I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction in terms of what type of problem I am describing here so I can research it.  My initial thought is that it is some form of Constraint Satisfaction Problem.Say as an example I am working with food, and I would like to determine from a massive database of recipes which foods might sum up to equal a certain macro-nutrient profile.For example, maybe I want to target a 410 calorie meal consisting of 30 grams of protein (4 cals per gram), 10 grams of fat (9 cals per gram) , and 50 grams of carbohydrates (4 cals per gram).  Would this be in the domain of CSP, or should I look elsewhere?
Linear optimization or Constraint Satisfaction Problem with food
optimization;constraint satisfaction