cooking vegetarian for one;

[zhenya]

[Jeanne G]

Wish I knew what you are asking for! I can help if you need, although I usually cook for me & my boyfriend, or just to have extra leftovers is a bonus to me. But I live alone and can help - and mostly cook veggie-type foods. Let me know.
Jeanne



[This message has been edited by Jeanne G (edited 10-16-2000).]

[zhenya]

I have mostly cooked stir-frieds and casseroles and soups and find most recipes last too long. Any ideas for items other than sandwiches which make only enough for one or possibly two people; don't mind leftovers to a point.

[Jeanne G]

I would just limit the portions & cut recipes in half or quarter. For example, if you want to do a quick veggie mix over pasta, only cook 1/2 lb of pasta. Then saute in a little olive oil: 1 green onion, a few mushrooms, couple pieces of pepper, a carrot, a few sliced olives and seasonings like dill weed, oregano & basil. Top with feta. That's a winning combo for me. One tip is to go to the salad bar and buy the veggies from there if you need smaller quantities and don't want to have any leftovers.

Let me know any specific veggies and I'll try to help that way.

[emilycat]

I cook for myself all the time, as I live alone, and have found it very easy to manage. I either cut recipes in half, as Jeanne G suggested, or I make single servings of things, if it's not a recipe. I'm an "occasional vegetarian," I eat fish, but no red meat, and rarely any other meats, but I cook vegetarian frequently.
Pasta with veggies is one of my favorites; Whole foods has great whole wheat pastas, and one of my favorites is to saute shiitake mushrooms in vegetable broth, and then add chopped spinach or arugula (absolutely my favorite green). Gruyere cheese makes and awesome topping. I thought cooking just for myself would be difficult, but it's so much fun to experiment; I just pick my recipes, and when I'm in a pinch or don't feel like cooking by the book, there's no one to please but me! Of course, there are some drawbacks, but that's not the point of this message...
Have fun!
Emily

[Ohioan]

Zhenya, I'm a vegetarian cooking for one (most of the time), and I rely very much on beans. You can easily cook up a few portions at once and then dip out portions for individual meals, flavoring them in a different way each time: Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, Cajun, and whatever else you can think of. Serve the beans with different kinds of pasta, rice, polenta, barley, and any other kinds of grains, and add a salad and various vegetables, according to what you have on hand. This is a mix-and-match approach to cooking that works beautifully for me.

You can use canned beans, but home-cooked ones are better and more nourishing. For each portion of beans, allow 1/3 cup of dried beans. Add water until the water is about an inch or so above the beans, and throw in some thinly sliced onion and a quartered garlic clove (again, this is for each portion). Then bring to a boil and cook for about two hours, depending on the size and age of the beans. (Stir every fifteen minutes or so after the first hour, and start checking for tenderness at about the hour and a half point.) Don't add salt or acidic substances (like tomatoes) until after the beans begin to soften.

When the beans are done, put whatever you aren't going to use into a covered dish or jar in the refrigerator, and season the remainder, cooking for about another 15-20 minutes to blend the flavors.

Cooked beans will keep safely in the refrigerator for four or five days.

You'd be surprised at how many varieties of beans there are! Some great sources -- other than your local grocery or health food stores -- are:

Indian Havest / Bean Bag www.indianharvest.com (http://www.indianharvest.com)

Bob's Red Mill www.bobsredmill.com (http://www.bobsredmill.com)

Hope this helps!
Phoebe

[zhenya]

Thanks for the suggestions especially re cooking beans. Probably I just have a tendency to want too many ingredients in things and end up with more than I'd planned on that way.