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Tips for cooking—and enjoying—a solo meal.
The hectic days of feeding a large family are a thing of the past, with my kids off to college and my husband often out of town. So I spend a lot of evenings on my own (unless you count my three dogs). To avoid having cereal for dinner every night, I like to prepare roasted veggies and grains ahead of time. A delicious meal is just a few steps away as I grab a handful of this and that from my freezer. Farro and wild rice are two of my favorite grains. They are high in fiber, protein and many essential minerals and vitamins, while also being low in fat. I cook the entire bag, spread the hot grains out on a cookie sheet and allow them to cool completely (stirring a few times). Then, I put them in a baggie and freeze, shaking the bag to loosen the grains several times in the first hour. Now I have a base for just about anything. In the morning, I warm up some grains with milk, raisins and maple syrup for a quick breakfast. For lunch, I toss the grains in a container, add a few salad ingredients and dressing, and then bring it with me to work. At dinnertime, I put a couple tablespoons of good olive oil in my sauté pan, add some of my ready-to-go grains and roasted veggies, and toss to heat through. Add a good book and a chair outside on my deck, and I’m quite content with my table for one.
Amy Goetz is a FoodE Expert for Lunds & Byerlys Woodbury. She helps customers with recipe ideas, teaches cooking classes, and plans events. She writes about food and recipes.
