Table for One

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
2. Add Penang curry, mix until well blended
3. Add ground beef until browned
4. Add haricot vert
5. Add sugar, fish sauce
6. Meanwhile, make pasta
7. Add lime leaves and continue to heat for a few minutes
8. Take off heat and pour over pasta – mix well

Day Three:  A friend decided to come over for dinner, but I didn’t have any time to go to the store, he doesn’t eat red meat, and I couldn’t serve him ramen (my weakness, which I will discuss another time). I only had frozen shrimp and legumes. So I made a seafood medley in garlic butter over a vegetable bulgar pilaf. It was a big hit – whew! I didn’t embarrass myself too much. The chickpeas in the pilaf made the dish extremely filling and satisfying. Easy to make.

Beurre del Mar (okay, I made this name up, but it’s pretty fitting)

¼ pound shrimp, shelled

A few fish balls (find in Asian supermarkets, although you can use any seafood)

¼ pound butter

6 cloves garlic, minced

Salt

Pepper

1. Melt butter in Dutch oven or deep skillet
2. Add garlic and cook for a few minutes to infuse flavor
3. Add seafood and cook
4. Season with salt and pepper
5. Pour over pilaf

Vegetable Bulgar Pilaf

1 cup bulgar wheat

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chili flakes (or as hot as you want)

1 can chickpeas

1 cup haricot vert

1 ¼ cup water (approximately)

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Salt

Vegetable oil

2 eggs, hard-boiled

1. Heat vegetable oil and add garlic and onions until translucent
2. Add spices until fragrant, but be careful not to burn
3. Add chickpeas
4. Add wheat
5. Add green beans
6. Season with salt
7. Cover with water about 2 inches
8. Once water boils, lower heat and cover for 20 minutes
9. Meanwhile, hard-boil eggs (put in cold water, boil water, once boiled, take off heat for about 10-13 minutes)
10. Fluff wheat and season accordingly
11. Slice eggs and add to pilaf

Day Four: See Day Two. Leftovers! Ate straight out of the Pyrex. I must say Penang Curry over Pasta is even better several days later. The flavors really soak in.

Day Five: Didn’t feel like leftovers, so I succumbed to my cabinet of ramen (I love trying new ones out), and this one I had never tried before. It was pho, the Vietnamese noodles, and I added fish balls to it. Oh, wow. Probably full of preservatives, but this is really my weakness. And it was good. And easy. And I didn’t feel bad feeding myself ramen.

Day Six: I happened to have some ham and cheese left from preparing lunch, and I also had some of my favorite freshly, baked Italian bread from Whole Foods ($1.99 for the whole loaf!).  So I made my own little Monte Cristo, making French Toast with thick slices of Italian bread and layering Virginia Honey Ham and Pepper Jack cheese. Yum. This I would serve someone.

Day Seven: See Day Three Leftovers, sans seafood.

So what do YOU eat when you’re alone? WHERE do you eat it? HOW do you eat it?

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