, vegetables, and/or fruit are combined with rice to make consistent, bite sized pieces. The fish comes in many varieties like salmon, tuna, and scallops and is typically served raw. Sushi is typically served with soy sauce, pickled ginger, and wasabi on the side.
Pick or Pass: Pepperoni Pizza
What could be better than carbs, cheese, and processed meats? (Very little unless you're low carb and vegan.) Pepperoni, aside from cheese, is one of the most popular toppings for pizza in the United Sates. Pepperoni is classified as a salami and is a combination of cured beef and pork, and paprika.
Pick or Pass: Nachos
Nachos are a Mexican based dish that consists of tortilla chips covered in a variety of toppings. The most important topping is cheese, but others may include sour cream, salsa, meat, pickled jalapeños, beans, guacamole and green onion. Modern nachos are served at stadiums or movie theaters with just "nacho" cheese to dip with.
Pick or Pass: Buffalo Wings
The Buffalo Wing rightfully comes from Buffalo, New York, a large city in the western part of New York State. That's right, New York is more than just "NYC". A Buffalo Wing sauce consists of butter, hot sauce, and vinegar. Now Buffalo Wings are served all across the United States.
Pick or Pass: Pancakes
This food also goes by the names flapjack, hotcake, or griddle cake. A pancake is a round bread like breakfast item that comes from a batter. The batter is poured on a hot pan or griddle and flipped once golden brown. Pancakes will typically be served with butter and maple syrup.
Pick or Pass: Steak Tartare
If you're a fan of sushi, try Steak Tartare. This dish is raw ground beef served with seasoning, capers, onions, and sometimes an egg yolk. Some might stay away from this dish because of the health risk of eating raw steak. People with compromised immune systems should avoid eating Steak Tartare.
