Eating For One: Weird-Ass Dinners

Previous discussions on what you eat when no one else is around resulted in some pretty amazing confessions by myself and fellow readers: bowlfuls of popcorn, toasted roast beef sandwiches, cracker meals of Triscuits, cottage cheese and pepperoni. It just goes to show that a "meal" isn't always a tidy entree with two sides.

My solo meal last night was no exception. Lately I have been eeking by with weekend grocery shops of $75 or less - a paltry sum compared to our (hush hush retailer) Trader Joe's shops circa Fall 2008/Winter 2009. While Scott and I aren't going hungry, we're not exactly brimming with meal possibilities up in our wee kitchen.


Scott was in Baltimore on a bike ride - an evening ride through some pretty special "transitional neighborhoods" that had me a little edgy with concern, but never mind that.

SO. After rejecting the leftover pasta I thawed from the freezer and canceling out the notion of a veggie burger sandwich (it was the bread that I couldn't do - trying to watch my carby consumption), I decided to "try something."


I chopped onion, cucumber and cilantro and crumbled feta, mixed it with some lemon juice, salt and olive oil, and called it a "salsa." Then I topped some spring mix with the salsa, a chopped quarter of a red bell pepper, a heated Morningstar Farms grilled burger, a little goat cheese (I know, feta AND goat - I am a dairy whore) and a couple stone-wheat crackers, and a dollop of white bean dip I made.

It was...interesting.


The veggie burger was ehhhhh. I like meat but I like to think I can enjoy veggie burgers. It was a little too warm to put on a salad. Everything else was yummy, but I couldn't help but think,
"Yeah, this was okay, but I'm glad Scott wasn't around. This would not have flown with him."


Tuesday night I tried to make a pizza but the dough I purchased needed to come to room temperature to rise for "four to six hours." I did not have such a luxury to wait - maybe an hour and a half, max. Thus the pizza, topped with fresh basil, garlic and ricotta cheese, came out flat and a little gummy. Definitely not a good thing, but we ate it and determined that next time maybe I need to pay attention to directions on pizza dough packages.

Yeah.

Tonight, I hope to redeem myself with a "Spring Roll in a Bowl" meal. The one obstacle is that I am using frozen shrimp currently defrosting in the fridge and Scott chided me for buying them because they're from Ecuador and totally not "sustainable" but damn it, it's hard to be ethically responsible with food all the time.

Whew. Let me now breathe in, and out, and in, and out. Okay, I think I found my happy place. It's lovely. You should really visit sometime.


Wish me luck - it's a (not-so-sustainable) dinner for two tonight!

Comments

  1. DUDE. Don't underestimate the power of frozen shrimp... on anything. Seriously. My fav when I have "nothing to cook" is black bean soup, topped with sauteed frozen shrimp, tomatoes and if available, avocado/cucumber and either sour cream/plain yogurt/some kind of cheese. I too am a dairy whole and always have at least half of the above items around for a night when I need something to eat.

    Well, or there's always eggs. :)

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  2. Ha! I need to double check my eggs. I looked up the advisory earlier in the week but apparently it's escalated.

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  3. Tell that Scotteroo that people who are NOT working hard in the kitchen don't get to make social commentary on sustainability, food sources, etc.
    Just sayin'....
    :)
    Mom

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