Cooking for One: Chocolate-Avocado Pudding and Cinnamon-Sugar Tortilla Crisps
Cooking for one person can be quite difficult–and, frankly, very boring. Many recipes make 4 servings. Even more make 6 or 8 servings. For families, that’s great, but if you’re not into leftovers, this just won’t work when you’re flying solo.
Our Cooking for One series focuses on combining a few fresh ingredients with pantry staples for 5 nights of fun dinners. This week, we’ll work with these 7 ingredients:
- rotisserie chicken
- boil-in-bag brown rice
- canned chipotle chiles
- broccoli
- corn tortillas
- canned black beans
- avocado
Eating healthy should still be delicious.
Chocolate-Avocado PuddingI have seen "cleaning eating" blogs and cookbooks that push this avocado-as-pudding line, and I have to be honest, I thought they were off their rockers. Turns out, I was the crazy one. The deep chocolate flavor of the cocoa powder and the honey hide the savory essence of the avocado. You'll still taste it, but you won't mind it. (At least I don't.)
Use remaining avocado (about 1/4 of a fresh avocado)1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder1 tablespoon honey2 teaspoons 1% low-fat milk1/4 teaspoon vanilla extractdash of saltdash of cinnamon (optional)
In a food processor or mini chopper, combine all the ingredients until smooth. Cinnamon, which is optional, might be a little strong for some folks. Try it without it first, and if you want a little hit of spice, add it, and stir well.
Other palates might like this better if chilled, not room temperature, so feel free to pop it into the fridge to cool before serving.
Serves 1CALORIES 164; FAT 8.2g (sat 1.6g, mono 5.2g, poly 1g); PROTEIN 2.5g; CARB 25g; FIBER 5g; CHOL 0.5mg; IRON 1mg; SODIUM 158mg; CALC 110mg
Cinnamon-Sugar Tortilla CrispsAs a warning, these are crazy addictive and so easy to make any time you need something a little sweet. You can use a packaged cinnamon-sugar mix if you have it, but I like a bit more cinnamon in my mix. Make your own if you do, too.
1 teaspoon cinnamon1 teaspoon sugar2 teaspoons canola oil2 corn tortillas
1. In a small bowl or ramekin, combine the cinnamon and sugar until well blended.
2. Cut tortillas into 1/2-inch-thick strips.
3. Add 1 teaspoon oil to a medium skillet; swirl to coat. Once the oil is hot, add tortilla strips to skillet in batches. (You want the tortillas to start cooking right away. If you don't hear a slight sizzle, give the oil more time to warm. This prevents the tortilla from absorbing the oil.) Cook about 1 minute, then flip the strips. Cook 1 more minute, and remove onto a paper towel. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar on each side, and allow to cool. Enjoy!
Serves 1CALORIES 204; FAT 6.7g (sat 0.4g, mono 3g, poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 2g; CARB 34g; FIBER 3g; CHOL 0mg; IRON 0.22mg; SODIUM 70mg; CALC 110mg
The Rest of This Week's Dishes