Cooking for a party of one with ‘Solo’ | Review

Today is Valentine’s Day, a holiday that leaves many people feeling inadequate. An overhyped, card-shop-inspired spiral into inferiority. But it doesn’t have to be that way. What if we took the time to administer some self-care and self-love?

“Cooking and dining alone can be one of the most blissful and empowering experiences,” says Anita Lo, author of Solo, A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One. There are so many reasons we might be eating alone or cooking for one — single status, family schedules, dietary preferences, to name a few — but it needn’t be a sad or tasteless affair. Solo, a play on the author’s name, gives us 101 recipes inspired by Lo’s culinary career and extensive travel. Think chicken pho or sticky rice with Chinese sausage and an egg. There’s even a New England clambake for one.

Lo’s long and distinguished resumé includes her (now closed) Michelin-starred restaurant, Annisa; a best new chef award from Food & Wine magazine; and appearances on Top Chef Masters, Iron Chef America, and Chopped. The recipes are written for maximum flavor and minimum waste, all peppered with a generous dose of the author’s sense of humor. The book has charming illustrations throughout, but no photography.

Thinking of making the broiled bluefish with avocado, grapefruit, pistachios, and chilies? No need to fret about what to do with the half a grapefruit and half an avocado left over. Lo, a self-professed fanatic about waste, tells you in the Don’t Waste It! feature to eat the fruit for next day’s breakfast and suggests using the avocado in the broccoli stem slaw. The broccoli stems are left over from the pan-roasted chicken breast with roasted broccoli panzanella, which makes use of the florets.

Lo believes food and meals should strike a balance; some days light and healthy, other days maybe less so. “Butter is a perfectly good substitute for love,” she notes in the introduction. I love the idea of dessert for one, and included in Solo’s Sweets chapter are single-serving recipes for fruit crumble, salted butterscotch pie, and orange olive oil cake, the perfectly proportioned way to tell yourself happy Valentine’s Day.

Serves 1

One 5½-ounce bluefish filet, skin on

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and black pepper

½ ripe Hass avocado, cubed

½ pink grapefruit, sectioned

1 heaping tablespoon diced red onion

½ smallish glove garlic, pasted

1 small Thai bird chili, finely chopped (or substitute ¼ serrano pepper)

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon roasted, shelled pistachios

Corn on the cob or plain corn chips, for serving

1. Preheat broiler to high. Rub the bluefish with the oil on both sides, then season both sides with salt and pepper. Place skin side up on a small baking sheet close to the broiler and cook until the skin is browned and crisp, 4-5 minutes.

2. Remove and allow the heat of the baking dish to finish the cooking.

3. Meanwhile, mix the next seven ingredients together, taste, and adjust the seasonings. Place on a plate and top with the bluefish. Serve with corn on the cob or plain corn chips.

— From “Solo,” by Anita Lo (Alfred A. Knopf, 2018)