The Single Girl’s Dinner

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June 24, 2011
I’m not sure what makes the concept of Eat Pray Love so fascinating to women all over the world. I guess when there are components like good food, exotic places, and men for that matter, it is the trifecta of a woman’s fantasy. I don’t know a single woman (or man) that wouldn’t love to drop their mundane lives, hop on a plane and live out a dream for a year. For most of us that simply isn’t a reality we will ever know.

I don’t exactly aim to live out my Eat Pray Love fantasy. Believe me that if given the chance to meditate daily in an ashram in India I would plant a good peck on Husband’s lips and seize the opportunity, but I’ve always been a realist. I’ll admit that’s kept me from living life as openly as maybe I should have at times, but it’s also saved me quite a bit of disappointment and surprisingly has allowed me to view important parts of my life in “real time”.

Nothing about my lonely Friday night has been very exotic, and very sadly the one man in my life who is the only mystery I will ever need, has no time for me. However, I will always have food. While sitting in my little gray cube today I knew I was destined for a night on the couch with a bottle of red and a movie…alone. I began to brainstorm the perfect single gal’s dinner. I don’t really know why, but the vision of Julia Roberts drizzling olive oil over perfectly blanched asparagus in addition to her totally Italian anti-pasti dish flooded into my brain. Having eaten inappropriate amounts of shrimp lo mein the night before I was craving something light, fresh and straight out of the garden (or at least someone else’s garden).

Dancing solo to the tunes pouring from my Van Morrison tuned Pandora station I whipped up what I decided was an American-French (don’t know why considering it was all inspired by an Italian dinner) picnic for one. Asparagus left with a slight crunch topped with a fried egg, a Spring fresh salad of zucchini, tomato, cucumber, red onion, ricotta and an almost licorice flavored basil from our herb garden, corn on the cob dripping in real butter and a whole grain loaf dipped in an herbed olive oil was my idea of heaven, and the only satisfying way to spend a Friday night alone.






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