Cooking for One - by America's Test Kitchen (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Dig into perfectly portioned, easy-to-execute recipes that make cooking both pleasurable and practical for the solo cook."--Back cover.

Book Synopsis

Discover the joy of cooking for yourself with more than 160 perfectly portioned, easy-to-execute recipes, flexible ingredient lists to accommodate your pantry, and ideas for improvising to your taste.

Taking care to prepare a meal for yourself is a different experience than cooking for others. It can be a fun, casual, and (of course) delicious affair, but there are challenges, from avoiding a fridge full of half-used ingredients to ending up with leftovers that become boring after the third reheat.

Cooking for One helps you make cooking for yourself special without becoming a chore with unfussy yet utterly appealing meals that rely on ingredients you already have on hand, like Garam Masala Pork Chop with Couscous and Spinach and Weeknight Chicken Cacciatore. Don't have exactly the right ingredients? Never fear--with a "Kitchen Improv" box on every page, we offer ideas for altering the dish so it works for you. And for those weeks you didn't make it to the supermarket, we use a "Pantry Recipe" icon to clearly mark recipes that rely entirely on our checklist for a well-stocked pantry. We show you when it's worth making two servings (but never more) with our "Makes Leftovers" icon, and suggest how to transform those leftovers into a whole new meal. (We love our Spice-Rubbed Flank Steak with Celery Root and Lime Yogurt Sauce served over arugula as a hearty salad the next day.) Ingredients themselves often lead you to another exciting meal--when you're left with half an eggplant from Simple Ratatouille, we direct you to Broiled Eggplant with Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette as the perfect way to use it up. And if the thought of a sink full of dishes keeps you out of the kitchen, there are plenty of appealing one-pan dinners like Sheet Pan Sausages with Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli Rabe, and Mustard-Chive Butter or Couscous with Shrimp, Cilantro, and Garlic Chips that are here to save the day.

Review Quotes

"It can be hard to find a cookbook that caters to people who cook and eat alone, but the pros at America's Test Kitchen -- known for testing and retesting their recipes to perfection -- have come out with an excellent one. It includes lots of easy and easily adaptable small-batch recipes, such as Fastest-Ever Carbonara and Clean Out Your Fridge Soup (there's even a recipe for making just two gooey chocolate chip cookies). They often suggest good substitutions in case you're missing an ingredient, and offer a leftover storage guide to prevent food waste. Some of their super-simple dishes -- pan-seared shrimp or cheddar omelets, for instance -- can be jazzed up using recipes for sauces and spice mixes, also included in this essential cookbook." -- AARP

"Cooking for One is a scrappy collection of recipes that coax a little celebration from the slog of solo cookery. America's Test Kitchen recipes can be - and I say this with love - neurotically specific. This book applies that same rigor but encourages improvisation: swap half a bell pepper for a zucchini, if that's what's rattling around your crisper drawer. You'll also find a whole philosophy of solo dining, from shopping hacks to leftover strategies. It's a cookbook-shaped reminder to make time for yourself, specifically: the 15 minutes it takes to make a legitimately luxurious single-serving apple crisp in the microwave." --NPR, All Things Considered

"I'm recommending the book 'Cooking for One' by America's Test Kitchen. I have been a single person for a lot of this pandemic. And like a lot of people, I've been cooking a bunch. And cooking for one can just be depressing... So I've read a few cookbooks that are sort of like cooking for one oriented, and they are all great. But what I like about this one is it's almost like an entire system of cooking. They have tips on how to shop for ingredients... They have cool ideas for how to freeze and reuse things. It's just lots of tips and kind of recipes that are specifically designed to be not a total pain in the butt, but also kind of exciting enough that they're better than just getting takeout and eating it over the sink, which is sometimes the alternative when you're a single person." -- Connor Donevan, Producer for the show All Things Considered, NPR

About the Author

America's Test Kitchen is well-known for its top-rated television shows with more than 4 million weekly public television viewers, bestselling cookbooks, magazines, websites, and cooking school. The highly reputable and recognizable brands of America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Illustrated, and Cook's Country are the work of over 60 passionate chefs based in Boston, Massachusetts, who put ingredients, cookware, equipment, and recipes through objective, rigorous testing to identify the very best. Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!