One thing to know about me is that I love food and I love to cook. Most of the time, I try to switch up my meal rotation so I don’t get bored eating the same thing every day. But every once in a while, I stumble upon a food I simply cannot let go of. I call these my food hyperfixations. Unfortunately, hyperfixating on a meal for too long usually ends in needing a thorough break, as the thought of eating it one more time suddenly becomes unbearable. Luckily, I’ve come back around to loving each one of these foods, and I’m here to share them with you—even if none of them are especially inventive.Â
Miso Soup
The very first meal I think of when I recall my hyperfixations is miso soup. This addiction began one Christmas, when my parents found an instant miso broth paste at World Market and tucked it into my stocking. Knowing my love for Japanese food, it was the perfect gift. I quickly discovered just how easy one of my favorite meals was to make. All you need is a tablespoon of the paste, some hot water, and your favorite add-ins. I always went with cubed tofu and chopped green onions. It didn’t take long for me to finish off the entire bottle of the paste, and then buy another. I think it was sometime after the second bottle that I started to lose interest in eating miso soup every day.Â
Cucumber Salad
Last year, TikTok was flooded with videos of the cucumber accordion salad. People posted tutorials showing how to slice a cucumber between two chopsticks at the perfect angle to achieve the springy accordion effect, then marinate it in a soy-based dressing. As you might guess from my instant miso fixation, I’m not always in the mood for high-effort meals. I stuck with regular sliced cucumbers—though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t attempt the accordion cut and fail miserably. Still, the salad was the perfect refreshing snack. I marinated mine in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, a little sugar, ginger paste, garlic, and sesame oil. For a meal, I often paired it with chicken wontons or gyoza. My favorite ones are from the Trader Joe’s frozen section!
Peanut Butter, Honey, and Banana Breakfast Toast
This sweet toast was my go-to quick breakfast for a long time. While I love a classic avocado toast with an egg, this was what I reached for when I was craving something sweeter. It’s incredibly easy to make and uses ingredients I almost always have at home. You just toast and butter your bread, spread peanut butter on top, swirl in some honey, and layer sliced banana over everything. I probably ate this every morning for a couple of weeks before getting sick of it, but I return to it now and then when I can’t decide what to make for breakfast.
Cowboy Caviar
This last hyperfixation is probably my favorite—and the only one I never truly got sick of. I only ever make it in the summer, so it’s something I actually look forward to every year. I was first introduced to cowboy caviar a few years ago by TikTok creator Bria Lemirande, who went viral for her version of the dip. It looked so good that I had to try it myself. It’s one of those recipes you can easily tailor to your own tastes and still have it turn out great every time. My version includes black and pinto beans, bell pepper, jalapenos, mango, corn, cucumber, and red onion. Everything gets finely chopped and tossed with a simple dressing. I follow Lemirande’s recipe pretty closely, using olive oil, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, red wine vinegar, and lime juice. If you’ve never tried cowboy caviar, I highly recommend it—you’ll probably become just as obsessed as I did.