Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler

"Dinner alone is one of life's greatest pleasures. Certainly cooking for one reveals man at his weirdest. People lie when you ask them what they eat when they are alone. A salad, they tell you. But when you persist, they confess to peanut butter and bacon sandwiches deep fried and eaten with hot sauce, or spaghetti with butter and grape jam."

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant is a great collection of pieces on eating alone - whether it be cooking for one or eating alone in a restaurant - by people like Nora Ephron, Ann Patchett, Dan Chaon, Laurie Colwin and more. There were lots of bits on anchovies and other types of fish, plenty on the starches and on beans. I couldn't help nodding along while reading, provided that I remembered not to read at night - it sure made me hungry.

So what do you eat when you're alone? I like to have a salad of avocado, tomato, coriander and lemon with a slice of toast. Bacon and avocado sandwiches. Spaghetti with prawns and peas (both from the freezer). Cheese on toast. I love to open a can of clam chowder and have it, yes, with some toast. Or I'll make a clear vegetable soup, or use the tom yam paste to make a soup, throw in some cabbage, crabstick, udon and plenty of coriander.