Dinner for 1?

Often, dinner for 1 is much more complicated than dinner for a group.  People often get anxiety when they have a bunch of guests for a big meal.  In my opinion, it's much more difficult to formulate a fabulous meal solely for 1.  Or, you end up eating the leftovers from your fabulous meal for 5 days. 

In addition, it can be a true obstacle to muster up the motivation to cook just for yourself.  Additional obstacles include time and energy.  Most people have no desire to stand around the kitchen cooking when they just get home from work.

Just the other night, I overcame all of these obstacles to create something tasty just for myself.  And the real beauty?  The whole process took about 7 minutes!  This is another one of those scenarios where I used the ingredients I could find in the kitchen.  That means, at some point, I had to purchase said ingredients. 

I always keep uncooked whole wheat tortillas on hand.  You just brown them quickly in a dry pan so they taste fresh and chewy.  I use them for breakfast burritos, wraps, and quesadillas.  On this particular evening, I was going for a veggie quesadilla.  I rumaged around and found asparagus, yellow squash, tomatoes, and red onion.  I did a quick slice and dice and sauteed it all with a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper.

I browned a tortilla on one side, then placed my veggie mixture on the browned side, and topped with shredded cheddar.  I topped it off with another browned tortilla and place it back in the pan to cook the uncooked side of the tortillas and melt the cheese.

I cut up my quesadilla into 6 triangles and garnished with a dollop of salsa, and a dollop of low fat sour cream.  These tortillas are 110 calories each.  If you use part skim cheese and non/low fat sour cream, you are talking about a totally satisfying dinner for well under 500 calories!

Remember, dinner for one can be quick, easy, and nutritious.  It doesn't half to be a bowl of cereal, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or a hot pocket.  Other options for inside this quesadilla include ground turkey, chicken, zucchini, peppers, beans, corn, spinach, and more.  The options are endless.  You could also do something like pears or apples and brie in a quesadilla.  YUM-O!