Menu for One

What to Eat First

Hey guys!  I don't know about you, but I don't like cleaning out my refrigerator.  I like having a clean refrigerator, it just pains me to throw away food that spoiled before I got around to eating it (a real struggle if you're cooking for one!).  I don't know if it's true or not, but VegetarianTimes.com reported the average family throws away approximately $600 in food every year (approximately 14% of food purchased, 25% of all produce purchased) - yikes!

To help, the website features a handy, dandy chart of what to eat first to avoid unnecessary spoilage.  It's been around for awhile, but I just stumbled upon it and plan to stick it on my refrigerator.  I hope this is helpful!  I really recommend that you read the whole article for more information about should (and should not) be stored next to each other, what should NOT be stored in the refrigerator, etc.  A copy of the whole article is available here.

Eat First: Sunday to Tuesday Artichokes Asparagus Avocados Bananas Basil Broccoli Cherries Corn Dill Green beans Mushrooms Mustard greens Strawberries Watercress

Eat Next: Wednesday to Friday   Arugula Cucumbers Eggplant Grapes Lettuce Lime Mesclun Pineapple Zucchini

Eat Last: Weekend   Apricots Bell peppers Blueberries Brussels sprouts Cauliflower Grapefruit Leeks Lemons Mint Oranges Oregano Parsley Peaches Pears Plums Spinach Tomatoes Watermelon

And Beyond! Apples Beets Cabbage Carrots Celery Garlic Onions Potatoes Winter squash

20 Quick, No Cook Meals Using Roasted Chicken

"UGH.  There's nothing to eat."  Have you ever said this while staring into your kitchen cupboards?  I say it all the time.  A recent house-sitting gig, however, caused me to change my attitude and muster my creativity.

I spent the first week of August taking care of a dog, a cat, two birds, and a fish.  A wonderful crew, really.  While hunting for some doggie ice cream in the freezer one day, I came across a list taped to the side of the refrigerator entitled, "What to Do If I'm Bored."  Clearly, a child had complained one time too many that there was nothing to do.  Top of the list?  "Build fairy hut in the front yard," which was followed by "Write down 20 (or 10) nice things about someone you know, and then give them that list," (on second thought, this idea was a little ambitious, I guess) and "Host movie festival for your friends."   A movie festival?  Great idea!

Inspired by her list, I decided that I would create my own lists for the side of my refrigerator.  These are perfect no-recipes for the dog days of summer, when you can't bring yourself to turn on the oven, or when you're just looking for a quick and tasty meal using the leftovers from that chicken you roasted.  Share your go-to, no-recipe meals in the Comments section!

Chopped, sliced, or shredded rotisserie/roasted chicken with...

1. pesto, dried cranberries on salad or in a wrap
2. curry powder-spiked plain or greek yogurt and halved green grapes, served over rice (hot or cold)
3. black beans, rice, cheese, salsa, and your other favorite burrito accoutrements
4. bbq sauce and coleslaw on an onion roll to make a kickin' BBQ chicken sandwich
5. tomatoes, bibb lettuce, provolone, and mustard on pumpernickel
6. with mayo, chopped celery, and dill on a crossant
7. with curry-spiked mayo on an onion roll
8. soy sauce and stir-fried vegetables on a bed of rice
9. thinly-sliced brie, and granny smith apples or grapes, mustard optional, on frenchbread, served hot or cold
10. scrambled eggs or omelet with sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese
11. carrots, onions, tomatoes and green beans simmered in chicken or vegetable broth
12. rice and sauteed veggies, and stuffed in a blanched red bell pepper
13. bacon and blue cheese on a pizza
14. thinly-sliced potato, shallots, and spinach on a pizza
15. finely chopped pickled vegetables in a hot dog bun
16. farfalle pasta, pesto, and halved cherry tomatoes
17. lettuce, tomato, minced jalepeno, and mashed avocado inside a taco shell or tortilla
18. cheese and tomato on sandwhich bread, grilled
19. toasted french bread, sliced tomatoes, arugula, and creamy caesar salad dressing
20. spinach, feta, and red bell peppers in a tortilla, grilled into a quesadilla.

Japanese Ramen Shop Embraces Tables for One

Hello, everyone!  Happy Friday!  I'm just writing you a quick note to encourage you to check out this guest post on Amateur Gourmet today.  The small ramen shop features a long bar the length of the restaurant with small dividers between each stool to create a ramen noodle eating sanctuary.  A small sign in each dining cubicle reads:

"We would like all of our customers to taste our ramen with no distractions and with a sense of zen emptiness.  You can slurp with abandon. You can eat alone without feeling self-conscious."

So with that, I wish you happy eating this weekend (new posts are forthcoming).  May you enjoy a meal with no distractions, and slurp with abandon.  --Kathryn

 

The Easiest Impressive Thing You Can Cook in a Kitchen: Roast Chicken

[Note: This is arguably not the most impressive thing you can cook in the kitchen, but it is the easiest impressive thing you can cook in a kitchen, and takes less skill than required to boil an egg].

Eager to impress a date?

Trying to prove to your mom you are perfectly capable of keeping yourself alive, and that no, you don't subsist on ramen and Kraft mac & cheese?

Embarrassed that the friendly staff at Chick-Fil-A knows you by name?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you'll want to roast a chicken.  Now, this is bare bones here.  There are a million ways to skin this chicken, so to speak, and we can get to that later.  For right now, here's what you'll need:

INGREDIENTS:	SUPPLIES:
A whole chicken.  3-4 lbs, preferably one that was treated well during its lifetime.  If it ate well and roamed around, you will taste it.  Ask your butcher for advice if you need it – they love to help.	An oven.
[insert fruit or vegetable here].  This is a wildcard.  You may stuff the chicken with a halved lemon, apple, or onion.  Pick whatever you like – it just keeps the chicken nice and moist.	An oven-safe pan large enough to fit the chicken.  For example: a cast-iron skillet, a roasting pan, a cookie sheet, or that pan you cook brownies in.
Optional: carrots, celery, or diced potatoes.  I like to set the bird on top of a layers of vegetables so it doesn’t stew in its own juices.

Set your oven to 425F.  Make sure there's nothing in the bird (sometimes butchers store a bag of giblets there).  Halve a lemon (or other fruit or vegetable) and stuff it in the bird.  Sprinkle the chicken with a tablespoon of kosher salt; this will help develop nice, crisp skin.  (You can do all of this the morning of or the night before if you want.)

Set the chicken in an oven-safe pan.  I place mine breast up, but it really doesn't matter.  Put the pan in the oven and walk away.  That's right, just walk away.  Your work is done here.  Come back in an hour and remove the pan from the oven.  Let the chicken hang out for 15 minutes before carving (it will be difficult, but fight the urge to dig in right away; this will be the key to your success).   THE END.  For real.

Do this and you will succeed where Cher of Clueless fame did not (remember the log of cookie dough incident?), for now your house will be filled with the rich, warm, and impressive smell of a home-cooked meal.  If you're not sure how to carve a chicken, there are many step-by-step videos on YouTube.  The bird will be so juicy, however, that you can easily pick the meat off with your fingers.

5 Cooking for One Strategies

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?  

Cooking for One Got You Down?

Do you ever feel this way (link to a brilliant comic strip entitled "Why I Don't Cook At Home")?  Don't let cooking for yourself get you down.  Take a break, order a pizza, go out to dinner with friends, and come back to the kitchen refreshed. 

Sometimes I need to take a break, too.  I'm not going to lie - I've been absent for the last few months, and for good reason: I've started a new job and moved!  But this break from blogging has me eager to get back into the kitchen, so get ready for some more Menu For One!

Remember: you don't have to slaughter your own Pekingese bison to enjoy a good meal, but as famous French chef Jacques Pepin once said, "If you have extraordinary bread and extraordinary butter, it's hard to beat bread and butter."  I take that to mean that even the simplest of meals can be satisfying, even worthy of inviting people over to share.

As Jacques' long-time friend and cooking partner would say in her sing-songy voice, "Bon Appetit!"