Allstar Diana Bishop's Florida Summer Bash Includes a Hawai‘i-Style Plate Lunch

Allstar Diana Bishop hosting a Summer celebration. — Photo:
Allrecipes/Sarah & Ben

It may be Florida, but the guests are arriving dressed like they’re headed to Hawai‘i—in colorful shirts, flowy dresses, and linen—and Allrecipes Allstar Diana Bishop is here for it. The feast she’s finishing preparing with her fiance, Keith, as her grilling sous chef, is based on Hawai‘i-style plate lunch eating—a tradition from her childhood.

"For our family, food has always been a big part of who we are. We tell our stories with our food," says Bishop—who grew up in Okinawa, Japan—where her grandmother taught her the importance of what goes into your body and a focus on locally grown vegetables and seafood.

Tonight’s menu relies on recipes passed down for generations in her family and assembled like a mixed plate lunch where several entrees share the plate (rather than just one) along with healthy portions of sides ranging from rice and noodles to veggies. Ingredients like miso, bitter cucumber, and pickled or fermented food play a major role.

Bishop shares how to build your own mixed plate lunch feast along with some of her inspirations for the summer and entertaining.

a top down view of guests enjoying Diana's Bishop Hawaiian mixed plate lunch. — Allrecipes/Sarah & Ben

The menu for your party looks delicious. Can you tell me more about the concept of plate lunch? Was this something you grew up eating?

Plate lunch is something you'd most be most familiar with in Hawai‘i. You can have a plate lunch or a mixed plate lunch. A plate lunch has one entree and then a bunch of sides; a mixed plate lunch is where you choose more than one entree, and then you have your sides. I grew up eating this way, but we didn't call it a plate lunch in Japan, we called it a bento. A bento box is a lunch box with multiple parts—you have multiple entrees and a couple of sides.

I wanted to have a plate lunch for this party because I wanted to have dishes that represent middle America and also my heritage. Keith, my fiance, is from the Midwest, and I'm from Okinawa. But generally speaking, whenever I have people over, there will always be more than one entree just based on how I was raised and how we had get-togethers as a family. My dad also grew up in Hawai‘i, so that informed how we eat as well.

What is your most cherished food memory or tradition from your childhood summers?

Mochi, or sticky rice cakes, evoke happy memories for me. So does Spam—lots of stir fry with Spam or Spam Musubi, which is marinated and grilled Spam on top of sushi-style rice wrapped in nori or dried seaweed.

Allstar Diana Bishop setting the last of the food on the table at her Allstar Summer Bash — Allrecipes/Sarah & Ben

Who or what is inspiring you this summer?

Family! First, we're getting married this summer and will be celebrating with family and friends! For us, that means large celebrations with the ones we love the most. Second, I'm expecting my first grandchild this summer! We're planning a baby shower with a theme and fun games. Selecting the perfect menu is a big part of that.

Aw! What's on the menu for the baby shower?

The baby shower theme is "S'more to Love with a Baby"—we'll be featuring Texas BBQ and s'mores for dessert! Sliced brisket, pulled pork, chicken, and sides like mac 'n cheese, beans, and slaw.

And congrats on the upcoming wedding—how did you and your fiance meet?

We actually met while we were both deployed in Qatar—he was in the Army and I was in the Air Force. We were friends for 13 years before we got together. If you look back to when we met, we would have never thought we'd end up together.

several jars of pickled vegetables to be served at a Hawaiian mixed plate lunch — Allrecipes/Sarah & Ben

So sweet. Let's get back to your party: I bet you have a go-to playlist.

The playlist changes based on the type of party and people attending. I think about the tone I want to set and choose the playlist that best reflects this! For this party, Keith was in charge of the playlist. He's a big music person—he loves late '70s to mid '80s type of music. It's the music you hear at a baseball game, like Sweet Caroline. It's a fun kind of music; it just makes people happy.

What is the one drink you always serve at your warm-weather party?

Ice cold water! If the party goes on long, a cooler filled with bottled water is the most visited cooler. I also like having pitchers of cucumber or lemon/lime-infused water. Other than having water around, I also make lemonade. I love making a simple syrup and using fresh-squeezed lemons.

a wide view of guests gathered and enjoying food at Allstar Diana Bishop's Summer celebration — Allrecipes/Sarah & Ben

It obviously gets hot in Tampa. How do you stay cool outside in the summer?

Okinawa is the same latitude as Tampa, so it's a similar type of weather. When I was a kid, we had these fans that we would carry around—you'd find them everywhere, and that's how we would stay cool. So I would say, always have something to fan yourself with.

How do you stay calm when hosting?

I like to prep as much as I can in advance—especially dressings, sauces, and marinades. For instance, for this plate lunch party, I made the teriyaki for the flank steak, a yakitori sauce for the chicken, and then the miso sauce for the salmon ahead of time.

Do you have any hosting pet peeves?

This is a terrible pet peeve, but I really like to clean up dishes. Well-meaning guests like to stack their plates in the sink, but then it's hard to rinse them off and put them in the dishwasher. People are trying to be helpful—and they are—It's just not as helpful for my specific method of doing the dishes. I usually tell people to just put their plates on the counter instead of in the sink, and that solves the problem.