ODL – Chapter 73 – Souma Notices

Ever since Hiyorin mentioned she might have gained weight the other day, I have been contemplating how the dinner menu should be.

Until now, I had mainly relied on supermarket flyers to find affordable ingredients and had been preparing dishes based on what I or someone else wanted to eat. As a result, I tended to neglect the concept of a balanced diet. Of course, I tried to cover it to some extent with side dishes and soups, but it’s not like you can supplement only the nutrients you want. As a result, excessive nutrients were present.

More specifically, fats and carbohydrates. These two were usually the culprits behind gaining weight.

“I should have thought about it from the start…” (Souma)

It’s not an exaggeration to say that my thoughtlessness has made Hiyorin anxious. As someone making the meals, this was something I should have considered from the start. On top of that, Hiyorin is an idol voice actress, so she must pay extra attention to her figure.

Anyways, since Shizuka occasionally requests fairly high-calorie dishes, the menu at Souma-kai is excessive in terms of calories. If this continues, we will all be heading towards becoming a big plump. That’s something we absolutely must avoid. After all, obesity can be the root cause of various other health problems.

From now on, I’ll focus on healthy menus. However, it’s a fact that healthy ingredients are often more expensive. Lately, there’s been an incredible health-conscious trend, with advertisements for complete-nutrition meals and healthy frozen meals popping up almost every day.

“If that’s the case…” (Souma)

I spread out the supermarket flyer on the table and squinted my eyes. I needed to find some hidden gems in there. If the quality of the menu were to decline for the sake of health, I’m sure everyone would not stay silent about it. I decided to try asking Shizuka.

“(What would you say if I told you that from today onwards, dinner will consist of just broccoli and chicken?)” (Souma)

The response came back quickly.

“(Are you telling me to go crazy? Also, I’m in the mood for Mapo Tofu today.)” (Shizuka)

“(I’ll think about it.)” (Souma)

Mapo Tofu, huh… Looks like it’s another dish that could lead to gaining weight.

At first glance, it might not seem like a dish that would make you gain weight, especially with tofu as an ingredient. However, Mapo Tofu uses a lot of oil and includes meat. On top of that, you won’t get much in the way of vegetables, making it unsuitable for a diet.

With a little care, even a dish like Mapo Tofu can be made without any issues, using only the oil from the ground meat. However, there’s also a part of me that wants to go all out with a healthy menu on the first day.

“Ah…” (Souma)

But then I found a shining treasure within the flyer and couldn’t help but silently celebrate.

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“Souma-kun, I thought I requested Mapo Tofu.” (Shizuka)

Shizuka voiced her dissatisfaction as she looked at the menu on the dining table. Mafuyu-chan and Hiyorin, on the other hand, seemed to be waiting for our conversation to conclude without any change in their usual demeanor.

…Am I allowed to tell them about Hiyorin’s worries? Maybe I should just come up with a plausible excuse for now.

“When I went to the supermarket, the tofu had suddenly become a hundred million yen per block¹. Well, never mind that, give this a try.” (Souma)

The treasure menu I found… was none other than the king of diets, Salad Chicken.

By slicing the salad chicken into bite-sized pieces and serving it with a special sauce based on soy sauce and green onions… it turned into a Japanese-style salad chicken steak. I tried it earlier, and it turned out quite well. Shizuka should like it too.

“Well then… itadakimasu.” (Shizuka)

With no other choice, Shizuka extended her chopsticks to the salad chicken, seemingly ignoring my obvious lie.

“──!?” (Shizuka)

Shizuka, with a surprised expression, grabbed another piece of salad chicken and chomped it down with a mix of white rice.

“Souma-kun! This is incredibly delicious!” (Shizuka)

“I like it too. It’s healthy.” (Mafuyu)

“It seems like it would go great with alcohol.” (Hiyori)

The salad chicken steak seemed to be a hit with everyone, and I felt relieved. It was worth rushing to prepare the green onions.

“The crunchiness of this green onion is quite amazing, isn’t it~” (Hiyori)

Hiyorin placed her hand on her cheek and wore a blissful expression. She then reached for a nearby glass and drank the perfectly poured beer.

…Couldn’t that also be one of the reasons for gaining weight?

I wanted to bring up the topic, but it wasn’t something to discuss in front of everyone. I decided to wait until Souma-kai was over. I would probably get invited to have a second round with Hiyorin later.

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Thanks for reading!

A pretty food-intensive chapter, which means I have no idea what I’m translating. 

You know, when I see the word onions, I think of the sphere-shaped thing, but apparently, green onions are the leaf part of it or something?

Apparently, drinking alcohol can lead to weight gain. But then again, almost everything can lead to weight gain somehow.

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1. Wow very realistic excuse.e