“Taking solitude in stride was a sign of strength and of a
willingness to take care of myself. So why, when I was alone,
did I find myself trying to subsist on cereal and water? I'd
need to learn to cook for one.”
Jenni Ferrari-Adler
As some of you may know, the Home Audience recently made a hop across the pond. Not an actual pond; he's traveled trans-Atlantic to the land of Top Gear and warm beer, England. Not an actual hop either, though there are some of us who think he could, if he wished to,
 |
| walk this way. |
A cook of a certain ilk, upon finding herself devoid of her usual audience, might feel the panic-ridden onset of a sort of solitudinal psychosis.
while those of another ilk might declare a cook's holiday, using their nights home alone to order stacks of pizza without having to consider anyone else's topping preferences and without having to share a single slice.
 |
| "cook? just for myself? but how? but why?" |
 |
| which turned out to be a pretty great part of this guy's home alone adventure |
 |
| who just wonder "Can I fit this in the crock pot?" |
First, when there's no one here to act as brakeman on the bad pun train, before ya know it,
 |
| I'm using the word ilk, just so that I can make a pun about gigantic deer. So, hurry home dear. (Aughh! I can't stop!!!) |
 |
| does some research. |
It turns out that books on how and what to cook for one could fill planet sized pockets in the cookbook universe, and what's interesting is that cookbooks for one, besides giving you pretty pictures of the what and clear instructions on the how, spend an unusual amount of type space on the why.
Because making the effort and taking the time to cook for oneself alone seems to require some justification.
Because cooking and eating in alone is, according to some, even lonelier than eating out alone, and when you're on your own, takeaway by the TV is your least lonely option.
Or so the cookbook writers suggest.
I didn't just read- I talked to a few experts. Well, I talked to my grown up children, who know much more than I do about cooking for one. Their practical advice was all I needed to stop reading yet another poem about cooking for one, and make a plan for feeding myself.
Here's what I think will work:
Wednesday: Corned beef and vegetables
At least one of the keys to feeding a single person well looks a whole lot like a key for feeding the multiples: cook once, and plan on leftovers. I was reminded last week by my eldest of just how nice a corned beef can be, and how many different, easy meals it can make. This recipe and most others have the meat cooking in water, and I may do that, or I may choose a more interesting liquid- beer maybe, or apple juice.
here's one of my absolutely favorite things to do with pumpkins and it turns easily into something fun for Halloween. To serve up something spooky, use individual sized pumpkins, and curve 4 little shrimps over the pumpkin's edge. They look like little fingers!!! The recipe will make more of the delicious tomato-bisquey filling than I can eat in one or two meals, so the plan is to fill only one small pumpkin and save the rest of the filling for a soup on Saturday.
Friday: Rueben sandwiches and Crispy Kale
Leftover corned beef and sauerkraut turn into one of my favorite sandwiches. The recipe includes a homemade russian dressing, but if that sounds like more work than it's worth, try a bottle of Thousand Island instead. The most natural thing to do with a great sandwich like this is open a party size bag of chips and dive in. I was thinking of that, but crossed chips off the grocery list when I remembered an insight gained from my youngest son. Cooking, especially cooking for one, is about treating yourself as nutritiously as you can. He taught me this by telling me that one of his favorite solitary meals is a quick saute of some of the most nutritious veggies he can lay his hands on. Broccoli, zucchini, and kale are his first picks, and he sizzles them up with olive oil, garlic and whatever else may be in the fridge. With an example like that to live up to, how can I reach for potato chips? The salty crispy craving will meet it's match and surrender to an easy bowlful of kale chips.
All my advisers agree: meals get simpler as the diners get single-er. My daughter tells me that one dish meals are her preference when she's cooking for herself, and that her meals are often veggie centric. I may cook up some sort of meaty protein to go with this soup, but that's not the plan. The plan is to stir some chicken broth and fresh basil into the filling leftover from the pumpkin and shrimp and have a bowl of tomato-basil bisque. If the mood strikes me, I may bake up a few of these little gluten free cheese breads to dunk into this bowl of autumnal goodness.
The last of the corned beef cuddles up with cubed potatoes and nests itself under a poached egg. Perfect. Except, oops, there are no veggies in sight. A punnet of pan roasted cherry tomatoes will be great- just cover the bottom of a pan with tomatoes, throw in a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and some balsamic vinegar if you wish, and keep up the heat until the tomatoes have collapsed and begun to turn brown. If asparagus is affordable where you are, that would be even better.
I wonder whether or not these easy meals will actually find their way onto a plate, or whether I'll survive this week on Costco hot dogs, pizza and Kroger sushi. (Actually, all of that sounds pretty good....) And I hope this week to learn some of your own stories of solitude, and eating by yourself.
That's not all I hope of course-
I hope that this week
you receive solitude and community
in perfect measure.
I hope that the people around you are those
with whom you can be your truest self.
People with whom you can share
the things that feed you,
body and soul.
And I hope this week, when you
dine alone, you treat yourself
like an honored guest.
And raise a glass to the fact
that even when you're the sole diner,
 |
| you're still in excellent company. |
No comments:
Post a Comment