Weekend Cooking: What We Eat When We Eat Alone by Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin

I put What We Eat When We Eat Alone on my tbr list after reading about it on Omnivoracious a few years ago. I liked the idea of finding out what other people eat when they eat alone. It's kind of like snooping.
What We Eat When We Eat Alone reminded me a lot of The Everlasting Meal. Rather than just a collection of recipes, When We Eat When We Eat Alone combines stories about food and eating with recipes. Just like The Everlasting Meal, When We Eat When We Eat Alone gave me a lot of ideas and a renewed passion for cooking.
People eat alone for a variety of reasons. When Tai's not home, I get eat whatever I want. A lot of times I get takeout-Indian, swimming rama, Qdoba-are my preferred choices. But if I cook, I make tofu stir fries. But others might eat along due to opposing schedules, dietary concerns, being single, widowed, or divorced. I quite enjoyed the stories about how people chose what to eat. Whether it was a simple meal of tuna and bread or fancy with roasted lamb. It reminded me of that Sex And The City episode about Carrie's secret single behavior.
So I choose one recipe of the several I marked to share today.

Roasted Asparagus With Chopped Egg, Torn Bread, and Mustard Vinaigrette
from What We Eat We Eat Alone

1 lb asparagus
olive oil
s & p
1 piece of bread, toasted
1 or 2 hard boiled eggs
1 tsp coarse mustard (I used Grey Poupon's Harvest Coarse Mustard but any coarse mustard will work)
1 tbs red wine vinegar
3 tbs olive oil

Heat the oven to 400. Cut off the woody bottoms of the asparagus. Wash the asparagus. Put the asparagus in a roasting pan, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook asparagus for 15-20 minutes.
While the asparagus is cooking, combine the mustard, vinegar, and oil. Taste and adjust as needed for your tastes.
Once the asparagus is cooked, tear the bread and sprinkle it over the asparagus. Spoon the vinaigrette over the bread and asparagus, then add the eggs over the whole thing.
I know it looks like a mess but it was delicious. The perfect spring salad/side dish/main dish. Tai and I shared it before dinner as a sort of salad. I would definitely make this again.
What We Eat When We Eat Alone is full of wonderful recipe ideas that it can either be doubled for more people or just enjoyed as a single dish. There are a few recipes for a crowd or to be eaten over the course of a few days. Many of the meals could suit two like this one when added to a meal. I enjoyed What We Eat When We Eat Alone.
This was my fourth read for the Foodies Read 2 Challenge.

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