Cooking for one

Cafe Society
1

I know there are a couple of books out there on this topic, but I was wondering if anyone wanted to share their own creations/recipies.

I am a single dad and my daughter stays at my sisters house during the week.

I am looking for recipies that are specifically for one person (or modified ingredient amounts) that are easy to do? A few two person kid friendly ones would also be nice.

I have been trying to cook more often than going out in the hope that it will save money. I am also the only one that I know that smoked up the house boiling water. I was prowd that I fried pork chops and made corn in the microwave. I really like those “Steamer” packs of veggies that are microwaveable. So I would like something simple and inexpensive, but hopefully my skills will improve with practice.

2

Have you looked at all the crockpot recipeshere? You can then freeze single servings and thaw them out at night.

3

Yes, get some of those little plastic containers with lids in the section of the store that sells saran wrap, aluminum foil, and trash bags. You can make soup, meatballs in spaghetti sauce, pot roast and gravy - that kind of thing - and let cool, fill containers, and freeze. Thaw in the microwave and serve over the appropriate starch. You’ll get plenty of recipes on this thread, but that’s my helpful hint, to make stuff ahead of time and freeze portions for week nights when you really don’t want to cook but dread another hamburger or sandwich.

4

I pick up a rotisserie chicken or rotisserie pork roast a couple of times a month.

First meal, serve as a main course with a salad or nuked veggie to accompany it. Then cut it up into recipe sized chunks and refrigerate for later.

I like to saute a handful of the chunks with onions and peppers (and sometimes mushrooms) and serve on a warmed tortilla with some pieces of tomato, some of the salad greens from last night, maybe some cheese…you get the picture.

The meat is also a base for a quick stir fry. Saute whatever veggies in a wok or skillet and at the end, throw in some of the chicken or pork and serve over rice or noodles. If you like Asian food, it’s also a good addition to egg foo yung or pho (both beginner level cooking).

You can also make chicken salad or chicken and noodles. Simmer the bones to make chicken soup (just add veggies and rice or noodles). Even that is easy for one if you use a 1.5 quart sauce pan (after making the broth).

Breakfast for supper is also a quick, inexpensive option, just slice some tomatoes or fruit to go with it (don’t want to die of scurvy :slight_smile: ).

5

Thank you for the suggestions.

I am always wary about cooking in bulk and divinding the amounts for two reasons, 1) I am always left wondering how long the food is good for incase it gets buried in the back of the fridge and 2) the stuff I really like tends not to last long being eaten in a day.

Unfortunetly, I have very little will power when it comes to food and one thing I was hoping for is that home prepared food might be a little healthier.

6

Then freeze it! Homecooked meals are definitely healthier.

7

This is simple, but it does take some attention.

First, get a wild salmon filet. ‘Caught that day’ is best, but frozen filets are perfectly good. Just make sure it’s wild salmon and not farmed (Atlantic) salmon. Around here, wild salmon is $7 or $8 per pound. How big depends on how hungry you are. I usually like a half-pound one for dinner, which is really two servings but that’s what I like. I cook a pound and have the other half the next day.

Make a little tray out of aluminum foil. (Why dirty a pan?) Put the salmon skin-side down on the foil. Sprinkle it with a little kosher salt and some freshly-chopped dill. Bake it in a 325º oven for 20 minutes or so, until it flakes. (Cooking time depends on thickness.)

While the fish is cooking, melt some butter (say, 2 tablespoons) in a small pan. You can finely-chop onions and put a little in with the butter and a pinch of kosher salt. Onion is not necessary, but I like to use up the leftovers I tend to have. If you’re not using onion with the pinch of salt, just melt the butter. Add the same amount of flour as you did butter. Mix it up. This is called a roux. You want to toast it a bit, but since this is a white sauce you don’t want to toast it dark. Just toast it for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently.

Add some cream and stir until smooth. Add a couple of tablespoons of freshly-chopped dill, and a bit of kosher salt to taste. (You don’t want it very salty.) Keep stirring as the sauce thickens. Once it’s the desired consistency, add some lemon juice. I was experimenting, and I was afraid the cream would curdle when the lemon juice was put in. It didn’t. I’m guessing that’s because it was hot and thick and the butter had been incorporated and all that. Or maybe it was because I was using lemon juice out of one of those plastic containers instead of a fresh lemon. I don’t know. Anyway, it worked.

Take the fish out of the oven, put it on your plate, and put some of the white sauce on it. Maybe you have some boiled red potatoes and steamed asparagus to go with it. The sauce is good with those, too.

Simple recipe, few ingredients, not too expensive; but if you ‘smoke up the house boiling water’ you’ll need to make a leap of faith. Just watch the temperature while you’re making the sauce, and remember to stir.

8

Speaking of salmon, a friend and former roommate wrote a cookbook.

I made the Cajun Salmon, and it was very good. (Next time I’ll add some cayenne pepper and a bit more salt.) I’d intended to have my normal half-pound filet (this time cut into cubes, as shown), but once I started I couldn’t stop. Yep, good stuff. And easy-peasy as well.

9

Take a look at cookforgood.com. It’s a meal plan (vegetarian but you can add meat if you like) desigend to be good for the planet, but it’s extremely inexpensive and very tasty. There’s a big emphasis on efficiency, so although the recipes tend to be designed for four or so, the freezer is very clearly an option - you do a pot of beans once a week and most of that goes straight into the freezer to start with. Works out to around a dollar or a buck fifty per serving. Try the potato peanut curry.

10

Cooking for Engineers

11

Take a piece of fish - cod, halibut, some other whitefish - and along with a bunch of vegetables you like, put it on a sheet of aluminum foil and seal it up. Put it in a 350° oven for 15 minutes and you’re good.

I put a layer of spinach leaves as a base, put the fish on top, put two slices of lemon on top of the fish along with some sliced onion. On the side I’ll put some halved cherry tomatoes and marinated artichoke hearts. There is enough moisture in the fish so you don’t need butter or oil. It comes out perfectly done.

Cheap, easy, tasty, and no cleanup.

12

One I do sometimes: In a small saucepan, put in a quarter pound of kielbasa and a generous dollop of sauerkraut. Add enough water to just cover the sausage. Cover and cook on medium-high for about long enough to read a chapter of a good book. Dish up the meat and the kraut, and then in the liquid that’s left, add instant mashed potatoes until it solidifies, which will just about be one serving. Since you made the potatoes in sauerkraut juice, they’ll have enough flavor by themselves without needing any butter or gravy. You end up with a nice meat dish with two sides, while only needing to dirty a single pot.

13

Ingredients: avocado, cucumber, tomato, vinaigrette. Amounts and proportions to taste.

Peel and stone the avocado, then cut it into chunks.
Take the cucumber and split it lengthways to the amount desired, then rotate the whole 90 degrees and split lengthways again. Now cut across the cucumber and you have chunks of cucumber.
Cut your tomatoes across all three axes.

Mix, dress, and serve!

14

The hardest thing for me in cooking for one is portion control. I have trouble judging the food and dividing it in half or what ever portions so I end up with a big meal and an unfilling meal. My solution is to try and buy things that either have measurable portions (cups not ounces) or buy things small enough that it is an entire portion (small onions rather then big ones).

I like to cook so I just create variations of recipes that i see. Last night was based on the Chinese cookbook thread:

1 boneless skinless chicken breast (about .61 lbs)
1 package of stir-fry vegetables
1/4 cup of rice (uncooked)

I maranated the chicken in soy sauce, cury paste, and red chili seseme oil while the rice was cooking. I don’t have a wok in my current place so I just used an 8" frying pan and put a tablespoon of the marinade in the pan until it was as hot as I could make it. I tossed in the vegetables until they were warm (started off frozen), removed them and put in the chopped breast (bite sized chunks) with another tablespoon of the marinade. Once the chicken was well seared I tossed in the rice and another tablespoon of the marinade when the rice was frying I tossed the vegetables in with everything else to get them a little caramelization.

Total cooking time was about 25 min including prep time and the meal ends up right about 500 calories.

15

If I have leftover chicken I do a dish I call Turkish Chicken and Rice. It is pretty filling and you can add a salad. The spices are estimations here.

1 cooked chicken breast shredded
1 cup uncooked rice
1 1/2 scup chicken broth
1 small onion chopped
1 small tin chopped tomatoes (looking for about 1/2 cup more fluid with this add water if not enough)
2 tsp mild curry powder (I use a sate spice from Penzy’s)
1 tsp dried mint
1 Tbs butter

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and curry powder. When onions almost translucent add the rice and cook until the onions are done and the rice is all covered with the curry powder. Add the chicken broth tomatoes and chicken and bring to boil. When it boils, turn it down to a simmer and add the mint. Keep it simmering until the liquid is gone.

16

The Pleasures of Cooking for One has recipes that are actually for one person, and not for 4 with 3 extra portions for leftovers.
Though the freezer is technically useful, you’ll begin to loathe it if you’re constantly cooking for 3-7 extra meals of the same thing.

17

Johnny L.A., you always have the BEST recipes. That had my mouth watering, and I just had lunch.

I really suggest checking a book or two out of the library on “cooking for one” or “cooking for two”. Just use those search words.

Also, I’m putting a plug in for EatingWell Serves Two, my all time favorite cook book (Again, your library probably has it). It will teach you the basics and a little more - but it starts out as though you know almost nothing about cooking. It also teaches you how to portion out and buy items in small quantities (always a trying experience when cooking for 1-2).

18

Thank you. Was that for the salmon & sauce thing, or my friend’s Cajun Salmon?

19

Oooh! Oooh! I’ve been meaning to share this recipe on the Dope … this is the perfect thread.

Target sells these bags of frozen individually-wrapped tilapia fillets, like 6 or 8 in a bag. Get a bag! Tilapia is inexpensive compared with any other fish.
Target does also sell other individually-wrapped frozen fish, like halibut, for a bit more moolah. But I find this recipe works best with tilapia anyway, because the fillets are so thin.

The only other thing you’ll need is crushed almond … or pecans, or hazelnuts, or whatever, if for some barbaric reason you don’t like almonds. I have a little mini-chopper, like a wee little scaled-down food processor, and I pretty much just keep it around for this. Use raw nuts, not pre-toasted. That’s important.

Thaw a fish fillet, and pat it dry with a paper towel. Season with some salt and one or two other things, whatever you like: paprika, ground thyme, Old Bay, garlic or onion powder, etc.

Then thinly coat the fish - both sides - with mayonnaise. Yes, really! The flavor does NOT come through on the finished dish, and it keeps the meat extra-moist.

Thoroughly coat the fish on both sides with the almond - as thickly as you can get it to stick - and the lay it on a foil-lined baking tray that you’ve sprayed with a little Pam. Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes or so. (I use my toaster oven, but you can use a regular oven.) Essentially, once the almonds turn a nice golden brown, the fish will be done. Easiest timing ever!

It’s absolutely delicious. Mr. Horseshoe LOVES this recipe, requests it often … and readily admits that he generally doesn’t like fish.

20

Salmon and sauce. If I go to my parent’s house this weekend, that’s what I’m making.