Vegetarian cooking for ONE
I'm in the Giant Squid summer school - this week we are challenged to write about our favorite restaurant. We were told we could take that liberally - so I'm writing about the restaurant I eat at most nights: my place. And since I'm single and vegetarian - I guess that's what this lens is about: what a single vegetarian person eats.
Generally I try and be healthy about it. Although French fries are, if cooked properly, vegetarian - I still rarely eat them. I do make much use of the fact that these days, in Dutch supermarkets, there are a lot of ready made meals available - and even healthy ones. But I'll start with my Friday chocolate fest...
Cooking for one - and I've heard nobody deny this yet - is a sad business. I am a reasonably good cook, but why bother when it's just for one? So most of what I eat is very simple to make - if it's not ready made from the supermarket.
Generally I try and be healthy about it. Although French fries are, if cooked properly, vegetarian - I still rarely eat them. I do make much use of the fact that these days, in Dutch supermarkets, there are a lot of ready made meals available - and even healthy ones. But I'll start with my Friday chocolate fest...
Cooking for one - and I've heard nobody deny this yet - is a sad business. I am a reasonably good cook, but why bother when it's just for one? So most of what I eat is very simple to make - if it's not ready made from the supermarket.
Friday chocolate fest...
Blueberries and chocolate
I used to be a real chocolate addict. I would eat a whole bar of chocolate (say 200 grams) a day. Now I'm down to one such bar a week - plus small pieces at my grandmother's in between when I visit her. I have a good excuse: research shows that emotionally healthy women eat chocolate. I'll leave it to the experts whether it's because they're emotionally healthy that they eat it, or that the chocolates helps them stay balanced.For me Friday is chocolate day. I usually put up a DVD - generally a romantic one - and eat that bar of chocolate. That's pretty filling, so I don't end up eating much dinner after.
However what makes a very good combo is to have fresh blueberries for desert. I just love blueberries too. I can eat a whole box in one sitting... If that's an addiction, it's at least a healthy one...
So, is chocolate healthy?
Chocolate is eaten more by emotionally healthy women, which may mean it's good for our psychological health at least. Studies that say that black chocolate, eaten in moderation, is good for the heart. Those studies were usually conducted on people eating one (1) piece of chocolate candy, or about a table spoon of chocolate a day. I guess that means eating a bar of chocolate a week is probably not a big deal.
Baked potatoes, greens and a 'meat replacement'
My current favorite single person meal
These days being a vegetarian is pretty easy. They have tasty meat replacement things in the supermarket...The ones I have a lot recently are a corn fantasy thing. Bake them with pre-cleaned small potatoes, add a bit of your favorite sauce and all you need is some vegetables to make a complete meal.
Broccoli combines well with this, but so does a simple salad.
Done in 15 minutes if you're smart about the vegetables.
Healthy if done like this
Bake the potatoes in a table spoon of vegetable oil, not butter and not margerine. Even healthier would be to bake them without any oil or fat in the oven.
A simple vegetarian salad with tomatoes and bananas
What you need?- tomatoes
- bananas
What do you do? Just cut them up into small pieces and mix. Nothing else necessary.
Healthy?
VERY healthy. This salad contains vitamins, minerals, a bit of protein and fibers. No oil and sugar was added at all.
Get the right (big) salad bowl
Just because I'm single, doesn't mean I don't need a big salad bowl.
In fact, I have several. It needs to be big because when I eat a salad meal, my whole meal will be in that bowl and you know the mixing part also happens in the bowl, so ideally there's just a bit of extra space in the bowl even when all the ingredients are already in there.
In fact, I have several. It needs to be big because when I eat a salad meal, my whole meal will be in that bowl and you know the mixing part also happens in the bowl, so ideally there's just a bit of extra space in the bowl even when all the ingredients are already in there.
Pyrex Prepware 4-Quart Rimmed Mixing Bowl, Clear
Amazon Price: $10.00 (as of 11/24/2009)
This is very like the salad bowl I have: big enough, easy to clean and affordable.
Avg. Customer Rating: 
A simple salad: tomatoes and grapes
Ingredients:- tomatoes
- grapes without seeds.
- a tasty oil. I go with simple olive oil
- a vinegar. I go with balsamic vinegar
Put a splash of oil and a slightly smaller splash of the vinegar into your salad bowl. Wiggle the bowl so the dressing gets all over the sides of the bowl.
Wash the tomatoes and grapes.
Cut up the tomatoes (if you choose small ones, cutting them in half is enough).
Put the grapes and the tomatoes in the bowl. Hussle.
Done. Great combo, and very simple.
Healthy?
Very healthy. Raw fruit and vegetable combined with healthy oils (olive oil). Obviously the amount of oil should not be overdone, but in this quantity it's great for your skin and arteries.
Dressing up a ready made salad
Making a meal salad the easy way
There are a lot of ready made salads in my supermarket. This is great for a single person. Instead of having to buy all the ingredients (and end up throwing half out because you can't finish them before they're done), you get everything in one nice package.Those salads are usually meant for several people to eat with their main course. But if it's just you, you can make it a meal by simply adding one or more of these ingredients:
- Assorted nuts. Preferably unsalted.
Nuts contain all kinds of healthy ingredients (protein, good oils) and will go with any salad I can think of. They also give a salad a bit more of a bite and that will make you feel fuller at the end of the meal. - A can of beans: not a big one obviously.
This is a bit trickier taste wise. Pick beans you know will go well with the salad. Red beans go with most types I can think of. - Raisins
I know it sounds corny, but really - raisins will taste good in almost any salad. Add them right after the dressing so the raisins have time to soak up a bit of the taste of the dressing. - Fruit (for instance grapes, berries, strawberries)
This is always good: more fruit in a salad. Since they don't add protein this works best in salads that already contain cheese or something. If not - add nuts too.
I don't know if you can tell from my description - but I have often just added nuts to a salad and made it my whole meal.
Of course, as a vegetarian, you WILL have to look at the label to see if the salad you bought is vegetarian to start with.
Healthy?
Usually, yes. Some store prepared salads contain a LOT of cheese, which contains in it's turn animal fat in abundance. Also, store made salad dressing may contain oils and fats you really should not eat.
However, on a scale from one to ten, this isn't unhealthy either and the ingredients I advise you to add are all very good for you. Nuts contain healthy oils, fiber and protein. Beans contain healthy fiber and protein as well. Colored fruit contains rare anti-oxidants combined with vitamins.
Food suggestions by other single vegetarians
Other single people eat vegetarian as well...
Soups
Easy to make, easy to save in the refrigerator, easy to spice up differently each time you eat them. I've got a few ready made soups in sacks (that's how they're sold) for the days when I really don't feel like cooking but still would like something warm to eat.
If you buy ready made soups, depending on how well they're made, make a meal out of them by adding:
Salad
I already have a lot of salad on this lens, but this one submitted by a reader sounds delicious too:
Easy to make, easy to save in the refrigerator, easy to spice up differently each time you eat them. I've got a few ready made soups in sacks (that's how they're sold) for the days when I really don't feel like cooking but still would like something warm to eat.
If you buy ready made soups, depending on how well they're made, make a meal out of them by adding:
- Soup vegetables (which come pre-cut in the supermarket)
- A small can of beans, chick peas for instance (chick peas have the added advantage of helping you keep happy)
- Soy based chicken replacement bits (not sure what they're called) or Quorn.
Salad
I already have a lot of salad on this lens, but this one submitted by a reader sounds delicious too:
- mushrooms
- chick peas
- tomato
- roasted pepper (that is: paprika or sweet peppers)
- sweet onions
- pepper
- oregano
- dressing
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Doesn't cooking for one suddenly sound tasty?
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- ChapelHillFiddler ChapelHillFiddler Oct 24, 2009 @ 6:44 am
- Well, son of a gun, I found this via the "explore related pages" link - first time user! I'm doing two lenses about my rotten eating habits as a single woman and my efforts to reform. I used to be a great cook but now that I'm alone I never use my kitchen knife. It's gotta change. Thanks for this.
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- spirituality spirituality Aug 2, 2009 @ 12:31 am | in reply to JaguarJulie
- I became a vegetarian when I was barely out of my teens. I certainly didn't have a weight problem then. I don't think for me it has made a difference. I ate French fries pretty often in the early days, for instance. Vegetarian enough (if you don't question the fast food owner too closely about the origin of his fat or oil), but very bad for your weight. And all that chocolate I've eaten over the years... There was a time, and I was already a vegetarian, when I ate a whole bar of the stuff daily. Not very good for your health or your weight either.
Ultimately I don't think vegetarians automatically eat better than omnivores. It's HOW you eat vegetarian that does it. Just like it's how you eat meat (how much of it and combined with other stuff) that determines whether a person becomes overweight from that.
You know the drill: make sure there's plenty of fruit, vegetables and fibers in your diet.
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- JaguarJulie JaguarJulie Aug 1, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
- Katinka, have you found that being a vegetarian has helped you to maintain your weight over the years?
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- Treasures-By-Brenda Treasures-By-Brenda Jul 28, 2009 @ 11:27 am
- Lensrolled to 'To Eat Healthy Is To Eat Well.'
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- spirituality spirituality Jul 23, 2009 @ 2:31 am | in reply to Treasures-By-Brenda
- Blueberries do grow in Europe, though I don't think they're native. I think of them as an American berry.
- Load More
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