Cooking for one is totally doable, whether you're a newbie in the kitchen or an experienced cook who is used to cooking for a full house. Here are a few simple strategies to get you (back) in the kitchen:
1. Plan, plan, plan. Are you afraid to experiment in the kitchen? Glued to a recipe? Fear not, this strategy is right up your alley. If you do your weekly shopping with a plan in mind, you can save money and reduce food waste, big obstacles for MenuForOne-ers. Need help getting started? Try creating a weekly meal plan with this helpful chart.
2. Cook extra and re-purpose ingredients. Turn leftover shrimp into tacos, stir-fry, or fried rice. Roast a whole chicken and use throughout the week in enchiladas, soups, or salads. Make a large batch of roasted vegetables and add to pot pies, or serve alongside an omelet. Freeze homemade meatballs and add them to pasta or subs.
The key to this strategy is thinking like an Iron Chef. Each week contestants on Iron Chef America take a secret ingredient and showcase it in five or six different dishes. One is hot and spicy, another plays with textures, and then there's always that one Iron Chef who tries to feature the secret ingredient in an ice cream...no need to go that far, but you get the idea. Meals that share common ingredients do not have to taste alike.
3. Use your freezer. Freeze single servings of marinara sauce. Pickle vegetables in small portions. Stock up on freezer-safe foods such as frozen spinach, artichokes, nuts, mixed berries, and shrimp, all of which are easy for you, MenuForOne-er, to dole out as needed.
Prep and freeze freezer-friendly ingredients. Roll strips of bacon into pinwheels and place in a resealable plastic bag. Grab as many as you need easily and defrost. Ditto for lasagna: instead of committing to eat lasagna for two weeks by defrosting a large baking dish, considering each piece of pasta its own serving of lasagna; top with your tomato sauce, cheese, etc. and roll up. Bake off as needed.
4. Improvise with pantry items. Variety is the spice of life, especially when cooking for yourself. You won't resort to frozen dinners night after night if you've got new flavors or cooking adventures to look forward to! Try new grains, give anchovies or sardines a try, make use of those cans of black beans in a soup or a salad. I like to stock my pantry and then get weekly produce deliveries from my CSA.
5. Divide and conquer. This is the mealtime equivalent of a cookie swap. Get some friends together for dinner and divide the leftovers. Or better yet, each make your own meal, divide into single servings, and swap!
What are your strategies for cooking for one?
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