Pizza!

 

Ok, so I was having a lazy day and decided to buy dinner. Still managed to go semi-healthy, there. At the top is brie, caramelised onions and sesame seeds, and below is spinach, roasted peppers and feta. Yum. Bonus: There's more than enough for another meal this week. 

Chicken Wrap with The Salsa

 

This is one that does take a bit longer in the prep time (I did it all in 30 minutes), but it's well worth it. You can do what I did today, and make a little extra of The Salsa (it deserves the capital letters, trust me) so you can use it later in the week.

   

I'd bought some aubergine in the week. I sliced one up, and sprinkled with salt and put it on a baking sheet in the oven while I got on with the rest.

   

I then got on with the chicken. Sliced a chicken breast into strips. Hot pan, a little oil, a teaspoon each of the pre-crushed garlic and ginger, toss the chicken in with some dry spices, and stir and let it dry fry while I got on with the rest.

  

For The Salsa, the longest part of this meal to prepare, there is some slicing/chopping. I've decided to use cherry tomatoes instead of the big ones, ad they make more sense for one person. Chop up the tomatoes into cubes. Chop up some peppers, chilli peppers (which I love, and I left the seeds in this time as I wanted the heat), red onions. Zest a lemon (a few passes over the finer side of the greater is all that's needed; put the rest into a tub for future use), and squeeze a quarter of the lemon's juice into the bowl containing the remainder of the ingredients. A little balsamic would be ideal, but I didn't have any, so I just used half a teaspoon of brown vinegar. A little bit of salt and freshly ground black pepper, and leave it to rest. The flavours infuse beautifully after a while, and you're left with The Salsa, a flavour explosion that's well worth the little bit of extra effort that goes into it.

 

It looks really good, and tastes amazing. Trust me on this one. Everyone I know loves it when I prepare it. 

   

  

Assembling the wrap:

1. Warm up the tortilla. These can be bought in any store; my mum made these for me.

2. Two teaspoons of any tomato-ey mixture to line the wrap. I had recently gotten a piquant pepper spread on special, so I opened that up and used that.

3. A little bit of grated cheddar onto that (I've pre-grated a little and put it into an airtight container, to cut down on prep time).

4. Lay the aubergine slices down.

5. A few spoonfuls of low fat chunky cottage cheese follow that.

6. The cooked chicken strips are placed on top.

7. Then, it's time for The Salsa. Use as much as you like; there can never be too much. Also spoon some of the juice that comes out of the veggies on.

8. A sprinkling of cheddar cheese again.

9. Roll it up, and enjoy.

 

Dessert: Mini-flapjacks with various toppings

 

This is really quick and easy to do. I've been craving it all week, and decided to whip some up today. I used my standard pancake recipe, just slightly thicker; I'll share that recipe with you another day. For now, will just go through the toppings. 

   

In anti-clockwise direction, starting on the left - 

  

Pecan nuts: I'd bought some pecan nuts earlier today. I put one mini-flapjack down, topped with 2 pecan halves, topped with another flapjack and another 2 pecan halves. And idea for another time, when I have more time, is to chop the pecan nuts up and incorporate it into the dough. 

  

Chocolate: I made up a quick chocolate sauce with available ingredients. 1 piece dark chocolate, 1 piece Top Deck, 1/4 teaspoon butter and 1/2 teaspoon milk. This went into the microwave (much faster than a double boiler, if you're careful) for 15 seconds. A stir, and brief 5 second bursts with stirring until the chocolate was melted and combined and glossy. A flapjack with chocolate drizzled onto it, topped with another flapjack and a dollop of chocolate, made this masterpiece. 

  

Almond butter: While I bought this almond butter, it's really easy to make your own. I've made pecan butter before, so I imagine this is the same concept. Toss nuts of your choice into a blender and pulse until they're really fine and you have a rough butter texture. You may find a little oil helps it along. If you have no machine and a lot of patience, you could try grinding the nuts down in a pestle and mortar. I put some almond butter on one flapjack, topped it with another and a dollop of almond butter on that. 

  

Strawberries and strawberry syrup: I'd bought some strawberries on special easlier in the week. I sliced up 2 strawberries, and halved 2 starberries. I put these into a bowl with a teaspoon of fructose (you can just use any normal sugar) to draw the juices out. I did this before assembling the others, and did this one last. I arranged the sliced strawberries on one flapjack, topped it with another on which I arranged the rest of the sliced strawberries, and I drizzled the strawberry syrup that had formed onto this flapjack. 

  

Plain: It's always nice to have one as is :) 

  

Chocolate and strawberry: In the centre is one flapjack. I used the rest of the chocolate on that one, and topped it with the strawberry halves. 

  

The flapjacks were all completely delicious. It was the matter of 3 minutes to do the different toppings, and they looked good too. This is definitely one to remember when cooking for others; everything can be prepared ahead of time and assembled just before serving. It's quite light as well, so one person can easily consume those after a meal. Some vanilla ice cream or frozen yoghurt served with it would not go amiss.

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta

 

Used: 

Wholewheat pasta  

Chicken breast 

Broccoli florets 

   

I used a handful of wholewheat pasta, any type will do, which I put into boiling salted water while I did the rest. 

   

I cut the chicken breast into cubes, which I prefer in pasta. A heated pan with very little olive oil, a teaspoon of the John West crushed garlic (a staple when living alone - the garlic is pretty decent, is precrushed and is in a little oil, and it's quite easy to add to any dish. Not as pubgent as fresh, but infinitely quicker to use.), and the chicken was added in, and stirfried quickly until it browned. 

   

In the last 5 minutes of cooking, I added the broccoli heads to the pasta, put a lid on, and let it steam though. 

   

I had a little of the All Gold Garlic & Herb Sauce left over, from something made last weekend. I added that, and a little bit of low-fat milk to the chicken. I added in the pasta and broccoli, some salt and loads of freshly ground black pepper (I love black pepper), and let it simmer while I washed up the rest of the dishes.    

This could made using a simple white sauce instead of the pre-prepared sauce I'd used,  to which a bit more garlic could be added for extra flavour. 

   

When I was done washing up, I crumbled some feta into the serving bowl, and spooned the pasta mix in and stirred it all together. I haven't managed to get any parmesan yet, so I finely grated some mature cheddar and topped it with that. I love fresh chilli, and I managed to get some earlier this week. I thinly sliced half of one, minus the seeds, and tossed it on top, for added crunch and flavour with no heat. 

   

The meal was very good, and is one I will repeat at another time, perhaps with a few variations. 

   

There was some pasta left over (I always overestimate), so I put that into a bowl with a little water (never leave it dry; you won't be able to use it again), and it went into the fridge, to become part of another dish later this week.

the Reason behind the blog

EDIT: Due to changing circumstances, I've changed the name of the blog too :) 
I no longer cook for one. I have even less time available. But I do have an appreciative audience, so everything has been tried and tested! Enjoy :) 


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I have recently moved to a different city, to a different job. I live alone now, and work keeps me very busy. While I love having my own space, it comes with one huge downside: there is no one to cook for me.

I tend to get home rather late, and I'm tired when I do. I really don't want to spend time in the kitchen when I do. Also, cooking for one isn't all that great. That being said, living off of takeaways gets old fairly quickly, and I like my food to look and taste good, otherwise I don't find it appetising. I also want to try to eat a variety of foods so it stays interesting, while trying to eat more healthily. And whatever I cook needs to be done with the minimum of effort and time, while not spending too much money. 

With all of that in mind, I thought that this would be the ideal way to ensure that I do cook something new and different every day. I'll post what I'm having every day, with photos, and instructions on how I've made the dish of the day. I'll attempt to give timelines too (usually, whatever I've made will have been done in under 30 minutes).