Cooking for One

[Basilgirl]

The Boyfriend will be gone for a few days, and I usually don't cook when he's not around SO...when you're dining solo, do you cook or just grab some cheese & crackers?

Any ideas for quick & easy things to make for one? And please, no Celeste-Pizza-for-Ones.

[slkinsey]

Basilgirl, why don't you have a look at the wonderful eGCI class: Cooking for One. The associated Q&A thread is here.

[bleudauvergne]

I cook for two and I simply adore that wonderful class.

Why not cook these few days and share with us, Basilgirl?

I'm willing to listen, anyway.

What do you have going?

-Lucy

Edited April 14, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[Jake]

While I am more apt to pick up some sushi, or make do with bread & cheese, I do cook risotto quite often when I'm on my own. Maybe it's that portion control is easy, and there's not a lot of labour involved. I rarely cook a full meal as I find by the time I'm done, I don't really feel like eating it.

[Basilgirl]

I cook for two and I simply adore that wonderful class.

Why not cook these few days and share with us, Basilgirl?

I'm willing to listen, anyway.

What do you have going?

-Lucy

This is what I'll probably end up doing:

Tonight - cheese, salami, Two Buck Chuck

Thursday - Chinese carryout from a really good Szechuan place on the way home from work

Friday - pizza delivery or leftover Chinese

See, I cook or at least warm/reinvent almost every night, so this is really a mini-vacation for me!

Last night was a frittata with leftover Easter ham, asparagus, roasted potatoes, scallions, Fontina and Swiss. Easy enough but we still didn't eat until the President came on (I get home around 7 PM ) (But I don't have to be at work until 10 AM )

[hillvalley]

While I am more apt to pick up some sushi, or make do with bread & cheese, I do cook risotto quite often when I'm on my own. Maybe it's that portion control is easy, and there's not a lot of labour involved. I rarely cook a full meal as I find by the time I'm done, I don't really feel like eating it.

Same here on the sushi, risotto and not being hungry when I am done cooking

Frankly, cooking for one for a few days? Get take out of your favorite places and couple of nights, and make everything your boyfriend hates but you love.

[docsconz]

I'm cooking for myself this week as my wife and children are on spring break vacation in South carolina, while I'm here working. I generally take the opportunity to make things I like that don't necessarily go over so well with the rest of the crew for various reasons. When my wife is away I usually take the opportunity to make veal dishes. The other night I grilled some chops with sea-salt and pepper and then drizzled a little 25y/o juniper balsamico tradizionale from Acetaia del Cristo on top and served it with marinated grilled zucchini (my kids hate zucchini) and grilled maitake mushrooms. I drank a half-bottle of 1997 Zenato amarone. I made enough to have leftovers for dinner last night at work. Tonight I'm going to saute veal scallopine in butter and fino sherry with asparagus, oyster mushrooms, garlic and piquillo peppers. I'll bring leftovers for lunch tomorow. Dessert will be an heirloom navel orange from Rising C Ranch. Tomorrow night i'll probably raid the pantry.

[Anna N]

I always welcome the opportunity to cook for one - so long as it's for a brief time only. I cook all those things that hubby shuns and enjoy them along with a favourite book or three!

[Suzanne F]

The perfect opportunity to make spaghetti with olive oil, garlic, and hot pepper. That, maybe a little steamed broccoli or sauteed zucchini, and a glass or 2 or 3 or . . . of wine: perfectly simple and simply perfect.

[bleudauvergne]

...I drank a half-bottle of 1997 Zenato amarone. I made enough to have leftovers for dinner last night at work. Tonight I'm going to saute veal scallopine in butter and fino sherry with asparagus, oyster mushrooms, garlic and piquillo peppers. I'll bring leftovers for lunch tomorow. Dessert will be an heirloom navel orange from Rising C Ranch. Tomorrow night i'll probably raid the pantry.

Only half? You're sure?

[Carlovski]

I never understand people who say they can't be bothered to cook when it is just for themselves, personally I cook for myself 90% of the time.

Portion control can be awkward, especially when cooking from recipes, and wastage on prepacked ingredients can be annoying (Or even not packaged - case in point, celery. If I want a stick to dice for a mirepoix I have to by a whole head. And I am not going to eat it raw - see my sig!). But the advantage of cooking what you like, how you like it far outweigh the disadvantages.

[YKL]

I am another happy solo cook ... the way I see it, I love food and cooking and am not going to deprive myself of yummy (well, to my tastes anyway!) food just because of a lack of stomachs or dining companions! Agree that it's a chance to cook things just the way I like it, and I only have my mess and chaos to clear up! In fact, the chance to potter in the kitchen for 45 mins, with great music in the background feels quite self indulgent after a day at work - and all for me!

Have not had time to read all of Bond Girl's eCGI class - but will be printing off shortly, but am afraid my contribution will be much less expert, but would like to share anyway.

So what I do eat / cook? Well pasta of some form is a good standby, which could be spaghetti with garlic and chilli, maybe with a few prawns or rocket leaves or spinach leaves chucked in for colour and substance. Could be penne with ladles of home made tomato sauce, perhaps with oven roasted veg (aubergine, courgette, peppers, red onion, etc). And whilst Nigella Lawson is not my favourite cook book writer, think she is quite right in saying that she tries not to be without the ingredients for carbonara at any time - I mean, you do always have bacon / pancetta, eggs and parmesan in the house?! I know I try to. Or just pesto on pasta ... with roasted tomatoes and onions on the side

Or maybe as the weather warms up, some form of substantial salad. Ok, maybe not proper cooking but have had many a great supper with a bag of mixed salad leaves with toppings such as crispy fried bacon, slices of avocado, chicken bits (maybe in some honey & mustard marinade) either grilled or fried, or chicken livers, garlic croutons, juicy anchovies, poached salmon fillet. And without necessarily going down the whole nicoise route, green beans and new potatoes (especially now that jersey royals are nearly here!) are a great addition to any salad in my opinion.

chinese food always seems to be a good source for sole dining, bowls of noodles or freshly steamed rice are always going to win me over. I admit that maybe not everyone is lucky enough to have a mother like mine, who came to visit my flat for the first time a few weeks back, and insisted on cooking a vat of chicken and shitake mushroom casserole so that it could be frozen for future consumption. But even so, if you have garlic, ginger, hot oil in a work, soy sauce and oyster sauce, and a sense of adventure with your meat and vegetables, tasty stir fries are a good stand by. How about chicken with mangetout and sweet corn, beef with peppers and chilli or black bean sauce?

Or to make it really simple, Elizabeth David sums it up when extolling the virtues of an omelette and a glass of wine!

If we were to bring in winter ideas as well, then home made soups are fab. And they can be much easier to adjust recipe wise to scale down, and generally freeze really well.

Think the underlying thread in all of this (apart from my greed!) is that some "recipes" lend themselves to adaptation more easily than others. i.e. that I think most food can be adapted to have more of what I like, and less of the bits I don't - and so if it's too much bother to reduce the ingredient to e.g. a qtr of half a teaspoon of some spice, or only 1/2 stick of celery, well I can either leave it out or just make bigger amounts - which saves cooking later.

So, no, I certainly don't see solo cooking as a chore. It's a joy ... at least unless George Clooney comes to his sense and realises I am the woman of his dreams!

gotta go get lunch now, am feeling very hungry all of a sudden!

[phaelon56]

I never understand people who say they can't be bothered to cook when it is just for themselves, personally I cook for myself 90% of the time.

It's not that I can't be bothered but I go to much greater lengths and make more complex dishes (or more of them) when I have someone else to cook for. I did the foodblog thing a few weeks ago and had guests for dinner for every evening meal I cooked. I enjoy the socializing and also the process of doing the final stages of food prep while a friend or friends hang out in the kitchen/dining area and we chat. There is also the satisfaction of seeing the pleasure friends take in well prepared food, especially if it's something they would not customarily make at home for themselves.

The reality is that much of the time I cook just for myself. I alternate between quick thrown together meals and more elaborate dishes. If it's something other than a quick saute or braise with a made-in-the-pan impromptu sauce, I tend to make large quantities, then portion it off and freeze for use as future dinners and lunches. Thankfully I am not one of those people who has an issue with eating leftovers or thawed and heated home-made frozen food. I had a couple of incredibly tasty lunches this week that were leftovers fromt he foodblog week.

My staples for cooking alone include:

Rice cooker

"Better than Boullion" beef and chicken stock concentrate gel

Chicken thighs that have been deboned and frozen in packs of four

Little 8 oz screwcap bottles of Merlot and Chardonnay for wine sauce reductions

Good quality jarred marinara sauce

Fresh garlic, onions and plum tomatoes to add to the sauces

Bagged salad mix

[thursdaynext]

I never understand people who say they can't be bothered to cook when it is just for themselves, personally I cook for myself 90% of the time.

It's not that I can't be bothered but I go to much greater lengths and make more complex dishes (or more of them) when I have someone else to cook for... I enjoy the socializing and also the process of doing the final stages of food prep while a friend or friends hang out in the kitchen/dining area and we chat. There is also the satisfaction of seeing the pleasure friends take in well prepared food, especially if it's something they would not customarily make at home for themselves.

I couldn't agree more!. That said, I do have a few easy favorites for solo nights:

Omelets- there's usually something interesting in the fridge left over to fill them

Chicken piccata- yum!

Jumbo shrimp (at 12.99/lb, this is the time! )

Pasta, chicken, whatever, with pesto- I seem to always have a batch on hand

'Course, there's always grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup!

[Bond Girl]

As a single woman living in New York, I spend a lot of time eating out because of work, and I actually get depressed when I go for a long period of time without cooking in my kitchen. The fact is a lot of the food I had is mediocre at best and I get especially pissed off when I pay a lot of money for mediocre food.

Contrary to Phaelon56, the best time for me to experiment with complex dishes is when I'm cooking for myself. This way there is no one to document my failures if I screw up. I put some danceable music on and dig into my Charlie Trotter cook books. The other thing is the chellenge of coming up with something new with a lot of the spare ingredients in my kitchen. Then there are days when I just want something fresh and easy, and I just tossed a salad and get some good bread at the local bakery. The staple of simple things I make when I am alone are:

Diver scallop tossed on Frisee with grapefruit slices and preserved lemon

Pasta with spicy tomato sauce or Pasta with sauteed wild mushrooms

miso cod with rice

Thai curry of anything in the fridge

Beer steamed fresh shrimps (I eat these with bread)

Pan seared black bass with stired fried baby bok choy and cocomut rice

Of course, I can always live on extra spicy gumbo for days....

[Basilgirl]

Frankly, cooking for one for a few days? Get take out of your favorite places and couple of nights, and make everything your boyfriend hates but you love.

I like that attitude, Hill Valley!

I'm bad, I'm bad, I'm really, really bad. Laziness ruled last night and even salami and cheese seemed too much trouble. I had microwaved Jolly Time Blast O Butter popcorn . With Two Buck Chuck Sauvignon Blech. Now I know why it's so cheap.

I could never get away with that if The Boyfriend was around!

[Bond Girl]

Frankly, cooking for one for a few days?  Get take out of your favorite places and couple of nights, and make everything your boyfriend hates but you love.

I like that attitude, Hill Valley!

I'm bad, I'm bad, I'm really, really bad. Laziness ruled last night and even salami and cheese seemed too much trouble. I had microwaved Jolly Time Blast O Butter popcorn . With Two Buck Chuck Sauvignon Blech. Now I know why it's so cheap.

I could never get away with that if The Boyfriend was around!

Actually, that's what I eat when my insignificant other visits.....who has time to cook when there are other things to do

[PopsicleToze]

I live alone, but when I cook, it's usually for lots of people. So, when I'm cooking just for me, omelettes are one of my favorite things to make. You can take just about anything in the refrigerator and make a creative filling to match your mood. Open the refrigeraor and have a peek. Saute some onions, grate some cheese, and you're just about there. Make a simple salad; pour yourself a glass of wine, and dinner. Voila.

Omelettes feel very special when you're eating them, but they're simple as pie to make (well, actually, pies are hard for me, but omelettes are easy), and there's not many dishes to clean.

Rhonda

[jglazer75]

Food for one:

1. Chicken Flavored Ramen Noodles

2. Oriental Flavored Ramen Noodles

3. Beef Flavored Ramen Noodles

4. Mushroom Flavored Ramen Noodles

5. Mexican Fiesta Flavored Ramen Noodles

There ya go. Food for one for a whole week.

[PopsicleToze]

That's not cooking. That's a college man without a girlfriend

[NulloModo]

I feel compelled to cook even when there is no one around to eat it. For whatever reason about a week I was stricken with a desire to prepare Moussaka, and forthwith I found myself in the produce aisle picking out eggplants.

Today, one week later, I have finally finished the casserole filled with Moussaka, and dread the thought of it again any time soon.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Cooking for myself, I do big batches of soup, beans, stews on the weekends & freeze for reheating for lunch during the week. Then simple dinners at home with cheese & bread & fruit & some nice steamed asparagus or something--so little cooking daily, but still cooking 90% of what I eat.

[Bond Girl]

That's what I do normally as well. It makes me less paranoid about what I eat.

Wholemeal Crank, welcome to egullet!

[NeroW]

Food for one:

1. Chicken Flavored Ramen Noodles

2. Oriental Flavored Ramen Noodles

3. Beef Flavored Ramen Noodles

4. Mushroom Flavored Ramen Noodles

5. Mexican Fiesta Flavored Ramen Noodles

There ya go. Food for one for a whole week.

But what about the weekend? Beer?

Last night I cooked myself dinner, and it was French Onion dip and Jays curly chips.

[mags]

I cook for myself all the time -- a lot of casseroles, which get frozen in single-serve containers. A lot of omelettes and similar egg-dishes. A certain amount of single-serve protein -- fish fillets, chops, steaks -- but I'm also happy to make a small roast and eat the leftovers coled (maybe in chef's salad) or heated in some gravy. I'm going the low-carb route these days, and among other things, that has meant that if I want really tasty vegetables with my meat -- vegetables that aren't potatoes -- I have to make'em myself, since take-out places typically make lousy vegetables.