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Solo Suppers - Simple Delicious Meals to Cook for Yourself
by Joyce Goldstein
Chronicle Books
ISBN 0-8118-3620-7
Published July 2003 - Softcover - 156 pages - $19.95

Dining alone at home isn't always much fun, but it sure doesn't take much effort to dine well.  I know I'm going to find lots of inspiration in this book, and I know I can make eating on my own as elegant as I wish.  Author/chef Joyce Goldstein was a cooking teacher and a restaurant chef, so don't expect anything but great meals from her book.  I, like Ms. Goldstein, don't like frozen dinners (although I have had to resort to them on occasion), and don't like take-out food, so I was naturally keen to see what she had to say.  I liked her quote: "My meals are often simple, but never simple-minded."  I like cooking, even if only for myself, and this is the perfect book for any single person.  It's not a quick-and-easy and get-it-over-with cookbook, thankfully, and we're also given hints about Shopping For One; Planning Meals; Stocking the Pantry; Leftovers (which can and do become boring and repetitive); The Cupboard; The Refrigerator, and more.  Recipe contents: Pantry Sauces; Main Dish Soups; Main Dish Salads; Pastas and Grains; Eggs and Cheese; Fish and Seafood; Poultry and Meat, and Desserts.  Some of the recipes I found enticing include: Tortilla and Lime Soup; Russian Chicken Salad with Sour Cream Dressing; Orecchiette with Broccoli and Chickpeas; Blintzes (crêpes), and Poached Salmon with Mushrooms, Tarragon, and Cream.  Dining alone does not equal boring.  It's what you make of it, and there's no excuse to become boring.  Ms. Goldstein says, "While the majority of recipes in this book are one-shot meals with no leftovers, there will be a few that address the question of making a whole chicken and using what's left..."  Totally to my way of thinking.  There are more and more singles around than ever before.
Partially illustrated.  No nutritional guides.  I loved her sauces.
Conclusion - A fabulously helpful and useful book.