Decent meals for two?

whatever you made for yourself, make twice as much. bon appetite!

Pasta is always quick and easy.

Roasts are good, especially something that leaves some leftovers that you can use for something else the next day. For example a roast chicken serves four, so you have two portions left to make chicken salad or chicken soup the next day. Roast beef and meatloaf work for sandwiches the next day.

I eat a lot of rice and beans. Those are easy to make in batches of varying size.

French toast is one of my favorite breakfasts, and is easy to make for two people. Get fresh strawberries, pick out the nicest ones to leave whole, and use the bruised and damaged ones to make a strawberry syrup. Slice them, add some sugar and water, let them sit a bit, and then heat on low heat for a little while until it is nice and syrupy.

stews should be good and easy.

Do you live near any Asian or Hispanic markets? They often have pre-seasoned meat that you can quickly fry up and add to any dish. I find the Asian markets always have some kind of bulgogi type of pre-made entree that can supplement whatever you cook.

There are other parts of animals.

Eggs Benedict on the weekend using the recipe from Cooking by James Peterson. Cut the Hollandaise recipe in 1/3 (i.e., use only one egg yoke and similar amounts of the other ingredients) and you will have enough of it for two people. Blanch some asparagus too to add as a layer in the Benedict.

Here are two simple pasta dishes. Let me know if it works out. Also note, the quality of the ingredients makes a world of difference for any pasta dish because of the simple in flavors. I do not recommend Kraft cheese or "cheap" supermarket products. I recommend using organics or local produce (especially for eggs). Also, for breakfast, I recommend eating clean refreshing dishes. Quinoa, with scallions, soy sauce and sesame oil is an awesome dish. Sweet potato salad with green peppers, cayenne, black beans, cilantro, lemon and olive oil is another one of my favorites. Think clean and refreshing for breakfast and if you are in a rush a great piece of fresh bread and a good sheep's milk cheese (pecorino romano) is never a bad thing. Note the "Western Diet" (USA) has this infatuation with eating sweets or heavy foods for breakfast. Makes you wonder why we are the most obese country in the world. Pasta w/ sauce - l lbs. Dececco Pasta, 1 Can of Cento San Marzano plum tomatoes (DOP Certified), 2 cloves garlic, 1 small onion, extra virgin olive oil (Lucini if shopping in supermarket), fresh basil, parmigiano reggiano or grana padano cheese (not Kraft) for grating. saute garlic and onion in olive oil with salt & pepper until sweated out 4 to 5 minutes. Add a small handful of basil saute another minute. (if you like a sweeter sauce you can add a squeeze of honey here and mix well). Add smashed tomatoes to base. Close and cover to cook for 15-20 minutes on a low-medium flame (do not boil you want the sauce to simmer). boil pasta until al dente. Reserve a 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain Pasta and place back in pot. Add sauce to the pot a little at a time until pasta is well coated (please note there should be left over sauce), add cheese and another handful of fresh basil. If the sauce is too thick add a bit of the reserved past water. Plate and drizzle with olive oil and grated cheese to taste. Enjoy! Note: you can use the left over sauce as a base for just about any other pasta you want to make. For example, saute vegetables such as peppers and eggplant/squash and add a spoonful or two of the reserved sauce to the vegetables. Add the new combination to pasta and you have a new flavorful sauce. Also, be bold maybe melt a few slices of fresh mozzarella in sauce to change it up. Experiment! Pasta Carbonara - l lbs. Dececco Pasta (thin spaghetti), 1 1/2 inch slice of pancetta, 1 or 2 medium eggs (depending on how much you like eggs), 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, pepper, fresh parsley, parmigiano reggiano. saute pancetta until crispy (no olive oil needed, the pancetta will render fat). add garlic and saute until garlic is soft but not burned (another minute if chopped roughly). drizzle with olive oil and set aside. beat the egg together with some grated parmigiano reggiano, salt and pepper. boil pasta until al dente. Drain Pasta and place back in pot. Add pancetta and garlic mixture to pasta to coat. Add beaten egg mixture. Add chopped parsley, pepper and extra olive oil to taste. Cover let sit for 1 to 5 minutes until egg is scrambled by heat of pasta. Plate and drizzle with some olive oil and grated cheese to taste. Enjoy!

Buy a cook book or two.

Every time I buy a cook book I never use them. I suggest using online resources or watching PBS on the weekends to get additional ideas. Cooking is about your senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, umami). I learned how to cook at a young age by watching not reading and I recommend most beginners watch and cook then read. You can gain a better idea where your skill set is by doing this. However, there is one book I recommend for beginners, Mark Bitman's How to Cook Everything. Anyway, here are resources I use. Once again, I hope this helps. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/refere...man/index.html http://www.cooksillustrated.com/ (note some of the recipes are ridiculously time consuming and a paid subscription is needed for most) http://www.kqed.org/w/jpfastfood/recipes.html http://www.kqed.org/w/morefastfoodmyway/ http://www.colameco.com/foodtalk.shtml http://www.seriouseats.com/

Please keep this thread on track and out of DT.

How about a baguette, some good cheese and charcuterie, nuts, olives, fire roasted red peppers, pate, and a good bottle of wine?

Excuse me? I am not privy to internet jargon. What is DT? Also, why is the post off track? I provided two easy pasta dishes for the gentleman to make. I am trying to help here.

Great suggestions!

You've got six senses there. That means you are one of those guys that can tell the future.