Meals for Me: One Core Ingredient; Two Delicious Meals

Wunderkind British cookbook author Stern (Eat Vegetarian, Sam Stern’s Student Cookbook) invites single cooks into their own kitchens to discover how cooking for one can be pure pleasure. He offers 130 easy-to-follow recipes with simple ingredients for time-saving, budget-friendly meals with creative shortcuts and good value. Main dishes focus on a “core ingredient,” which becomes the basis for a second meal, reducing waste. Chapters focus on key proteins (beef, chicken, duck, fish, lamb, pork), vegetables, and desserts. Each recipe shows readers how to transform planned leftovers into additional dishess like dips, patties, pot pies, salads, soups, tarts, and wraps. Slow-cooked lamb shanks with olives and tomato sauce become a minty lamb sandwich, stroganoff, or pita dressed with feta and hummus. Thai lentil dhal is reimagined as a coconut, lentil, and cilantro paté, and smoky duck breast becomes a mango minty Vietnamese duck salad. Nutella-filled microwave mug cakes and instant cheesecake are fun desserts for one. The book also includes a list of components for a well-stocked pantry and freezer. Stern wants solo cooks to experiment and enjoy preparing meals for themselves. He teaches today’s selfie cooks how to be their own best guest. (Mar.)