Healthy Cooking for One

Learning to cook for just yourself doesn't have to be a chore, or expensive either. Learn the art of cooking delicious wholefoods for one at home, and enjoying satisfying good food prepared with love.

If you are cooking solo, enjoy the wonderul joy you have in creating exactly what you want, when you want, no matter how unusual the combination. Experiment, and don't be afraid to try new flavours, and taste international cuisines.

Pop down to your local deli where you ought to get small portions of European cheese and cured meats to use in cooking or as they are, and indulge at your local farmer's market in wonderful locally grown organic produce, where you should to be able to pick a small quantity of the things you want.

You should easily be able to keep your food budget on track by making large pots of soup or stew and freezing them for later servings when you don't have the time, energy or inclination to slave away by the stove. Simply take a portion out of the freezer before you head to work, and reheat once you get back home.

Some great dishes to make and freeze are:

• Roasted Tomato Soup by Smitten Kitchen
• Golden Potstickers by 101 Cookbooks
• Almond and Quinoa Waffles by The Spunky Coconut

Instead of giving you specific one person recipes, it might be more useful to arm yourself with tips on how to adapt any recipe to only one serving, as well as which methods are easiest to make in small quantities.

Firstly, most instructions will easily be halved or quartered to suit. Or will keep in the fridge for a few days until you eat it up - and lots of foods get tastier this way anyway! If you're having trouble halving a recipe, make the regular amount and take it to a neighbour or friend who could do with a good meal.

Some of the best meals for making small portions of are pasta (tortelloni are wonderfully easy to make small portions of), stir fries, risotto, egg fried rice, salad, noodles, frittata, pancakes, burgers, dumplings, grilled vegetables, baked sweet potato,

Some of the most loved family dishes are the trickiest to turn into single serves. Lasagne, pie and roast are all suitable for large numbers, but how do you minimise the quantity without losing flavour on these favorite meals?

Here are a few tips on creating delicious dishes for one:

• Lasagna - Make a normally large quantity of the tomato mince mixture, then freeze this in portions. That way you can include a long stewing process, without wasting heat by making it many times, and you can unfreeze each portion to create a single serve whenever you like. Find a small ceramic dish where you can layer pasta, creme fraiche and grated cheese along with the tomato sauce.
• Pie - Individual piece are actually easy to make if you can find the right sort of baking dishes. The cost of small dishes might be higher, but you'll get a lot of satisfaction from individual pies. You can freeze cooked pies, or freeze the pastry and contents separately, depending on which you prefer.
• Roast Dinner - Having a full roast with all the trimmings is best enjoyed with company, so invite round a bunch of single friends and enjoy preparing a big meal for them all! Or, if you are really in the mood for a roast experience 'toute seul', then pop down to a nearby deli that sells hot chicken pieces, and enjoy with crispy fried potatoes and vegetables.

 If you have any questions, or you'd like to submit your favorite cooking for one recipe or blog, please don't hesitate to get in touch.