solo dinner//what to do with leftover spaghetts

you may notice that sissy lauren has been awfully quiet during the past 2 weeks. her silence is solely due to the fact that she's been in seattle (with side trips to portland and maybe olympia) for the past 10 days. basically just livin' it up in vegan paradise, and i'm sure there will be a full report during the next week of the veritable rainbow of treats that she consumed while westerly. she comes back tonight, which i am so ready for! it's great to borrow from her closet at will and everything, but i've really missed her.

i on the other hand, have been holding it down in philly, slowly cooking and eating my way through the thoroughly decimated contents of our fridge and cupboards. we still haven't done a big grocery store shop, so what produce there is is about half a day away from rottens-ville, and all of the jars of staples are about 1/5 full. it's a a shoddy state of affairs.

but i won't let a solo dinner be a thing to mourn. i admit, i did consider skipping the kitchen and trying a south philly tofu hoagie (there are so many places to get them around here!). but i have been eating many - too many - sandwiches lately, plus i don't really feel like leaving the house.

so with well-honed scavenger skills, i rolled up invisible sleeves and commenced the dig through the fridge. with an excellent queen album as my soundtrack (so triumphant! and did you know that shit when triple platinum?!) i put together a humble, but totally delicious, solo dinner.

green salad with nectarine, carrots & scallions with a sweet mustard dressing


leftover pasta with tomatoes & basil in garlic and olive oil

one of my favorite things to do with leftover pasta is to simmer a ludicrous amount of garlic in olive oil over very low heat, and then toss the noodles in this oil (still over the low flame), and let it cook for a few minutes. then throw in salt & pepper, tomatoes (cherry, if possible) and fresh basil and toss til it all heats through. it literally takes 8 minutes, but has a deep flavor that insinuates a slower process. like i said before, this is a humble method, but sometimes you don't need - or want to - be fancy or complex when cooking for yourself.

so while a glass of slightly dry red wine would've complimented the plate nicely, i opted for a very cold, and very unpretentious bottle of budweiser instead. it was a nice little dinner, but alright, i'll admit it: i will be happier tomorrow when i'm once again cooking for 2.

love,
emily