The “Girl Dinner” Trend We’ve Known About All Along

Liam is out of town again this week, so it’s time for me to participate in the latest TikTok trend, the “girl dinner”. A girl dinner is a snacky, thrown together, low/no-cook meal women reach for when there’s no ravenous, meat-eating man around. (I know that’s cringingly stereotypical, but there you have it.) Girl dinners are all the rage on social media, but it’s been my favorite way to eat for decades.

In my 20s, my go-to girl dinner was triscuit crackers with sliced salami, cheddar and pickles. Things haven’t changed all that much. Here’s a sample of my girl dinners from Liam’s last trip. They’re easy to prepare and are a nice mix of crunch, carbs, cheese, and produce. You can take yourself out for a girl dinner too. I thoroughly enjoyed being served bruschetta and a glass of wine at a hightop in the bar of a neighborhood joint.

The thing is, I’m not really all that hungry in the evenings and I don’t eat much meat anymore. Liam leans Paleo, so he’s a high protein/low carb guy. We compromise with chicken or salmon and salad, but when I’m solo, a girl dinner is a nice way to treat myself to exactly what I’m craving. The prep is easy and clean up is a breeze.

Here are some other yummy girl dinner ideas:

• Popcorn, sliced apple, cheddar cheese
• Sourdough toast topped with ricotta, sliced peaches, mint and honey
• Banana slices spread with peanut butter and topped with chocolate chips.
• Microwave nachos with leftover chicken, shredded cheese, salsa and avocado.

Like all social media trends, there’s been some backlash to this one, with alarmed nutritionists claiming the small portions are unhealthy and promote disordered eating. I’m not buying it. Girl dinners are an occasional indulgence, not a regimen. And this trend is really nothing new to us, right? As this Bon Appetit story states, “Chill, it’s just a snack plate.”

Have you got a favorite girl dinner? Let me know in the comments. You may also like this story where I ate healthy and was only a little crabby about it.

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