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.

3 Courses of Fennel and 1 of Vanilla for 3

Squash and Fennel Soup with Candied Pumpkin Seeds
1 pound butternut squash
1 bulb fennel
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 cup onion
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
Scant 1/2 cup sherry
5+ cups chicken stock
Sour cream
Butter, olive oil, salt, pepper

Candied Pumpkin Seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp butter
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 Tbs sugar
Pinch each of cinnamon, paprika and cayenne
1 tsp honey
Salt


Pasta and Manilla Clams
3 pounds manilla clams
3/4 pounds spaghetti
1 spring thyme
1 sprig rosemary
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup diced fennel
1 cup diced onion
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup white wine
1 lemon
As much garlic as you can stand
Parsley, butter, olive oil, salt, pepper


Braised Pork Shoulder, Root Vegetables and Polenta
1 Tbs cumin seeds
2 Tbs coriander seeds
2 Tbs fennel seeds
1 tsp cayenne
3 pounds pork shoulder
6 garlic cloves
4 sprigs oregano
4 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs cilantro
1 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced carrot
1/4 cup diced fennel
2 bay leaves
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup white wine
2 cups beef stock
2 cups chicken stock
2 lemons

Root Vegetables
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 chopped parsley
3 medium carrots
3 medium parsnips
3 medium turnips
1 Tbs thyme
1 cup diced shallot
Butter, salt, pepper

Polenta
Polenta-y

Vanilla Pot de Cremes 
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 vanilla beans
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar


All recipes adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table.

For the soup, cut the squash and fennel into 1/2 inch wedges, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a 400 degree oven until brown around the edges, about 40 minutes. While roasting, toast the fennel seeds in a dry saute pan on the stove top and crush them with a mortar and pestle. Heat some butter in a large soup pan and add the onion, fennel seeds, thyme, pepper flakes, bay leaf, salt and pepper and saute until the onions just start to brown. Add the roast vegetables to the pot, turn up the heat a bit and add the sherry. Reduce for a minute then add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Strain the soup with a colander over a pot to reserve all liquids and solids. Add half the solids to a blender and around a cup of stock and blend in batches, adjusting the liquid to solid ratio until it has the consistency of velvety heavy cream. Pour in to warm bowls and top with sour cream dollops and the candied pumpkin seeds.

To make the pumpkin seeds, toast the cumin seeds in a dry saute pan and crush with a mortar. Add the butter to the pan over medium lowish heat and add the pumpkin seeds and sugar, sprinkle the spices and big pinch of salt and cook for a few minutes to gain color. Remove from the heat and cool slightly, then add the honey. Spread out on a flat surface to cool.

For the pasta, dice all the vegetables and saute all but the garlic over medium heat in olive oil in a pan big enough to hold all the clams. Once the vegetables have softened and begin to brown, add the garlic and herbs and cook until fragrant. Deglaze with the wine and reduce slightly. Add the clams, cover and steam until they open, about 8 ish minutes.

Add slightly undercooked pasta to the clam mixture and stir to coat. Add a squeeze of lemon and chopped parsley, stir again and plate with shavings of parmesan.

For the pork shoulder, cut the meat into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces. Toast each type of seed separately in a dry saute pan and crush with a mortar. Add the toasted and crushed seeds to the meat, along with the cayenne, oregano and thyme. Toss together thoroughly and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, bring the meat to room temperature and season with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Brown the meat in batches in a large braising pot in olive oil until seared on all sides. Remove the meat from the pot and add the onion, carrot and fennel and saute, scraping up all the tasty meat bits. Then, add the leftover marinade makins', bay leaf and pepper flakes and cook until everybody starts to caramelize. Add the wine, reduce by half then add the stocks and bring to a boil.

Remove from the heat and return the meat to the pan. Use a vegetable peeler to take long strips of lemon zest from the lemon and tuck them all around the meat along with the cilantro and oregano sprigs. Cover with foil and a tight fitting lid and braise for 2 1/2 hours in the oven.

Remove from the oven and turn up the heat to 400 degrees. Transfer the meat from the braising liquid to a sheet pan and strain the liquid into a bowl. Discard the vegetable solids. Once the oven has reached 400 degrees, roast the braised meat for about 15 minutes to deepen the color and add texture. Return the strained liquid to the pan and reduce to thicken for sauce.

Cut the carrots, parsnips and turnips into bite size pieces and pan roast with the shallot and thyme in butter until tender. Remove from the heat and mince the lemon zest, garlic and parsley together and toss with the vegetables along with salt and pepper.

Plate by placing the meat on top of a mound of polenta, spoon around the reduced braising liquid for a sauce, and add the root vegetables on top.

For the pot de cremes, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Add the cream and milk to a pot along with the vanilla seed scrapings. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat, cover and steep for 30 minutes. Using a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow. Heat the milk mixture back to near boiling and add it to the egg mixture at low speed very slowly as to not curdle the egg. Let the mixture stand for 30 minutes and then scrape off all traces of foam.

Pour the mixture into ramekins and place them into a roasting pan. Surround the ramekins with hot water half way up their sides and bake for 30+ minutes (depending on the ramekin size.) They are done when the centers just quiver when jostled. Chill them for at least four hours. Serve them with chocolate cookies.

Baby Back Ribs and Potato Salad for 5

Ribs
3 full racks of pork baby back ribs
1 cup dry rub
1 bottle porter

Sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup orange juice
2 rosemary sprigs
2 leeks
Butter
Parsley
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Potato Salad
2+ pounds mixed fingerlings
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 tsp dry mint
3 Tbs fresh mint
1/2 cup red onion
1/2 cup green onion
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Something Green
I parboiled and buttered asparagus

Ribs and sauce adapted from the Joy of Cooking. Potato Salad adapted from Zov: Recipes and Memories from the Heart.

Rub the ribs with a mixture of 1/4 cup each of salt, pepper, ground cumin and brown sugar. Place them in a roasting pan and pour the bottle of porter all around. Marinate up to overnight.

Pour out most of the beer, cover with foil and place in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours. Reduce the heat to 300, pour out the accumulated fat, uncover and cook for another 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Remove the meat from the pan to rest and pour out all but a couple tablespoons of fat. Place the pan over two burners and saute the leeks until soft. Deglaze with the orange juice and stock, add the rosemary sprigs and reduce by half. Whisk in the butter and parsley and spoon over the chopped ribs.

Cut the potatoes into bite size and boil. Toss all the ingredients together while the potatoes are still warm.