by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
Despite living in a two-person household for years, I’m always looking for meal ideas that won’t leave us eating the same recipe for multiple days. Some cookbooks for one or two simply cut recipes that serve four or more people in half, leaving one with odd leftovers – a half can of beans, a couple of tablespoons of tomato sauce. A recent offering from America’s Test Kitchen avoids both of these problems. Vegan Cooking for Two uses standard-size cans for the most part and features recipes that serve 2 people. In my experience, the 2 people have fairly hearty appetites. I found that some recipes resulted in enough leftovers to have another meal. This will vary depending on your appetite and the side dishes you use.
In addition to providing suggestions for shopping for two (e.g., bulk bins, salad bar for small amounts of produce), Vegan Cooking for Two includes a very helpful list of ways to use up key ingredients. That way, if you’ve used part of a head of cabbage for Charred Cabbage Salad with Torn Tofu and Plantain Chips, you can use the rest of that cabbage later in the week to make Curry Roasted Cabbage Wedges. Recipes also include suggestions for substituting for ingredients you don’t have on hand. So, for example, if you want to make Grilled Vegetable and Orzo Salad and don’t have the onions, peppers, and summer squash the recipe calls for, you can substitute other vegetables including mushrooms, broccoli, and/or asparagus. You can replace the capers the recipe calls for with olives.
Many recipes include a way to “level up” by adding unexpected ingredients or to “bulk it up” to make a light meal more filling. If you’re having people over, most recipes can be easily doubled to serve more than two eaters.
Lots of recipes feature beans, tofu, or tempeh. Others use plant-based ground meat, plant-based cheese, or liquid plant-based eggs. Usually suggestions are not given for alternatives to these products although experienced vegan cooks should be able to figure out subs if they’d prefer to use other ingredients.
Chapters in Vegan Cooking for Two include Breakfast, Soups/Stews/Chilis, Sandwiches, Salads, Pasta, Grain/Bean/Vegetable Entrées, and Desserts.
So far, I’ve tried Rigatoni with Quick Mushroom Ragu, Shawarma-Spiced Tofu Wraps, and Roasted Red Potatoes. All had clear instructions and were easy to make. The Quick Mushroom Ragu was my favorite because of its blend of flavors; it was a nice change from my usual marinara sauce. I look forward to trying many more recipes including Okra Pepper Pot (a Caribbean stew), Artichoke and Spinach Calzones, Mushroom/Brussels Sprout/White Bean Gratin, and Crispy Baked Tofu Peperonata.
Vegan Cooking for Two (ISBN 978-1-954210-18-9) is a 374-page softcover book that includes more than 200 vegan recipes. It is published by America’s Test Kitchen and retails for $34.99. This book was published in 2022 and you can purchase it online.