Tide over with Sweet Potato, Ricotta and Beet Salad, snack for 1

More continuous kitchen! Like the celery I talked about previously, ricotta cheese is another thing that the grocery store only sells in weird amounts. For example, say you wanted to make ricotta cheese muffins, you only need ½ cup of ricotta cheese, but the smallest container of ricotta you can get is probably about a pound. Now you’ve got all this extra ricotta sitting around, and no more plans for baking it into anything in sight. What to do with it? Something that uses it up, but doesn’t bore you? May I suggest this little extremely yummy and good for you snack, or dinner.

Ingredients

1 Sweet potato or yam

1 large beet

Large dollop ricotta

Splash red wine vinegar

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put a sauce pan of water on to boil. Give your sweet potato a couple fork-pokes and bake it for around 40 minutes, or until easily pierced.

Once the potato is in the oven, peel and slice your beet into thick slices, about ½ inch or so. Boil it for about 40 minutes, the potato and beet should be done at the same time.

Yes, that hot pad has "Maestro at Wok" written on it. I also have "Treble in the Kitchen." They were gifts, yes, my parents are hysterical. I can handle hot things and sing with the Esoterics all I want. Don't judge me. 

The devil's bathtub. A.k.a boiling beets.

Here you can see that my salt and pepper shakers are hugging in the background. They fear the devil's bathtub. Don't worry guys! Later we can shake you upside down, won't that be fun?

Once the beet is drained and the potato is out of the oven and each is cool enough to handle, assemble your snack.

Slice the potato lengthwise and cube the beet. In a small bowl, mix the beet cubes with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and red wine vinegar.

Top the potato with a large dollop of ricotta, followed up by the beet salad. If you like, add some chopped parsley. And done!

One Pot Chicken and Vegetables with Leftovers

I've written about a variation of this recipe before. It’s a great example of a recipe versatile enough to use whatever vegetables are available that look good, and are priced right. Or, to simply to use up leftover vegetables hanging around the fridge. Barbara Kafka wrote a wonderful book called Roasting, a Simple Art, wherein she talks about the concept of the continuous kitchen. I love this. To me, it means cooking every day and using fresh ingredients without waste. Always using what was left over from the previous few days and reinterpreting the ingredient to ensure your palate doesn't get bored.

You know that thing? Where the only way a given vegetable is available is in a quantity that you would never use? Celery for example, as just one lady, I am not eating that entire bunch of celery before it goes rubbery. I only need ¼ cup diced celery for a given recipe, why do I have to buy so much? (Okay, I know you can buy individual stalks, but you get my drift, right? RIGHT?) A continuous kitchen addresses this very dilemma. If I plan ahead I can use that celery in a mirepoix one night and plan to make a chicken stock and celery soup later in the week. Then freeze both into portion sizes. No waste=pennies saved=more fresh nutritious food at the ready.

This comes together in about 15-20 minutes, and then roasts for about another 30 minutes. It will yield enough for two full meals and chicken leftovers for sandwiches, salad, tacos, posole, stuffed poblanos, chili, having something to pick on standing in front of the fridge at 11 o’clock at night, bones for a small batch of stock….the list goes on and on.   

Ingredients

A few chicken parts, two bone in, skin on breast pieces used here

2 medium portobellos, or other mushrooms

6-10 new/tiny Yukon gold potatoes, sized or cut to about ¾ inch pieces

2 rosemary sprigs

½ lemon

A few garlic cloves

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Implements

Sauce pan to par boil the potatoes

Roasting pan or pot large enough to hold all ingredients with the chicken in a single layer

Colander

Mixing bowl

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Put the sauce pan on to boil with enough water to cover your potatoes. Put the roasting pan to heat to medium/medium high on another burner. Wash the potatoes and use a vegetable peeler to remove any gross bits or eyes. Remove the ribs from the mushrooms by scraping with a spoon and cut the stems. Slice them. Remove the skins from the garlic cloves, leaving them whole, and cut the ½ lemon into very thin slices.

I like half peeled, half not peeled. Personality potato; he's the most interesting potato in the world.

One does not have to de-rib the mushroom, but if one doth doesn't not de-rib, thine mushroom will discolor his other food friends and anger me. 

Unwrap the chicken parts, pat the skin side dry with a paper towel and salt and pepper them right there in the packaging, no need to create extra cleanup by putting the raw meat on your counter or cutting board.

I have altogether too many photos of raw meat. I'm only allowed upstairs and I sleep under a turned over wagon and I put a turkey on the toilet is that bad? do doo doo dooooooooooo.

Is that water boiling yet? Is the roasting pan hot? Drop the potatoes into the water and par boil them for about 10 minutes, they’re still going to roast so they should not be cooked through. Swirl some olive oil around the hot roasting pan and gently lay in the chicken in a single layer, skin side down.

Space out for 10 minutes.

Return to the kitchen.

Drain the potatoes. Flip the chicken and turn off the heat. Mix the mushrooms, potatoes and garlic cloves together in a bowl with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them over the chicken then add the rosemary sprigs and lemon slices.

Roast in the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Whoa those mushrooms shrunk a LOT.

Tri Tip and Anchovy Broccolinis for 1

Growing up, my Father used to prepare the same meal almost every night; pan fried round steak, boiled potatoes with margarine and mixed frozen vegetables. That meat was tough and grayish and I thought that’s what steak was, and I liked it. It took me years to figure out how to get that crusty brown outside and rare or medium rare on the inside. You don’t even need an expensive cut, I used tri tip for this recipe. Admittedly, tri tip isn’t the most tender cut cooked this way, but the point here is cooking for one on the (mostly) cheap, without driving yourself insane with too much time and effort. This steak was four-something dollars for two steaks, each big enough for a single serving. I had steak for dinner and lunch the next day, and both times it was better than something I could have bought already prepared.

I really like using this method for cooking meats, it pretty much works for any steak, pork chop or firm fish filet, such as salmon, halibut or swordfish. The only trick is timing the roasting, properly adjusting for thickness of the cut you have. Very thin cuts won’t need roasting at all. Thick cuts, like the inch thick steaks I used here required about 12 minutes in a 375 degree oven after searing.

Both of these recipes have two steps, but only two pans for the entire menu, so the cleanup effort evens out.

Steak with Blue Cheese and Spicy Broccolinis

Spicy Broccolinis

1 small bunch broccolinis, or regular ol’ broccoli

1 small clove garlic

2 tsp anchovy paste, or to taste

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 lemon for squeezing

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Tri tip

Steak

Olive oil, salt, pepper

A few crumbles of blue cheese

Implements

Sauce pan

Colander

Oven proof skillet

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put on an oven proof skillet to heat to medium high. While the pan heats, fill a sauce pan with water and set to boil.

Season the steak of both sides with salt and pepper, for this step I remove the plastic from the packaging, or un-wrap the paper and season right there in the packaging. No need to wash that cutting board more than once if you ask me.

Swirl around a bit of oil in your hot skillet. It should smoke a bit. Immediately add your steak and sear until it reaches a deep brown crust, about 2 minutes a side. Pop those babies in the oven so they gently cook through. About 12 minutes an inch for beef.

Meat in dual tones.

While the meat is in the oven, assemble your ingredients for the broccolinis.

We are broccolinis if you please, we are broccolinis if you don't please. (To be sung, guess the tune? too rando? Sorry.)

Chop your garlic clove and give the vegetables a rinse and trim. Bring your sauce pan with water to a boil and blanch the broccoilinis until bright green and not cooked through. Keep an eye on them, this only takes a minute or so. Drain.

Hey, is that meat done? Take it out of the oven and place it on a plate to rest. Put the same skillet back on the stove top to use again for the vegetables, heat to medium/medium low. Don’t wash it! Those brown bits are yummy! See also: lazy.

Swirl in a bit more olive oil, add the garlic and move it around until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the blanched broccolinis, red pepper flakes, anchovy paste and salt and pepper. Mix until heated through and all incorporated. Remove from the heat and give them a squeeze of lemon juice.

Slice the rested steak and top with crumbles of blue cheese alongside the hot broccolinis.

Fried Chicken, Herbed Mashed Potatoes and Beet Salad with Chimichurri. Dinner for 5.

Do you know how good fresh beets are? They are so great, so pretty, so good for you and so unique tasting. I've been making this beet salad over and over for the last few weeks. I recently had a dinner party for 4 of my favorite people and wanted to share it with them. The rest of the menu, well, it's starch and fried stuff. Just cuz.

It was a Sunday night, a work night for me, so I wanted the menu to be attainable and not crazy - meaning I  wouldn't have to do any work the day before and I could have the whole thing on the table in 2 hours or so.

Ingredients

Fried Chicken
Five legs and five thighs
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup salt, divided
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp cayenne
1 Tbs baking powder
Corn oil

Herbed Mashed Potatoes
5 large russet potatoes
1 cup loosely packed italian parsley
5 or 6+ sprigs of dill, to taste
1/2 stick butter
Splash of milk
Small handful shredded parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

Beet Salad
5 fresh medium beets
1 red bell pepper
1/2+ cup loosely packed cilantro
Lime
Salt, pepper, olive oil to taste

Chimichurri 
1 small shallot
1 Tsp minced parsley
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Implements
Gallon zip lock bag, or other container for marinating the chicken
Large skillet for frying the chicken
Large pot for boiling the beets, and then the potatoes
Colander
Large mixing bowl
Small mixing bowl

Let's do this thing.

Place the chicken in the zip lock bag along with half the salt and the 2 cups of buttermilk. Mix it around and marinate for at least 2 hours, or as much as overnight.

Marinating Chicken

Pile o vegetables, lookin pretty 

Purple mountain majesty beets. MY COUNTRY TIS OF THEE....wait, what were we doing again?

Put on water to boil, enough to cover the beets. Remove the stems, peel and chop them into 1/2 inch slices. Boil for about 40 minutes, until they are easily pierced with a fork, but still offer a bit of resistance.

While the beets boil and the chicken continues to marinate, prepare the potatoes. Peel and slice them into 3 or 4 chunks each, set them aside. Finely mince the parsley and dill, set it aside.

We are both named Herb

Dice the shallot and parsley for the chimichurri and mix in a small bowl. Add a splash of olive oil and vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Set it aside. Done with chimichurri!

I like NASCAR he's a jerk. Gaffigan? Anyone? Oh, this here is Chimichurri

Oh look, wine, nibbly things and table settings. Oh my? (Yes, Wizard of Oz reference, don't judge me.) I lied before, I did do some things the day before, like shopping and setting up this stuff.

The very nice wine lady was happy to help me pick out this Rose so she could get away from a fawning bag person employee type who smelled a little like farts. Also, nibblies*! Napkin folding! YES. *Side note confession, that nibble meat there is pastrami from Whole Foods and was way way way WAY over seasoned. So I fed it my guests to use it up, HA HA HA I MEAN LOVE YOU GUYS, FOR REAL!!

Prepare the skillet for frying the chicken. Pour enough corn oil to come about a half inch up the sides of the skillet and set to low heat to begin warming. Now prepare the coating for the chicken. In a large doubled paper grocery bag, mix the flour, pepper, cayenne, baking powder and remaining salt. Combine well with your fingers. Drain the marinade from the chicken and throw all the pieces together into the coating bag. Seal it up and shake it around like crazy.

Has it been about 40 minutes? Check the beets, they should be about ready. Drain them. Give that same pot a  rinse, refill with water and set it to boil for the potatoes. Go ahead and add the potatoes to the cold water, they don't mind. Once boiling, it'll take about 15 minutes for them to become tender.

Once the beets are cool enough to handle, cut them into 1/2 cubes. Chop the cilantro, dice the red pepper and mix it together with the beets, juice from the lime to taste, olive oil, salt and pepper. Done with salad!

Red and green items, seasoned and about to be mixed

Turn up the heat in the skillet with oil to bring the temperature of the oil to about 375. Or, if you don't have a thermometer, toss in a little cube of bread. If it sizzles and then browns in about 10 seconds, you're good to go.

What about those potatoes? They're probably about done, poke them with a fork to see if they're nice and tender. They shouldn't give much resistance at all. Rise the beet-y colander and drain the potatoes, then add them back to the warm pot back on the stove. Mix in the butter, milk, herbs, parmesan and lots of salt and pepper. They should be soft enough to mix n' mash up with a fork. Done with potatoes!

To fry the chicken, shake off the excess coating as you remove the piece from the coating bag and into the oil. Add all the pieces to the oil in a single layer. Fry without turning for 14 minutes, then flip and fry for an additional 14 minutes. The should read about 170 to 180 degrees when done. Set the pieces on a rack or paper towells to drain.

Hot grease chicken hot tub

Done with chicken! Done with everything!

I like to plate things snug together. Put a mound of potatoes and stack chicen pieces right up close. Add of spoon of beet salad and top it with just a touch of the chimichurri.

Salt and Pepper Baby Back Ribs and Lightly Creamed Spinach, for 1

I never used to think of baby back ribs as anything other than giant slabs of meat smothered in barbeque sauce that’s two-thirds high fructose corn syrup, cooked by a stranger and begrudgingly delivered by someone at any number of chain restaurants. Complete with greasy sheen and wet naps. 

But, you know what? Ribs are pretty cheap when you’re cooking just for yourself and they don’t even need barbeque sauce. As it turns out, they require much less supervision than a steak and they’re a delicious treat for the weekend. Since they do take time, I like planning just such a treat for myself for a Saturday or Sunday dinner.

I’ve seen ribs on sale all over recently, usually for as little $2.99 a pound. Plus, any grocery store with a meat counter (even Safeway, QFC, Albertsons, Walmart, etc.) will cut a slab of ribs into smaller pieces, you just have to ask. It’s the perfect way to buy only as much as you need. I ask for a third of a rack which works out to about four ribs and rings up at less than $4.00.

This Saturday evening I paired the ribs with some very lightly creamed spinach. I always love to say that eating an entire bunch of spinach by yourself is almost as good as working out.

Salt and Pepper Ribs:

1/3 rack baby back pork ribs

Salt and Pepper

Lightly Creamed Spinach:

1 bunch spinach

1 shallot

2 or 3 sprigs of thyme (or not)

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons shredded parmesan or other salty cheese

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Implements:

Small baking dish

Large skillet

Foil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking dish with foil and lay in the ribs. Season the heck out of those babies on both sides with salt and pepper. Cover them tightly with more foil and pop in the oven for an hour and a half.

When an hour and a half is up, uncover them and turn the heat down to 300 degrees. Cook for another hour.

During this phase of cooking, get to cleaning and trimming your spinach and dice the shallot and garlic. Set these aside.

When the ribs complete their final hour, crank up the heat to 475 for about 15 minutes to develop some more color. Take them out of the oven and let them rest while you tend to the spinach.

Cook the shallot in some olive oil using your skillet over medium heat until soft, 4 minutes or so. Add the garlic, give it a stir and add the spinach right away. Sprinkle over some salt and pepper and move it around the pan until it wilts down, but maintains a bright green color, another 4 minutes or so. Remove it from the heat and mix in the cream and cheese.

Slice the ribs. Pile your spinach onto a plate and lay the ribs around. Get napkins. Lots of napkins, and yum!

Blueberry Ricotta Muffins, Breakfast for 1

Blueberry Ricotta Muffins
Makes six muffins

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest from ½ a lime

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup blueberries

Implements:
2 medium bowls
Standard size 6 muffin tin
Whisk
Spatula
Dry measuring cups
Liquid measuring cup
Measuring spoons

Recipe my own invention.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine and whisk the wet ingredients in one of your bowls, and dry in the other, leaving out the berries for now. The chia seeds may be omitted, but I really like them and they look just like poppy seeds in this recipe. They’re flavor neutral and packed with fiber and omega-3s. I found mine at Whole Foods; just over $6.00 for enough chia seeds to last a lifetime. The baking soda can be substituted by tripling the baking powder.

Wet. Dry. WHOA CHIA SEED CLOSE UP.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and use a spatula to fold everything together a bit. Pour in the berries and fold some more until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. The dough will be gooey and thick.

Prepare your muffin tin by buttering, oiling, or lining with paper muffin cups. Using your hands, distribute the dough evenly among the cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Set to cool for about five minutes, then turn out and cool completely at room temperature. Eat one. Save the rest in plastic, in the fridge. Voila, breakfast for the whole week. I admit to even eating mine in the car, hardly any crumbs!

Lox, Shiitake and Peas Alfredo for 1

Alfredo Sauce with Extras
1 small shallot
1 clove garlic
7 or 8 fresh shiitakes
4 or 5 thyme sprigs
Splash of white wine
Handful of grated parmesan
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup frozen peas
Handful of sliced lox, about 1/8 a pound

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Parsley

Pasta

A bit of linguine, 2 oz or so dry.

Salted water for boiling

Recipe my own, new job celebrations require cream sauce. 

Set a skillet large enough hold all ingredients to heat to medium. Prep your salted water for cooking the pasta. Dice the shallot, stem and slice the shiitakes. Mince the garlic clove and a bit of parsley and set them aside. Add a bit of olive oil to your now-hot skillet and saute the shallot until softened, 3 minutes or so. Add the shiitake slices and thyme sprigs.

Turn on the pasta water to boil.

Saute the mushrooms until just starting to brown slightly, then add the splash of white wine and reduce until it's almost all evaporated. 

Add the pasta to the boiling water. Cook until slightly under-done, about a minute less than indicated on the box.

With the pasta cooking and the wine now reduced, add the minced garlic clove and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds or so. Slowly add the cream and parmesan and cook gently to melt the cheese. Add the peas, salmon and a few grids of pepper. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Stir to combine. Pick out the thyme sprigs while the whole mixture heats through. 

Plate and top with more parmesan and the minced parsley. 

Orange Beef with Garlicky Chard for 1

Orange Beef

2 oranges

1 clove garlic

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 sirloin or rib-eye steak

1/2 Tbs cornstarch

3 scallions

Vegetable oil, salt, pepper

Garlicky Chard

1 bunch rainbow (or regular) chard

2 garlic cloves

Red pepper flakes

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Beef recipe adapted from marthastewart.com. Chard recipe inspired from a recent dinner party given by my friend Sarah. 

Set a skillet heating to medium high. Slice the steak into 1/2 inch strips and wash, trim and roughly slice the chard. Set both aside. Zest and squeeze the juice from 1 of the oranges into a small bowl. Chop all 3 garlic cloves and add 1/3 of them to the juice along with the soy sauce. Segment the other orange, slicing between the membranes over the juice and zest mixture to capture the additional juice. Set the segments aside. 

Toss the beef with the cornstarch, salt and pepper and saute in vegetable oil in your now-hot skillet until just cooked through, 3 minutes or so. The cornstarch will give the beef a nice deep brown color and help thicken the sauce. Chop up the scallions while the beef cooks. Remove the beef from the skillet, turn down the heat a touch and pour in the juice and zest mixture. Reduce the mixture to a light syrup, add the cooked beef, scallions and orange segments and heat through. Pour onto a serving plate.

Rinse and wipe the pan out with a paper towel and return to the heat. Add a bit of olive oil and the remaining chopped garlic. Heat the garlic until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the sliced chard, salt, pepper and a little splash of water or stock (or a stock cube.) Wilt the greens for about 4 or 5 minutes. Plate along with the beef.

Garlicky Clams and Orzo for 1

Clams and Orzo
1 pound manilla clams in shells
2 or 3 oz dry orzo
1 small carrot
1 small celery stalk
1 small shallot
2 garlic cloves
2 or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Splash of white wine
1/2 cup stock, or more to make soupier
Squeeze of lemon juice
Parmesan shavings
Parsley
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Recipe my own invention.

Cover the clams with cold water in a bowl and add a splash of milk to help them spit out their sand. Put a small pot of water on to boil and heat a pan large enough to hold all the clams in their shells, to medium.

With your clams soaking and your pans heating, dice the carrot, celery and shallot into uniform pieces. Saute the vegetables in a bit of olive oil along with the thyme sprigs until softened and just beginning to color. Mince the garlic cloves and add them to the pan until fragrant, 30 seconds or so. Put the orzo in your now-boiling water and set the timer to cook until just underdone.

Add the clams, wine and stock to the pan with the vegetables. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover to steam until the clams open, 5 or 6 minutes. Drain the orzo and add it to the pan with the clams. Salt and pepper to taste and remove the thyme sprigs. Squeeze over a bit of lemon juice and top with parmesan shavings and chopped parsley.

Pasta with Shrimp and Bacon, Raspberry Salad for 1

Pasta
Thin spaghetti
6+ ounces raw peeled shrimp
2 or 3 slices of bacon
1 small garlic clove
Scallions
1/2 lemon
Parmesan shavings
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Salad
Mixed greens
Raspberries
Other 1/2 lemon
Olive oil, salt pepper

Recipes my own invention.

For the pasta, put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Heat a pan large enough to hold all the cooked pasta. While the pan is heating, cut the bacon into bite size bits. Fry the bacon until crisp and set aside to drain on paper towels. Boil the pasta.

With the pasta going, add the shrimp to the pan with olive oil and saute until about half way cooked through, about a minute. Add the garlic and scallion and saute until fragrant and the shrimp is just cooked through, about another minute or so. If the garlic looks like it may burn, add a bit of the pasta water to the pan to stop any scorching before it starts. Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the pan along with the bacon.


Salt and pepper to taste and add a squeeze of lemon. Top with parmesan, using a vegetable peeler to get thick cheese shavings.

For the salad, mix the greens in a bowl using your hands with just a tiny bit of olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Top with the berries and serve alongside the pasta.

Chicken, Potatoes, Grape Tomatoes and Shiitakes for 1

Chicken and Veg
3 or 4 various chicken parts
New potatoes
Grape tomatoes
Shiitakes
Rosemary or thyme sprigs
Small lemon
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Recipe my own invention.

Put water on to boil, enough the cover how many potatoes you want. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat another pot over medium high, large enough to hold the chicken parts in a single layer with the vegetables piled over the top.

While the pans and oven heat, prepare the vegetables. Cut the tomatoes in half, stem the mushrooms and thickly slice, remove any blemishes from the potatoes and slice in half.  Cut the lemon into thick rounds.

Combine the tomatoes, lemon, herb sprigs and mushrooms in a bowl and mix in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, enough to lightly coat.

Parboil the potatoes until slightly underdone, 8 minutes or so, depending on the size. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and  pepper to taste. Brown the pieces skin side down in olive oil in your non-potato pan until deep golden brown. Flip the chicken and remove from the heat.

Top the chicken with the potatoes and tomato mixture and roast for about 50 minutes. About half way through cooking, spoon some chicken fat from the pan over the vegetables and shift them around a bit so they have more opportunity to brown.

Remove the herbs and lemon. Slice the chicken and serve the mixed vegetables alongside. There should be just the right amount for dinner and then lunch for the next day.

Egg, Goat Cheese and Toast. Lunch for 1

Cheesy Eggy Toast
1 egg
Goat cheese
1 english muffin
1/2 small garlic clove
Fresh oregano, basil or dill
Butter, salt, pepper

Adapted from smittenkitchen.com.

I know, no meat. Lunch post. Weird. I've been having this everyday for a week and can't get it out of my head. It's simple and satisfying.

Heat a dab of butter in a small pan over medium. Split and toast the english muffin.

Do a tiny dice on the garlic and add it to the pan for about 30 seconds, then crack the egg in. Let the white set almost completely and toss in a few small shreds of the herbs. Salt and pepper to taste. Once the white is set, break the yolk with a spoon and pull the set white in over the broken yolk without completely scrambling, and flip. Take the pan off the heat just before the egg has set through.

Smear goat cheese over the hot english muffin and top with the divided egg.

You could take these ingredients to work. Leave out the garlic, toast the english muffin, microwave the egg in a mug with the herbs for 1 minute, season to taste and assemble. Cheap, fast, yummy.

Poblanos Stuffed with Shrimp, Corn and Goat Cheese with Tomatillo Sauce for 1 or 2

Peppers, Stuffing and Sauce
4 poblanos
1/2 pound shrimp, raw, shell on
2 cloves garlic
5 tomatillos
Cilantro
Lime
3/4 cup corn kernels
Goat cheese
Vegetable oil, salt, pepper

Adapted from marthastewart.com.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Roast the peppers for 20 minutes, turn them and roast 10 minutes more. Check them, they may need more time. Remove them when the skin is mostly blackened. Place them in a bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap and let them sit until cool enough to handle. Peel and seed them.

Peel the shrimp and simmer the shells in enough water to submerge the husked tomatillos. Once the shells have turned bright pink and given up some flavor, skim them from the water and add the tomatillos. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Drain them, and puree in a food processor with the garlic, 3/4 cup of loose cilantro leaves and juice from the lime. Season to taste.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread half the tomatillo mixture into the bottom of a baking dish large enough to hold the peppers in a single layer.

Heat a pan to medium with a bit of vegetable oil. Add the corn kernels, remainder of the tomatillo mixture and a generous lump of goat cheese. Again, season to taste. Add the shrimp to the pan at the last minute to combine when the goat cheese is melted.

Place the peppers side by side the baking dish over the sauce. Spoon the corn and shrimp mixture into each pepper and top with more goat cheese crumbles. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Plate and sprinkle around some cilantro leaves.

This yields 2 main dishes, or 4 sides. Or, I like to make it and freeze the rest in portions. It reheats delish.

Lamb Chops with Pistachio Tapenade and Green Mashed Potatoes for 4

Lamb Chops
8 small lamb chops
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Pistachio Tapenade
Zest of 1 lemon
2+ Tbs chopped parsley
1+ Tbs chopped oregano
1 large garlic clove
2 Tbs capers
1/2 cup pitted green olives
1/2 cup roasted pistachios
Salt to taste, depending on how salty the pistachios are
Pepper


Green Mashed Potatoes
2 pounds russet potatoes
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk or cream
Dill
Parsley
Salt, pepper

Lamb chops and tapenade adapted from smittenkitchen.com. Potatoes my own.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat a skillet large enough to hold all the chops, or a smaller one that will hold half of them, to medium high. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

While the oven and stove top heat, toast the nuts in a dry pan until fragrant and blend all the tapenade ingredients in a food processor. Peel and quarter the potatoes. Add the potatoes to the heating water and boil until tender. 15 or so minutes.  

Season the chops with salt and pepper on both sides and sear in a bit of olive oil, all at once or in batches, about 2 minutes a side. Generously smear all the chops on the top side with the tapenade and roast in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the chops from the oven and rest them for 5 minutes.

Drain the potatoes, put them back in the pot and return them to low heat. Add the butter and milk or cream. Finely dice an entire package of stemmed dill and about 1/2 a bunch of parsley. Add the herbs to the potatoes, stir until mashed and adjust the seasoning.

Steak and Horseradish Sauce with Braised Cabbage

Steak
Lean top sirloin, about 3/4 inch thick
1/3 cup stock
Vegetable oil
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Horseradish Sauce
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp grated horseradish
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Braised Cabbage
1/2 small head of green cabbage
1 1/2 cups chicken stock, or enough to nearly cover the cabbage
1 small leek
1 bay leaf
6+ whole pepper corns
Salt and pepper

Braised cabbage adapted from marthastewart.com. Other recipes my own.

Set a skillet to heat for the steak over medium high.

Put the stock on to boil in a saucepan just large enough to hold the cabbage. Rinse and slice the leek and add it to the stock along with the bay leaf, peppercorns and salt to taste. Clean and cut the cabbage into wedges and add to the stock mixture. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper. Add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the now-hot pan and sear until the steak has a nice dark brown color. Flip the meat, reduce the heat to low, low-medium and cover for around 3 minutes. Remove the steak from the pan to rest, turn the heat back up to medium high and add the stock. Reduce the stock with the pan juices until it thickens down to a sauce. Remove the pan from the heat.

Mix the horseradish sauce ingredients. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Red wine vinegar will work in place of lemon juice if preferred.

The cabbage should be just done, remove from the stock with a slotted spoon. Everything done at once! Plate the steak and cabbage, pour the pan sauce over the meat and add the horseradish sauce alongside for dipping.

Meal-sized Nicoise Salad for 1 or 2

Nicoise Salad
Solid albacore canned in water
Red new potatoes
Hard boiled egg(s)
Grape tomatoes
Green beans
Nicoise olives
Red leaf lettuce
Lemon
Butter
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Adapted from the classic French salad.

Hard boil the egg(s) by covering it with cold water. Bring it to a boil over high heat, immediately remove from the heat, cover and let sit for 12 minutes. Run the egg under cold water to stop the cooking process. Refill the pot with water and blanch the green beans in salted water, once brightly colored and just tender, add the beans to the cold water with the unpeeled egg. Refill the pot one last time, cut the potatoes to bite size and boil until fork-tender.

Meanwhile, clean and cut the lettuce and slice the grape tomatoes in half. When the potatoes are done, drain them, add them back to the warm pot and place back on the burner to evaporate any residual water. Add a pat of butter, salt and pepper to taste.

Peel the egg and cut in half. Drain the tuna, break apart and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place the lettuce, green beans and tomato in a bowl and squeeze half the lemon over. Pour in a tablespoon+ of olive oil, some salt and pepper, and mix with your hands.

Plate the lettuce using your hands to separate out the tomatoes and green beans, then add them on top of the lettuce. Arrange the egg, olives, potatoes and tuna around the greens.

Turkey Vegetable Meatloaf and Roasted Carrots with Avocado for 1

Turkey Vegetable Meatloaf
20 oz ground turkey
8+ oz criminis
1 leek
1 egg
1 clove garlic
1 cup grated fontina
A few sage leaves
Slice bread
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Roasted Carrots with Avocado
6 or 7 small carrots, organic with green tops
1 tsp cumin
1 avocado
Lemon juice
Olive oil, salt, pepper


Meatloaf adapted from marthastewart.com. Carrots adapted from smittenkitchen.com.

For the meatloaf, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the leek and mushrooms and saute in some olive oil over medium heat until they gain some color, add the diced garlic and continue to saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer.

Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl and combine with all other ingredients using your hands. Shape into a loaf-y lump, top with ketchup if you like. Bake for 45 minutes, then crank up the heat to 450 and bake a few minutes more to achieve a nice color. Set to rest.

For the carrots, peel and chop into two-bite pieces, about the same size as avocado slices. Coat with olive oil, salt, pepper and the cumin. Add to the oven with the meatloaf at the end of cooking, when the oven reaches 450 degrees. When the meatloaf is a nice color, remove it and lower the heat to 400 degrees. Continue to roast the carrots until they've been in the oven for 20 minutes total.

Slice the avocado and combine in a bowl with the carrots. Squeeze over a little lemon juice and a bit more salt and pepper.

Slice a few pieces of the meatloaf and arrange the carrot avocado on top and around. This meatloaf is enough for 4 meals. I like to have it for dinner, then lunch the next day and freeze the rest in portions for future lunches. It freezes beautifully and keeps for 6 months.

Za'atar Pork Chop and Spinach Portobello for 1

Za'atar Pork Chop
Za'atar Spice Mixture
1/4 cup sumac
2 Tbs dry oregano
2 Tbs dry marjoram
2 Tbs toasted sesame seed
1 tsp salt

Pork chop
Bone in pork chop about 3/4 of an inch thick
Vegetable oil, pepper


Spinach Portobello
1 large portobello
1 small bunch spinach
1 small leek
Goat cheese
3 stock cubes or 1/3 cup chicken stock
Balsamic, olive oil, salt, pepper

All recipes my own.

For the Za'atar, have a friend travel to Turkey and bring you back fresh, vacuum sealed sumac (thanks Sarah!) Or, if this isn't possible, order it, or find it in a specialty spice retailer. :)

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until fragrant and mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Generously pat the mixture all over the pork and pepper on both sides. Heat the vegetable oil to just shy of medium high and sear the meat for about 4 or 5 minutes. Flip, lower the heat and cover for another 4 or 5 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate to rest.

Meanwhile, for the mushroom, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. De-rib the mushroom by scraping it with a spoon and de-stem. Rub the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper on the inside of the cap and roast for 15 minutes.

Clean and stem the spinach, thinly slice the leeks. Heat the stock in a pan large enough to hold all the vegetables until simmering. Blanch them until bright and wilted, drain. Pile all the vegetables into the mushroom cap and top with goat cheese. Return the mushroom to the oven for another 15 minutes to brown.

Coconut Beef Stew with Cilantro and Mint for 4

Coconut Beef Stew with Cilantro and Mint
3 pounds stewing beef pieces
1 onion
Scallions
2 Tbs fresh ginger
1/2 pound criminis or sliced portobellos
3 carrots
2 Tbs tomato paste
2 garlic cloves
2 cups chicken or beef stock
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped mint
Lemon zest
Vegetable oil, salt, pepper

Adapted from Zov: Recipes and Memories from the Heart.

Brown the beef on all sides in the vegetable oil in a large pot set to medium high. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside, turn down the heat to medium and add the diced onion, half a bunch of chopped scallions, diced ginger, sliced carrot and sliced mushrooms. Scrape up the bits from the beef and cook until the onion turns translucent.

Add the garlic, tomato paste, stock, coconut milk and herbs. Return the meat to the pan and bring to a simmer, cover and keep a low simmer for an hour. Uncover, and simmer another half hour until the liquid reduces by about half. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with potatoes or rice and top with herbs, chopped scallion and lemon zest.

Lemony Shrimp Tacos with Spiced Black Beans for 1

Lemony Shrimp
1/2 pound large shrimp
Lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup salsa
1 garlic clove
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Spiced Black Beans
1 can black beans
1 shallot
Ground cumin
Ground coriander
Finely diced seeded ancho
Dry oregano
Chicken stock
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Taco Fixin's 
Small flour tortillas
Shredded cheese
Sour Cream
Avocado slices
Salsa
Red leaf lettuce
Cilantro

These recipes are my own inventions.

Peel and rinse the shrimp, mince the garlic cloves and add all ingredients together in a bowl to marinate for about a half hour. I made the salsa I used by mincing a shallot, tomato and cilantro together. Pour the mixture into a pan on medium heat and cook just until the shrimp turn pink. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, dice the shallot and saute in olive oil or vegetable oil until just starting to color. Add all the spices to taste and heat until fragrant. Add the beans and 3 or 4 stock cubes, cook until the stock has incorporated and reduced a bit and the beans have heated through.

Toast the tortillas directly on the burner set to medium heat, moving them around and flipping to avoid scorching. Pile on the shrimp, beans and fixin's. These recipes yield enough for two meals, perfect for dinner and lunch the next day.

Black Bean Chicken Chili and Stock...and Leftovers for 1

Roast Chicken
4 pound free range/organic whole chicken
Salt, pepper

Chicken Stock Variations
Variation 1
Chicken bones and carcass from a roasted chicken
1 onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 parsnip
Sprigs of thyme and parsley
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs Black pepper corns
1 Tbs Dry juniper berries
6 whole cloves

Variation 2
Chicken bones and carcass from a roasted chicken
1 onion
1 red bell pepper
1 head of garlic
1 small bunch cilantro
1 small ham hock
1 Tbs Black pepper corns
1 bay leaf 

Black Bean Chili
2 14 ounce cans black beans
1 14 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 shallot
1 clove garlic
1 zucchini
1 carrot
Chili powder to taste
Cumin to taste
Chicken stock
Shredded chicken

Variation 2 of the chicken stock is adapted from Daisy: Morning Noon and Night. Chili adapted from Martha Stewart. Roast chicken and variation 1 of the stock are my own.

For the chicken, preheat the oven to 415 degrees. Salt and pepper the chicken and tie the ankles together to promote even roasting temperature; cotton kitchen twine is ideal, but plain, unwaxed floss works too. If making stock at the time of roasting, stuff the cavity with vegetable scraps and herbs. Roast the chicken for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Set to cool and eat one of the legs standing over the stove.

Then, portion and shred the rest into bites size pieces, retaining all the bones and any vegetables from the cavity. Some of the meat can go with the chili, some for sandwiches, some for enchiladas, croquettes, posole, pasta, some for soup that can be made with the forthcoming stock that can then be frozen into portion sizes and some for tomorrow's chicken tacos.

For the stock, give the vegetables a rough chop and add all ingredients to a large pot and cover generously with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least 2 hours, or as many hours as you feel like smelling it.

Strain through 2 layers of cheesecloth set over a colander set over a large bowl. Chill overnight. The next day, skim the fat off the top and portion some into 1 or 2 cup sizes for freezing and pour some into ice cube trays for perfect little flavoring cubes. Stock will freeze well for 6 months or sit in the fridge for 4 or 5 days.

For the chili, dice the shallot, carrot and zucchini and saute in vegetable oil until starting to color. Add the minced garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the strained and rinsed beans, tomatoes, chili powder and cumin. Add a few frozen cubes of chicken stock and simmer a few minutes to meld flavors. Plate with a mound of chili and top with some shredded chicken and cilantro leaves. Freeze the rest into portion sizes.

Steak and Peppers with Braised Carrots for 1

Steak
Room temperature sirloin
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Vinegar Peppers
2 poblanos
1 clove garlic
Parsley
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Braised Carrots
6+ small, slim organic carrots
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tsp brown sugar
Olive oil, salt, pepper
Parsley

Roast the peppers in a 475 degree oven for 25 minutes, flipping once. Place them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until they are cool enough to handle, then peel, seed and chop. Mince the garlic clove and parsley and add all ingredients to a bowl and season to taste.

Rub the steak with olive oil, salt and pepper and sear on high heat in a cast iron skillet, flip and place in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. Let it rest on a plate for 10 minutes or so.

Peel and trim the carrots and place them in a pan just big enough to hold them in a single layer. Add all ingredients except the parsley and reduce the stock at a simmer down to nothing, about 20 minutes. Once the liquid is gone, slightly caramelize the carrots and add some chopped parsley.

Top the steak with peppers and plate alongside the carrots.