Menu for One

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

There were times during college where money was tight, usually at the end of the semester.  And even though I had a meal plan at the school dining hall, by the end of the year, I couldn't bear the thought of eating another cafeteria meal.  

What to do?  I had a microwave, and sometimes had access to a hot plate and a two-quart pot.  I didn't have a car, and there wasn't a grocery store within walking distance, but there was a CVS nearby.  I created all sorts of odd meals with convenience items, notably a breakfast burrito made with scrambled eggs, packaged deli ham, cheese, and jarred salsa wrapped in a tortilla.  But the uniting characteristic of most of these drug store purchases (other than the fact they were cheap) was that they were ORANGE.  And although I still have a fondness for orange food, such as orange juice and goldfish, orange food always reminds me of those low-budget, make-shift dinners. 

That's why when I read Mark Bittman's recipe in the New York Times for a roasted sweet potato salad a few weeks ago, I decided to revisit orange food again to see if it could really be good eats.  The sweet, orange sweet potatoes are combined with black beans, crunchy red onion, bright red bell pepper, and flecked with green cilantro.  A light lime-jalepeno vinaigrette ties all the elements together.  As an added bonus, it's a warm salad, perfect on an autumn day like today.

Here's the recipe and a short Mark Bittman video showing how to make this absolutely delicious meal that doesn't require a lot of hands-on cooking time.  It can easily be cut in half for a menu for one, but honestly, I don't think you would mind making and eating the whole recipe over a couple of days.  It would make a great side dish next to spicy, roasted pork tenderloin or steak, but I can testify it's great on its own.  It's got a little zip to it from the lime and jalapeno, but if you'd like it a little spicier, I'd double the jalapeno or pick a smaller, spicier pepper.  [note: if you taste the vinaigrette before you add it to the sweet potatoes it will be very tart and spicy.  Don't be alarmed, it'll all mellow out].  Enjoy!

Spinach, Tomato, and White Bean Soup

Do you ever have those nights when you look through the kitchen and say to yourself, "there is NOTHING to  eat?"  I uttered those words earlier this week, seconds before I grabbed my phone to order takeout.  Then I stopped myself.  Am I not the same girl who blogged about the benefits of a well-stocked pantry?  The same girl who said maybe, just maybe, in order to make this cooking for one thing work, that I'd have to try taking the recipe-training wheels off and just try cooking without a script?

Seizing the spirit of adventure, I opened my kitchen cabinets.  I decided soup might be a good place to start.  I know I love soup, and maybe it's not everyone's favorite, but I figured that it would be easy to mess with proportions and to add a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  I grabbed everything I thought might be good in a soup and laid it on the counter.  I grouped these ingredients into categories:

BASE: water and/or chicken stock

VEGETABLES: frozen spinach, canned tomatoes, great northern beans, carrots, onions

FILLERS: barley, egg noodles, small pasta

FINISHERS: parmesan cheese rinds

Remembering that most recipes start by sweating some version of the mire poix (carrots, onions, and celery), I took what aromatics I had (about a two-handed scoopful of chopped carrots and onions) and let them cook slowly in a heavy-bottomed pot, seasoning them with salt and pepper.  When they started to get soft (and to smell really good), I added half of a can of great northern beans (drained), half of a 14oz can of chopped tomatoes (not drained), and half of a defrosted 10 oz package of frozen spinach that I had squeezed dry.  After giving everything a quick stir, I let these ingredients warm up a little bit.  

Remember when I made chicken stock?  It was at this point that I pulled out the bag of chicken stock I had frozen in the muffin tin molds, and added about four to the soup.  You could probably defrost them before adding them to the pot, but I just through them in frozen - I'm not sure it made much of a difference.  After they had melted, I added water to the pot until I liked the consistency, and voila!  Dinner was served!

[In the end, I decided not to add any fillers, such as pasta or barley...the choice is yours.  If you do add them, add them at the end, and just simmer the soup until the pasta is cooked through].

In this instance, I also added a couple of rinds of parmesan cheese I had stashed in my freezer last month.  I let them hang out in the soup from about the time I added the stock and the water until I was ready to serve.  "Waste Not Want Not" strikes again.

The verdict?  Not likely to be featured in next month's Gourmet, but it was a simple dinner that I'd make again.  But more than anything, this very small success gave me a little confidence boost to try cooking off-script again.  And if I can do it, believe me, you can do it, too.  Bon appetit!

OH.  And wondering what to do with the rest of the beans, tomatoes, and spinach?  I was, too.  So I mixed them  up, stored them in a tupperware container and stashed it in the freezer.  I can pull it out the next time I make soup, but I'm sure that I can add it to whatever I serve next with rice, pasta, or tomato sauce.  Imagination at work.

UPDATE: I've recently started listening to a wonderful public radio broadcast called The Splendid Table (www.splendidtable.org) hosted by Lynne Rossettto Kasper, who is just a wealth of information on all things food.  In a recent episode, she discussed the three methods of Basic Soup Improvisation (a summary is printed on her website).  I encourage you to take a look - it will help give you the confidence you need to cook without a script!

Dave Lieberman's Black Bean Soup

This afternoon I decided to make Dave Lieberman's Black Bean Soup.  In addition to being perfectly suited for this time of year, it can be made almost entirely from items already in your pantry and freezes really well.  (I like to freeze it in individual size portions that are easy to take to work for lunch).

I think everyone should have in their arsenal a couple of tried and true dishes that they can make on short notice .  Let's face it, not every meal is ripe for trying out something new - sometimes I'm too hungry for something not to work out.  Anyhow, for what it's worth, this dish is one of mine.

Word to the wise: don't skip the herbs or the lime.  When I first started cooking,I frequently omitted herbs from my grocery list, thinking that they were merely *extras* used by people with a little extra cash.  Au contraire.  In this case, they really brighten up the flavors of the canned items from your pantry and add specs of color to a sea of black beans.

Here's a list of what you'll need:

10 slices bacon, finely chopped
2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
6 garlic cloves, pressed
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 (15 1/2-ounce) cans black beans, drained but not rinsed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish (optional)
Sour cream, for garnish (optional)
Grated cheddar, for garnish (optional)

As I mentioned, most of these are pantry-friendly items.  I only needed to buy the cilantro and the lime.

First, cook the bacon over medium heat until it begins to render some of its fat, then add the onions.  When the onions are translucent, add the garlic and cook for one minute.

Then add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, broth, beer, and tomatoes.

Last, but not least, I added the black beans, and let the soup simmer for 10 minutes.  Just before serving, I added chopped cilantro and the juice of 1/2 a lime.  When all was said and done, I stored in these lunch-sized containers and stuck them in the freezer, ready for whenever I need them.

The final product has a stew-like consistency, is a little smokey (thanks to the bacon), and yet has a little zip to it (thank you, lime).  Enjoy!