Recipes for when there are only two of you

It's no secret that many households are smaller these days. Americans are delaying marriage and waiting even longer to raise children or simply opting for none at all. The US Census defines the average household as a mere 2.6 persons. The number of baby boomers facing retirement and empty-nesters is growing by the hour. And with all these pared-down lives have come smaller living spaces and dinner tables regularly set for two.

In theory, rustling up a meal for two seems easy: Turn to a well-loved recipe and divide it in half or thirds. Or cook a favorite meal that serves four or six and eat leftovers for the rest of the week. But leftovers can mean days of tired food. And how do you halve a whole egg or divide 1/8 teaspoon of a spice? Frozen prepared meals aren't always a tasty and healthy alternative. These are some of the issues addressed in EatingWell Serves Two: 150 Healthy in a Hurry Suppers by Jim Romanoff.

"A 'family pack' of chicken parts or a 2-lb. bag of spring greens [isn't] going to work for two people sitting down to dinner on a Tuesday night," writes Mr. Romanoff in the cookbook's forward.

In reality, cooking for two involves a shift in everything from how to grocery shop to what size pan to use. "Serves Two" suggests finding markets that offer loose produce so you can select as few green beans as you need, seeking out deli counters that can wrap smaller portions of meat and fish, and using smaller pans to sauté so that sauces don't evaporate too quickly.

Tips like these are the result of three years of shopping and recipe testing at EatingWell magazine, where Mr. Romanoff is editor-at-large. He says the idea for the "Serves Two" cookbook was in direct response to reader correspondence.

In 2002, shortly after EatingWell resumed publication after a three-year hiatus, baby boomers and other empty-nesters began writing in saying they appreciated the magazine's focus on healthy eating, but wished there were more recipes for just two people. Soon similar requests began coming from young adults living on their own or with a roommate. So, editors and staff at EatingWell decided to accept the challenge to create recipes that didn't serve a crowd.

Instead of working backward from a finished dish, the EatingWell team began at the grocery store. Knowing what is routinely available in a supermarket is one of the staff's specialties, says Jessie Price, food editor of EatingWell magazine.

Test kitchens at EatingWell buzzed with conversations about smaller-sized cans and what kinds of items come in smaller packages. For example, "a five-ounce bag of spinach is great for two people," says Ms. Price.

Armed with a working list of readily available and appropriately packaged ingredients, the EatingWell staff tackled recipe development. Ingredients that were hard to find in smaller packages, simply weren't considered for recipe choices. The same principle applied to meal preparation time (everything can be made in 45 minutes or less). All the recipes had to be "healthy," visually appealing, and foolproof – even for cooks with two left oven mitts.

As a result, "EatingWell Serves Two" includes ordinary, sophisticated, and comfort-food fare that will appeal to a wide range of tastes and cooking abilities.

The cookbook's practical approach to meal creation is evident on every page. There are shopping tips about easy-to-find food items home cooks may not have known about before. When a recipe does call for a more obscure ingredient, a note describes what it is, where to find it, and, if necessary, what makes an appropriate substitution.

A tip index offers such advice as how to store and find other uses for those occasional leftovers. Extra chicken broth, for instance, keeps for several days in the refrigerator and is a tasty alternative to using water to cook rice.

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