On the Culinary Possibilities (and Challenges) of Cooking for Oneself

Over the course of our WAC boxes and over the course of our lifetimes, we’re bound to end up cooking for ourselves. Maybe it’s a quiet night at home. Maybe you’re the outlier, the lone salmon enthusiast in the household. Maybe cooking solo is simply a season of life. But whether it’s by circumstance or by choice, I believe cooking a meal for oneself is one of the most underappreciated and overlooked experiences in the kitchen. And while it can present some unique challenges, it also offers unexpected culinary possibilities. 

I recall a particular season of my life when I was often “cooking for one.” I was a new grad school student in New York City, an aspiring young writer who was thrilled to finally have an apartment and kitchen to herself, stocked and organized just the way I liked, perfectly-sized for the simplicity and efficiency of cooking for myself. I felt very grown up. 

But I quickly discovered that without someone else at the table, it was all too easy to default to eating whatever food happened to be in my fridge at any given time — not as a fun, exploratory clean-out-the-fridge dinner, but rather an uninspiring assemblage of ingredients. Without the sense of community that comes with breaking bread with another person, cooking and eating became more of a mundane experience.

On top of that, I found that a lot of recipes are written for 4-6 servings, enough to feed a small family. Sure, you usually can halve or even quarter a recipe with good results, but having to do the math every time — What is one tablespoon divided in four? — was an added step to getting dinner on the table. (That is one reason why I tried to mix in dishes that yield 1 to 2 servings in our new cookbook, Eat Wild: Cooking at Home with the Seafood of Alaska.)

I eventually found my rhythm by building up a small but trusty rotation of recipes that were easy enough for me to replicate, but dynamic enough to break up the monotony of cooking and dining solo over my studies. I also learned that changing up where I shopped, even occasionally — at the nearby farmer’s market or a specialty store, instead of my usual grocery store — helped to make each meal feel like a fuller, more connected experience.

Nowadays, as a mother of two young children, my kitchen is full of everything and everyone almost at all times — and though my heart is as full as it ever has been, I am a bit wistful for culinary solitude and the explorations that came along with it. I look back and am reminded that cooking for oneself can be its own kind of ritual or exploration. 

So if you’re dining solo this evening and looking for some inspiration, here are a few recipes that I think really shine: 

• A parchment-baked fish lunch or dinner. Cooked in a parchment packet (or en papillote), everything steams together into something that feels far more elevated than the effort it requires. There are infinite combinations of ingredients and flavors that you can explore, especially if you’re lucky enough to live near a market that sells seasonal veggies. Pick a tender spring green, throw in some aromatics, splash in some liquid, add fish, then bake! 
• A spicy salmon sushi bake. I would suggest that the next time you’re cooking salmon for yourself, cook an extra fillet so that you have it on hand to make this fun recipe the next day. It’s easy to make, and is a bit of an interactive dining experience so that you aren’t just eating to eat — you’re actually building your food for every bite. You might enjoy visiting an East Asian foods market to find a new hot sauce or topping for the sushi bake.
• Or try something as simple as a baked fillet with a bold crust. It’s quick enough for a weeknight, but satisfying in a way that checks off all the boxes. This recipe for Pesto Baked Salmon (it’s one of my favorites in the new Eat Wild cookbook!) is just as low-effort to make for yourself as it is for a crowd.
• Speaking of crusts, how about this Pan-Fried White Fish with Buttery Cracker Crust? It comes together quickly on the stovetop but feels a little fancy. 

On top of trying out some of these recipes, I highly encourage you to join our exclusive “What’s Cooking Tonight?” group, where you can start swapping cooking tips, post your favorite food pics of the week, and share recipes with other members of the WAC community who are thawing the same fillets, standing at their own kitchen counters in that same in-between moment of “What should I make tonight?”

Live Wild,

Monica

Pictured above: A simple, satisfying dinner for one — cracker-crusted white fish with a classic lemon-caper sauce situation poured over top.