Janneke Vreugdenhil - Solo Food: 72 Recipes for You Alone

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I can do a great many things on my own, but a book? That takes a team. And what a team it was.

First of all, I would like to thank my publisher, Joost Nijsen. Years ago, Joost approached me to ask whether I wanted to write a cookbook for singles. I thought it was an excellent idea straight away. But, alas, no time. And, to be honest, in the midst of my busy family life, I also didnt have quite enough experience of the subject matter. Life, however, can take unexpected turns, and so, Joost, here you have it: Solo Food. Our first project together. Im already looking forward to the next one.

I discovered that only nice people work at Joosts publishing company. Although Podium might be located in the middle of nowhere in any case, its a helluva long cycle ride from town once you step inside, its like sinking down into a warm bath. Thank you, Willemijn Lindhout, Trisha de Lang and Susanne ter Smitten, for your enthusiasm, encouragement and boundless dedication. And for the ice creams during our sweltering brain-storming sessions.

Working with Monique Mulder, Paul van Ravestein and Erick de Jong from Mattmo design agency was just as pleasurable. Without the efforts of these creative spirits, this book would most certainly not have looked as wonderful as it does. Thank you, Monique, Paul and Erick. And I would certainly also like to thank photographer Floortje van Essen-Ingen Housz and stylist Caroline Lamet. What a good time we had during the photo shoots, girls, and what wonderful images they produced.

Photographer Sean Fitzpatrick shot not only the portrait of me on the Dutch cover, he also made a lovely little video about Solo Food. Thx, Sean. Jonah Freud thought along with me how to structure the book. Thank you, dear Jonah. Im very grateful to DOK cookware in The Hague for letting me use lots of their tableware.

So many people, and all of them essential to bringing this book into being. Not only could I not have done this on my own but it would also have been a lot less inspiring and a lot less fun. And then there are all of those dear friends and family members who pulled me through the year of my divorce, who comforted me, helped me, encouraged me and who made me laugh through my tears. I am more grateful to these people than words can say.

Looking back, I can only conclude that, although I might be travelling through life solo, a person never has to go it alone. And how great is that?

Janneke Vreugdenhil

Preparation Time

15 minutes

olive oil, for frying

1 small (or 1/2 large) onion, sliced into half rings

1/2 long red pepper, deseeded and sliced into strips

4 slices of Serrano ham or chorizo, chopped

1/2 courgette or 1 baby courgette, cut in half lengthways and sliced into half moons

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 eggs

a few fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley leaves (or a pinch of dried oregano)

salt and freshly ground pepper, to season

bread, to serve

Heat a small splash of olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion and a pinch of salt, and fry for 2 minutes over a high heat until the onion begins to brown. Add the pepper and fry for 2 minutes more. Add the ham or chorizo and fry for another minute. Add the courgette and fry for 2 more minutes. Add the tomatoes and fry for another 2 minutes.

Make two depressions in the vegetable mixture and break in the eggs, then cook for 23 minutes until the eggs are set, covering the pan for the last 30 seconds. Sprinkle over a little more salt, if necessary, and in any case with a generous amount of freshly ground pepper and finish with basil or flat-leaf parsley.

Serve immediately with some kind of rustic bread, or just use whatever bread youve got on hand.

Preparation Time

15 minutes

1 shallot, sliced into rings

a small splash of red wine vinegar

1 entrecte steak (around 150 g)

1/4 baguette or a crusty bread roll

12 tsp Dijon mustard

11/22 tbsp mayonnaise

1 head Little Gem, leaves separated

salt and freshly ground pepper, to season

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas 6. Put the shallot rings into a small bowl, add the red wine vinegar and let it sit for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, place a griddle pan over a high heat until its very hot. Rub some salt into both sides of the entrecte. Fry the meat for 111/2 minutes on each side. Place it on a cutting board, grind over some pepper and let it rest for a bit.

Warm through the baguette or bread roll in the hot oven (or slice it open and toast in the steak pan). Meanwhile, stir the mustard into the mayo in a little bowl, to taste. Slice the warmed bread in half lengthways, then spread both halves with a generous amount of the mustardy mayo and add some lettuce leaves.

Slice the entrecte on the diagonal and arrange the slices in the sandwich. Squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the shallot rings and sprinkle them over the meat. Top with the other half of the bread, and dinner is served.

Baking intensifies the sweetness of sweet potatoes and gives the bright orange flesh a kind of fluffiness light and soft at the same time. Sweet potato is terrific combined with salty olives, creamy feta and hot chilli pepper. It seems a bit wasteful to have the oven blasting for just one or two sweet potatoes, so I often bake a number of them at once. Once baked, you can easily keep them in the fridge for days, or you can use them to make a quick, flavourful soup.

Preparation Time

7090 minutes

2 very large or 45 somewhat smaller sweet potatoes (about 700 g total)

olive oil, for greasing and drizzling

coarse sea salt

50 g creamy feta

a small handful of salty black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped

1/21 red chilli pepper (with or without seeds), sliced into rings

a small handful of fresh coriander leaves, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas 6. Scrub, rinse and dry the sweet potatoes. Pour a little olive oil on to your palms and rub this over the unpeeled sweet potatoes. Next, rub in some coarse salt. Pierce the sweet potatoes a few times on all sides using a small sharp knife, then wrap them in tin foil and bake for an hour (or a little longer, if necessary) until done. Use half of them immediately and leave the rest to cool (save them for the soup).

Place the sweet potato(es) on a plate and open the foil. Cut in half lengthways, then press on the outside of the halves so that the fluffy flesh bulges out slightly. Crumble the feta over the sweet potato(es), top with the olives, chilli pepper and coriander, and drizzle generously with olive oil.