Food trends change every year. This year's food trends might become next year's what-the-heck-were-we-thinking discussion (like freeze-dried ice cream pellets), or they might become a permanent staple of American cuisine (like sushi).

Here are a few food trends to expect in the coming year.

The Basics. With the economy in the shape it's in, expect to see more instances of people making more out of less. For one thing, that means comfort food, since things like meat loaf and simple pasta dishes are easy and inexpensive to make. But it also means stripping meals down to their bare essentials: Roast chicken. Steamed veggies. Simple breads and cheeses. It also means taking old reliable favorites like these and dressing them up in new and exciting ways.

Food Trucks, Food Trucks, Food Trucks. These have been a big, big deal in Los Angeles for the past 18 months or so. And like most California trends, these are poised to become a much bigger deal in the rest of the US throughout 2011. And the cool thing about food trucks is that, these days, they can serve up almost anything. Usually associated with things like sandwiches, tacos and cheesesteaks, food trucks now offer cuisine ranging from pancakes to macaroni and cheese, from Korean-Mexican fusion to bacon-themed dishes.

The Digital Chef. The James Beard Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to advancing culinary education and good food in the public sphere, recently listed its favorite iPhone apps for chefs. They include Grocery IQ, a shopping companion that scans barcodes and searches for coupons; Locavore, which uses GPS technology to find produce in season near your home; Big Oven, a recipe listing; and Kitchen Calculator Pro, which helps convert measurements in the kitchen.

Bye-Bye, Cupcakes. The big food trend of the past couple of years, expect cupcakes to slowly disappear from your radar. The verdict is in, and it isn't good: Too often, so-called "gourmet" cupcakes are little more than a bland hunk of cake topped with an overwhelming gob of sickeningly sweet icing. In most cases, folks would be happier making themselves a peanut-butter-and-marshmallow-fluff sandwich at home than paying five bucks for a tiny cupcake that provides little more than a jittery sugar rush. Bakeries like Sprinkles will still be around, but overall, the cupcake fad will likely fade away.

The Melting Pot -- And We Don't Mean Fondue. Ten years ago, things like sushi, pad thai and ceviche might have been considered rare ethnic delicacies. And to be sure, most global foods haven't lost their identity. But as cuisines fuse together over time and the exotic becomes familiar, the lines become blurrier. Kids born in the 90s might look at bento boxes the way older generations looked at TV dinners. And what we think of as "American cuisine" becomes more complex and more diverse. In 2011, look for even more fusion, and for the formerly unusual to become more and more commonplace.