Cooking for one can feel like a depressing prospect, but these books help remind me that there's a wealth of flavor, adventure and-yes-true sustenance to be found at a table for one.
Many of the contributors recall solitary meals (or seasons) with deep fondness, even nostalgia. Inspired by Laurie Colwin's eponymous essay (which kicks off the anthology), these pieces, some with recipes, recount the delightful, the depressing and the quirkily indulgent aspects of setting a solo table. Like Wizenberg, when I am dining alone on something that delicious, "I lick my knife until it sparkles, because there's no one there to catch me."įor a broader perspective on solo cooking, I turn to Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, an eclectic essay collection edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler (Riverhead, $15). I bake Wizenberg's Scottish scones at least twice a month, but recently made her ratatouille for the first time in years. My success with Miller's recipes inspired me to flip back through some perennial favorites, like Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life (Simon & Schuster, $17). As a recent divorcée, I need that reminder on the regular. But more than her recipes, I love Miller's approach: she insists, as a longtime single person, that investing the time and effort to feed oneself well is worth it. I've made her risotto, her lemon pancakes, her spicy coconut-sweet potato soup. After weeks of takeout, stovetop huevos rancheros and ready meals from Trader Joe's, I needed some new kitchen inspiration.Įnter Cooking Solo (Houghton Mifflin, $19.99), Klancy Miller's brilliant, colorful cookbook about not only feeding yourself, but enjoying it. Last July, though, I moved into a studio apartment during an unusually hot Boston summer.
Now more than ever, I enjoy cooking: hearty soups, crumbly scones, buttery scrambled eggs (with endless cups of tea).
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