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As a millennial born in the late 1980s, I\u2019ve watched Barbie go through many life cycles: she\u2019s had over 200 career paths<\/a>, raised her various siblings<\/a>, and built an incredible community in her fictional, plastic version of Malibu. In this time, there have been brief forays into cooking, mainly in her iterations as Pasta Barbie<\/a>, Baking Chef Barbie<\/a>, and Ice Cream Shop Barbie<\/a>.<\/p>\n As we usher Barbie into her new, flat-footed era of self-discovery<\/a>, I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about how and what Barbie would eat during this chapter of her life. As a fellow home-owning, city-dwelling millennial woman (I haven\u2019t figured out how to float through my home yet, but I\u2019m working on it), the possibility of having unfettered access to a dream kitchen feels daunting\u2014but thrilling. I do recognize that none of these interpretations are serious or absolute. Think of them as simple daydreams and musings of pink house grandeur.<\/p>\n First, let\u2019s establish what elements of the Barbie cannon I\u2019m using to guide my thinking:<\/p>\n I\u2019m basing all of these conclusions off of Margot Robbie as Barbie: In Greta Gerwig’s Barbie-verse, she\u2019s independent, home-owning, and literally floating through life.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n She lives in Malibu, Calif., which means lots of sunshine, warmth, and fresh coastal foods.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n As shown in the “Barbie” trailer<\/a>, there is zero<\/em> water in Barbie\u2019s house. Worrying about dirty dishes is just not a factor, but that also means we\u2019re not making any pastas or steam-based dishes. It\u2019s magic, or she\u2019s super eco-friendly.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Barbie is incredibly social. As such, I\u2019d like to believe she\u2019s very community-minded and would support her local CSA, know her town\u2019s baker, and be friends with local food producers.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n In Barbie’s world, food is more of a \u201cplay\u201d item, so she\u2019s cooking for the \u2018gram, as they say.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Ken is not helping; he\u2019s on his own self-discovery journey<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n So what do<\/em> you make when your perfect plastic world begins to fall apart, but you\u2019re still Barbie?<\/p>\n Naturally, we have to kick things off with a pink cake. From Kristen Miglore\u2019s beloved Genius column, this Raspberry Cake from Shilpa Uskokovic<\/a> hits all the high-level Barbie notes: it\u2019s pink, it\u2019s fluffy, it\u2019s sweet. Don\u2019t sleep on Kristen\u2019s version<\/a>, which includes delightfully jiggly, rainbow jellies.<\/p>\n Barbie is a busy gal. This is a fact. Something like a make-ahead, marinated bean sitch<\/a> is the exact thing that would magically appear in Barbie\u2019s fridge whenever she wanted it. Plus, beans are comfort food, and the fluttering, pink radicchio leaves pull the whole dish together.<\/p>\n After consulting with other members of our Test Kitchen, we reached the consensus that Barbie is likely a pescetarian (or maybe even a flexitarian), since she does live on the coast and probably tries to eat locally. However, since she’s great at literally everything\u2014including hosting parties\u2014she would absolutely always have a charcuterie board<\/a> ready to go for her meat-eating guests. This is another item that would absolutely show up premade in her fridge, magically.<\/p>\n Lastly, a vibrant, creamy beet ice cream<\/a>. It’s perfectly pink. No notes.<\/p>\n Whole fried fish<\/a> is a gorgeous, dinner party-friendly example of large-format cooking. Sea bass\u2014suggested for this recipe\u2014is prevalent in Southern California and has a beautifully flaky texture. The fresh papaya salad underneath provides all the lightness Barbie needs in her life.<\/p>\n Panzanella is a crowd-pleaser. Barbie is known for her parties and loves to entertain. She also knows that when you\u2019re trying to hold your sh*t together, a good ol\u2019 bread salad<\/a> is usually the answer to all woes\u2014or at least a distraction from all the ennui.<\/p>\n Ennui, meet spoonable cheese<\/a>. Another fridge staple for when your feet fall flat and you suddenly can\u2019t levitate safely out of your own home.<\/p>\n\n