Cooking for one

My sister sent me some pretty cool suggestions on different topics to post about. One that I find interesting is cooking for one. I have a lot of friends who are in their early twenties, have some roommates, and need to cook for one in a way that they have satisfying, healthy, inexpensive meals that don't waste a lot of food. She also suggested something for people who don't really like to cook, but i might tackle that later ;).

*These are all vegetarian, though some grilled chicken with almost any of this stuff would be pretty good too.

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  here are some ideas for your next grocery list.

eggs
red bliss potatos kale
a can of black beans
rice
red cabbage
tomatos
corn tortillas
yellow onion
portabello mushroom(sort of expensive.)
pasta
sliced almonds, dried cranberries (sort of expensive.)
frozen beans
shredded mexican cheese
bread
crushed garlic

I don't mind putting a bit of prep time into my cooking when i have a spare hour. so if you want to, here's what I'd suggest for this grocery list. Kale - Blanch it. Dip, for a only a second, the leaves into a pot of boiling salt water and immediately place in a bowl of ice water. Soak until the kale is entirely cooled, wring out, and store in some tupperware in the fridge. I like blanched kale because it takes away the bitter taste, retains the nice texture and a lot of the nutrition. Cabbage - cut 1/2 the cabbage into nice thin strings. place in a tupperware container with about an inch of vinager. I like using rice vinager for the flavor. Onion - Use 2/3 of the onion. cut into nice thin strings. the thinner you can manage, the better. Then, over low heat and a bit of oil, carmelize the onions. Pay attention to them, though, because burned onions are nasty and have a really bitter flavor. Tortillas - 4 tortillas. cut into fours, and fry with some veggie oil. sprinkle with sea salt and lime juice, for extra flavor.

• breakfast 1 - a hearty brunch! heat up a red bliss potato in a bowl of water in the microwave for 5 minutes. I would say boil your potatos, or brine them in water, salt and vinegar overnight, but the former is quicker and brining might irritate your roommates who are already squeezing their groceries into one shared space. slice the potato so that there are about 8 chunks and sautee with salt, pepper, & olive oil. Throw in some rosemary if you have it. and then when they are starting to brown, throw in some caramelized onions. mmmmmmmm. eggs - wisk two to three eggs in a bowl, add milk. I like doing two eggs with yolks and one with just the egg white. or 1 egg yolk and 2 egg whites. you can save the yolks for something else later, if you want. pour in a frying pan over medium heat and add the leftover chopped tomato, onion, and beans from the night before! And used some of that pickled red cabbage from your prep earlier for a little salad. And cut up a tortilla and fry with oil to make little chips. Add some sea salt and lime juice and they are delicious.


• breakfast 2 french toast! wisk a few eggs with some milk and brown sugar/vanilla extract (teeny tiny bit) OR lemon juice (no milk) and cook until golden brown on both sides. medium heat. * a cool little syrup to this would be to melt a 1/4 stick of butter with some milk, adding brown sugar, white sugar, and dried cranberries.


• lunch 1 Stir fry -cook your rice. scramble an egg. slice some cabbage. sautee some green beans and when thawed, add some cabbage. Throw in some onions, if you have any leftover from the stuff you didn't caramelize. throw in some kale. add some crushed garlic, or soyaki, chicken, sliced almonds, or whatever! but it's a healthy&hearty lunch and makes for great leftovers.


• lunch 2 sandwich with roasted portabello, caramelized onions, kale, and some olive oil and vinegar. some goat cheese would go really nicely with this.


• dinner 1 - quesadillas! chop up a bit of your onion & tomato and strain your black beans. over medium heat in a frying pan, put a tblsp of veggie oil. throw on a tortilla, cheese, fillings, and more cheese. put on the top tortilla and flip. (i shouldn't be telling you how to make a quesadilla. you probably know.)


• dinner 2 pasta! cook your pasta. sautee sliced portabello mushrooms in some olive oil. definitely use the stem, if you have it. add the caramelized onions and mix in with the pasta. this is so simple and delicious! add some butter and parmesan, a little salt and pepper. golden. even add a bit of the kale you blanched earlier for some greens. mmm mmm good.


• dinner 3 sautee some green beans in an inch of water and add a handful of dried cranberries. cook until the water is gone or the green beans are thoroughly cooked. when finished, add sliced almonds. make some mashed potatoes with two red bliss potatos, add some salt, milk, and butter. make some garlic bread by baking a piece or two with crushed garlic, butter and cheese. broil or 6 minutes at 450. (this dinner needs some protein)


• dinner 4 rice, beans, pickled red cabbage and a couple of eggs over medium. traditional ecuadorian feast :)!


• dinner 5 by this time your bread might be a little stale, and your eggs need to be used. sweet. make some bread pudding for dinner. you might want to make this the night before, so you can just pop it in the oven when you are hungry. bread pudding was traditionally made to make use of the bread going stale and whatever else that might be turning soon. so it gives you a great opportunity to make a floorsweep dinner. cut 3 pieces of bread into squares. wisk 2 eggs ( a good time to use leftover yolks) with some salt and 1/3 cup of milk. and whatever spices you'd like. garlic, rosemary (sidenote - i've been using a shitton of rosemary lately, it seems to grow everywhere in san francisco, so i'm taking advantage). soak the bread in the egg milk mixture and throw in some sauteed portabello and carmelized onions and shredded cheese. even some dried cranberries. this can be cooked uncovered at 375 for a just over ten minutes. you do want it to be moist, but browning at the top. i would serve this with some sauteed kale that you've blanched earlier.
  


• snacks - man i love blanched kale all by itself for a snack. that might just be me. chips & salsa. - use the tortilla chips, chopped tomato, onion, and black beans. chop the pickled red cabbage into more manageable pieces. add some sea salt. mmm. dried cranberries and sliced almonds in a bag for on-the-go.

Hope this inspires you!