Don't feel sorry for me - I like to dine alone. Okay, it's not the alone part I'm seeking, it's just that I like to eat exactly what I want to eat once in a while. So when you live with a man with food issues - and to be fair, who doesn't have them? - that means dining alone. Rather, that means saving those 'just for me' dishes for when he's out playing hockey or attending a 'Book Club' meeting (which, and I'll explain at a later date, doesn't entail reading books).
These solitary dining experiences are never about elaborate preparations or decadent ingredients. Quite the contrary. It's pretty low-on-the-foodie-totem-pole stuff: raw vegetable salads... veggie burgers with pickles... spooning peanut butter out of a jar... woops, I've told you too much, haven't I? Sorry, but life isn't always pretty.
All of this leads me to one of my favourite 'just for me' meals which I indulged in - and that's a very misleading way to put it - the other night when Joe was at the rink. It started out as a quick lunch I used to assemble at a green grocer's salad bar when I was attending university. Perhaps it's a Proustian thing, but I still think it tastes great. It requires a bit of advance preparation only in that I rarely have heads of red cabbage and cauliflower, carrots and cucumber all hanging around in my fridge simultaneously. The great thing is that all except the cucumber seem to last for an eternity in the fridge, so this is an effort that can keep on giving. You can rinse, break up, shred and chop a week's worth of the vegetables and keep them in a covered bowl in the fridge and take a portion with you for lunch, or switch it up and make a stir fry one night.
This is by no means mind-blowing food - just healthful and yummy on a most basic level. Add or delete any vegetable you wish, just be sure it's a vegetable that actually tastes good raw (which for me eliminates broccoli and green beans). I'm including a recipe for a buttermilk-herb vinaigrette I currently choose to suffocate all that is good and pure with, but a green goddess or something-more-pious-dressing would be equally delicious.
solo salad
Serves 1 very generously
1/2 cauliflower florets, broken into small pieces
1/4 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/4 cup English cucumber that has been halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (peeled or not - your choice)
1/2 cup thinly shredded red cabbage
1/4 cup canned chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tbsp toasted sunflower seeds (the shelled variety)
Toss all ingredients in a medium bowl with dressing of choice.
buttermilk-herb vinaigrette
From marthastewart.com
Makes 1/2 cup
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives, tarragon,
or dill
1/2 tsp chopped thyme, oregano,
or marjoram
Whisk together buttermilk, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a
bowl to combine. Slowly whisk in oil and herbs.
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