I had the good fortune a few weeks ago to have lunch with food expert Brian Wansink at the Lakeside Cafe & Creamery in Albert Lea.

Regular readers of this column likely are aware that I enjoy cooking because I like to please my taste buds. I often find healthy food tasty in the right combinations.

I was interested in what the Cornell University professor would order at this local eatery. You probably know how it goes at Lakeside. You order at the counter. I got there early and made my order and sat down. He came right after and ordered alone.

He ordered the chicken fajita melt, a cup of chili and a Diet Dr Pepper. Surprise! I had the same order except I had lemonade instead of pop.

So how did Brian Wansink, author of “Mindless Eating,” a professor of consumer behavior and nutritional science and the founder of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, decide to order the chicken fajita melt?

He said he made a menu choice the same way most people do. He said it takes the mind nanoseconds to make yes-no decisions. The chicken fajita melt was the first item on the menu chalkboard and he thought it sounded tasty.

He said people typically scan through a menu going no, yes, no, no, no, yes, no — or something to that effect — and the first yes item is what consumers tend to go with, even if there are multiple yes items. In this case, the first menu choice, the chicken fajita melt, was a yes, and he ordered it.

He noted that if the chicken fajita melt had been listed last, he probably would have spotted a prior menu item and ordered it.

Wansink picked the chili, he said, because he likes the variation he finds in the classic stew from restaurant to restaurant.

The pop? I sort of grilled him here. First, he said he doesn’t drink anything with calories except milk or wine.

Yes, but you are a food expert. Doesn’t it look bad.

He said he likes refills, and he noted people tend to overeat diet foods. He said at least diet has fewer calories than normal pop.

OK, I said, but you are Brian Wansink and you are drinking pop.

Well, he said, it’s a vice.

Fair enough. We laughed.

The prof shared with me some of the research he has been considering.

He said he wants to look into how hot meals, even if they have the same calories as cold meals, seem more satisfying. He said it seems like two keys for people who eat a breakfast and don’t snack is they prefer to eat a protein food and they prefer to eat hot food.

Wansink said the research could look into the reasons why they feel satisfied. Is it the body or the mind?

He was in Albert Lea meeting with school officials that day about encouraging students to make smarter choices in the cafeteria.

For instance, Fridays tend to be the day that students like to eat poorly.

“Fridays are a dietary disaster at schools,” Wansink said.

If food service officials take desserts off the menu, students complain. The idea is to spread the bad choices out during the week and not have them all on a single day.

Further, if students buy desserts with a card, they are more likely to splurge. But if dessert can be purchased only with cash, they are more likely to keep their money.

“There is something about not seeing the dollars,” he told me.

He said they will then gravitate toward less expensive fruit and milk, rather than candy bars and pop.

Many of you know some of Wansink’s suggestions from his role with the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project here in Albert Lea. The most well-known one seems to be eating from smaller plates.

My suggestion for him was this: Manufacturers include a drawer at the bottom of refrigerators labeled “fruit.” You put your fruit in there, and when you go scrounging for food, you fail to see it. The fruit goes bad. My wife and I decided to disregard the fridge labels and now put fresh fruit, lettuce, tomatoes and other goodies on the main shelf. Open the door, and there are apples asking to be eaten.

Wansink agreed. He has encouraged Vitality Project participants to rearranged their cupboards so the healthy food is at the front. Hide the bad food.

Good advice.

Of course, we talked about how I enjoy food and usually cook without a recipe. I just throw whatever is in kitchen together. I might have just created the greatest tasting thing ever and I might never make it the same way again.

In fact, I intend to take a hiatus from my column this fall to start a weekly video series for the Tribune’s Web site about cooking. I will share more details about my Web series next week. It will be called “Uffda Kitchen.”

Tribune Managing Editor Tim Engstrom’s column appears for one more Tuesday.