The Restaurant Rule Mindy Kaling Never Breaks

As a highly successful screenwriter, actress, and director, it's hard to believe that Hollywood triple-threat Mindy Kaling even has time to sit down and eat between filming. Nonetheless, the working single mom-of-two says (via Shape), "For me, food is life."

Despite being busy practically 24/7, Kaling manages to prioritize eating well and always starts the day off with a healthy breakfast. She explained to Shape, "In the morning, I try to have eggs because they're easy to cook even if you're as bad at cooking as I am. I'll poach an egg or two, have a third of an avocado and a piece of Ezekiel toast with butter."

For lunch later in the day, Kaling's go-to meal is a big salad with fish or chicken. But because she is a self-proclaimed "solid B-minus cook" (via PopSugar), Kaling finds herself eating out for dinner from time to time, and has one rule of thumb that she went on to share with Shape: "I'll order whatever I want and eat half of it."

Though it's a simple rule, Kaling strictly adheres to it every time she goes to a restaurant and is convinced it's the best way to enjoy food to the fullest extent.

Among Mindy Kaling's favorite cuisines are Japanese, Ethiopian, French, and of course, her own family's South Indian. But when her kids aren't in the mood for home-cooked Masala Dosa, Kaling's specialty, she loves to take advantage of the New York City dining scene.

As a child she was raised to eat everything off her plate, but after becoming a mom for the first time, Kaling adapted a different approach, from which her restaurant rule was born. By focusing on satisfying her taste buds with a range of flavors, she finds it's easy to keep unnecessary overeating at bay. Ordering multiple entrees off the restaurant menu might seem counterproductive to this practice, but Kaling explained to Shape, "That way I get to taste everything."

Since Kaling isn't about deprivation, she often treats herself to a cocktail alongside her dinner, typically two to three a week. "In New York, the cocktail menus in some of these restaurants are amazing. That enhances my entire dining experience," she remarked. If her IGTV is anything to go by, it's pretty clear that treating food as an "experience" both at home or in a restaurant is at the core of Kaling's food philosophy.