Cooking for Two: 30 Delicious Recipes to Enjoy with the One You Love

40% of the food that is purchased in America ends up in the trash. Why does this happen? We don't set out to be wasteful. When we purchase that squash, we're certain that we're going to use it. We may even have a recipe in mind. We think excitedly about the dishes that we'll make with the produce we picked out. And yet a few weeks later, we disappointedly throw half of it away. We bake a large casserole just knowing that we're going to eat leftovers all week, and yet a quarter of it ends up in the trash.

You may be surprised to find that the problem here is actually a lack of planning. It takes careful strategy to avoid wasting food, especially when you only cook for two. Most recipes are large batch recipes. We buy too much to make them, and our leftovers go in the bin. We often buy produce or meat with one dish in mind, and quickly find that we have no plan for how to use the rest.

This book is about avoiding that problem. These recipes will show you how to make meals that all revolve around similar ingredients, so that you never end up with ingredients that you can't use. We're going to cook sauces that can be made in bulk and put on any meat you have, so that you don't make a huge batch of chicken that you're sick of the next day. We're going to learn multiple recipes that allow you to use up extra vegetables and meat, so your scraps go into a delicious meal, instead of in the trash. Cooking for two and cooking sustainably are two sides of the same coin. When you finish this book, you'll be able to do both, and you'll be excited about it. Let's get started!