An Easy Week of Cooking for the Single Man

Not everyone can cook up a storm or even wants to - especially after a hard day at the office. But a home cooked meal will generally have less fat and lower sodium than that delivery meal. Here's some real easy ideas...

It's Sunday so you have a little more time to try something interesting that can actually enhance several meals.  You're going to make a Pesto Sauce - don't freak out, it's easy and not that bad for you.

Wash and rinse fresh spinach - don't worry, I hate spinach too, it doesn't matter trust me.  Cut up enough spinach to fill an 8 oz. cup with the spinach pushed down, fitting in as much as you can.  Pour the spinach into a blender.  Add about 1/4 cup of olive oil, then 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt, 2 small cloves of garlic (more or less depends on your taste), and 1/4 cup of pine nuts (available in the produce section of any supermarket).  Blend all the items together and slowly add more olive oil until you can see the items mixing at the bottom of the blender.  Stop the blender and use a spoon to push the ingredients further down into the blender so that they continue to blend together.  Blend again and add olive oil as needed.  Continue until the mixture is a bright green.  Pour into a plastic bowl, cover, and refrigerate.  It can also be frozen and defrosted as needed.

Next up - barbeque chicken.  Take about 3 or 4 pounds of cut-up chicken - it can be breasts if you like white meat, it can be a combination of legs and thighs if you prefer dark - and fill a sturdy gallon size plastic bag.  Add 3/4 cup of your favorite barbeque sauce and about 1/4 cup of light soy sauce.  Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Seal the bag and shake it up carefully.  Place the bag in a bowl - in case the bag leaks - and let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator.