Table for One

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Many of you out there are mommies and daddies struggling to find creative ways to feed a a family of two, three, four, five with different tastes and dietary restrictions every day…well, this Zomppa has a different challenge: how to cook for one.

Every day.

Now, I love cooking for people…on my own, however, the creative motivation is not always there. I admit, there are times when what I eat and how I eat I would never DREAM of serving or sharing with someone else. I eat on the computer, I eat on the couch, I eat straight out of the pot sometimes (why wash an extra dish?). After all, who am I trying to impress?

The good thing about cooking for one, though, is I get to be lazy, I get to eat leftovers, and I get to try things that may turn out disastrous. Plus I feel less bad about making me the guinea pig (and I have served me some rather tasteless food) for new recipes.

So for those of you single ones out there  – or those of you with a rare opportunity to dine on your own – here is one real week of what a single Zomppa eats (and some easy recipes – proven to taste okay).

Day One: I generally make a huge batch of one or two dishes on Sundays that I freeze for the week. This weekend was a bit different because ZomppaTonija and her rambunctious family came for a visit. By Monday, I still had some leftovers from a *gasp* Americanized Chinese place, and I was not about to let it go to waste. So I took the sweet ‘n’ sour chicken, tossed out the sweet ‘n’ sour sauce that looked a bit like tar, popped the chicken and rice in the microwave and added some hoisin sauce to give it a kick. Yes, this is what I ate. But, I did put it in a bowl.

Day Two:  I felt a little bad about eating leftover take-out, so I decided to make Penang Curry with some grass-fed ground beef from the Hogan’s Magnolia View Farm.  I had some Penang Curry paste that I brought back from Thailand, but you can find this at many supermarkets. I put the curry on whole-wheat, flaxseed pasta to add a twist.

Penang Curry

5 TB Penang curry

1 can coconut milk

1 lb ground beef

1 cup haricot vert

1 TB sugar

1-2 TB fish sauce

A couple lime leaves

Spiral pasta

1. Heat coconut milk over medium-high heat


Tags: bulgar wheat, eating alone, farm, food, garlic butter, Monte Cristo, Penang Curry, pho, pilaf, ramen, recipe, single, Whole Foods

Category: Asia Pacific, Main Dish - Land and Sea, Main Dish - Vegetarian, Recipe Vault, Sides, Sauces, and Breads, Travel & Culture