Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Eating alone

Remember that book that was making the rounds on food blogs a few months ago: What We Eat When We Eat Alone? If left to my own devices, I could happily dine on cheese and wine every night for dinner. If I was feeling crazy, I might do the occasional salad or pasta dish (wild, I tell you!). I used to make a damn good risotto late at night after community meetings, when I was feeling particularly in need of therapeutic stirring. But meat? Nah. When eating solo, I never bother. I'm happy that I now share my dinner hour/hours-if-we're-including-beverages with someone on a daily basis, of course. And T knows his way around a baguette and wheel of brie for dinner, too, so we do have that in common. My most bird-like single Maggie meals, though? Not really looked upon with affection by my dinner companion. This doesn't really concern me. See, with their weird place in my heart standing strong, I've simply moved them over to lunchtime.

When T met me, I was post-grad but still very much living the graduate school lifestyle. I lived in an adorably tiny adobe apartment in downtown Albuquerque, just a hop, skip, and a jump away from my partners in crime and all our favorite haunts. I chose to spend my money on wine for girls' nights (and fine, the occasional shoe purchase) rather than on balanced meals. Dinners usually revolved around the many and varied things I could do with a can of garbanzo beans. There are so very many things, you know. Although T makes fun of these meals today, ignorance was bliss back then. My $1 meals enabled me to hang out with him afterward and seem a little less like a pauper than I might have otherwise. Or so I thought.

I loved those meals and that time in my life. And so at least half the week, all these years later, I really love getting out a can of chick peas for lunch. Some days I eat them old school with just salt, pepper, and a spice of choice ("am I in a cayenne mood today or is it a smoked paprika kind of afternoon?"). Other days I dress up my bowl with fresh veggies and herbs, drizzled with my favorite jalapeno olive oil. Either way, it's a me meal. It's What I Eat When I Eat Alone, and I think I always will.


Tell me: what do you eat when you eat alone?

11 comments:

  1. Ooh that loooks delicious! Great post!
    I eat cereal. For every meal when it is just me. But I love to cook for others. SO bizarre.

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  2. Well, as a current person that eats alone...

    Over the last three weeks I made a "real" dinner three times...and they all involved chicken. The other nights I just cooked some pasta, ate some lettuce, or had a bowl of cereal. I really need to eat a more balanced diet over the next month!

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  3. this looks SO good!!! i'm going to try it out soon. and how funny that we both wrote about eating along, great minds :)

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  4. Sweet potato french fries, roasted brussels sprouts, roasted anything, really. That, or an adapted black bean pumpkin soup from Gourmet that I've been known to live on for an embarrassingly long time.

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  5. As somone who lived alone for three full years during law school, I know exactly what my favorite eat alone meals are. And oh gosh are they embarassing. Chips & guacamole (homemade only), boxed mac & cheese or chick-fil-a. Sad but true.

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  6. Lazy-Mac-n-Cheese... ie: noodles + a couple of spritzes of white truffle oil + melted shredded extra sharp cheddar + red pepper flakes. And strawberry popsicles! It's one thing I never get sick of and I probably ate it 4x a week in law school!

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  7. I can't cook at all. So I warm up a Totino's pizza or eat Ramen noodles. It's sad really. Usually if the hubs has to go out of town, he leaves me money to eat out.

    I realize how pitiful that is.

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  8. Favorite single night dinners, in no particular order: rigatoni with stewed tomatoes, grilled cheese on tomato basil bread, veggie omelette. And when I'm feeling especially lazy: Annie's mac and cheese with chicken and peas.

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  9. this is so funny... i just ate the same thing yesterday for lunch!! i LOVE a good bean, garbanzos being my favorite. I usually do something "italian" with them - diced tomatoes, oo, salt, oregano, thyme, cilantro and some parm. so freaking tasty! and def. single girl food. :)

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  10. Boca Burger, some form of frozen veggies or sliced cucumber, Dreyer's Slow Churned Ice Cream (flavor varies), and a glass of red. Totally unsophisticated in comparison to yours!

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  11. It's totally lame, but noodles plain with olive oil and salt. It was a college habit and I've never quite overcome it. If I'm feeling fancy, I throw in some oregano and maybe a little butter.

    Lame! But I love it.

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