Recommended cook books for single people

Does anyone have any recommendations for cooking books that are good for single people? I've looked at a few reviews of the Jamie Oliver books online and his books all seem aimed at people who've got kids to feed. Also some of the reviews comment that his recipies require a lot of different ingredients, making it uneconomical for single people.

I can cook to save myself but most of what I'm making is fairly bland - some meat, vegies and potatoes or rice and some sauce. I'm a bit sick of it so anyone got any recommendations of good books/websites?

Be careful buying cookery books in English as sometimes the ingredients aren't available in your area of Germany or if the recipes are according to American measurements, you have to convert everything! Can you speak German?

There are also lots of recipes here:
Simple dinner recipes
Easy pasta dishes
Easy recipes and cooking tips

One tip from me would be to make enough for 2 meals and freeze the other half (if the foodstuff is freezable).
Also, it's much cheaper buying things in bulk rather than something small enough to feed 1 person so you could gather a few recipes based on the same principle ingredient and use it in different ways.

I advise buying a selection of cookbooks, learning how to cook awesomely, and consequently not staying single for very long.

Try this website for easy recipes. My daughter has even used it.

And, just in case you would like, here is a really easy recipe for Carrot and Coriander soup:
50g (2oz) butter
2 onions, sliced
450g (1lb) carrots, diced
25g (1oz) dried lentils (red)
1 litre (2 pints) chicken stock (I used the Knorr)
1 tbs ground coriander
Salt and pepper
4 tbs single cream

Melt butter in a large saucepan and fry vegetables and lentils for 2-3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except cream. Cover and simmer for 40 mins. Liquidize then stir in cream. (I have also had it without liquidizing it - just as nice. The lentils give it a nice consistency.)

"How to Boil an Egg" is a good book both for singles, and beginners...............

You have internet - with that you can find out anything. There is a book called "Serves One" that you can also get through Amazon.co.uk - it has 5 stars, supposed to be very good.

Ordering books over the internet is the best thing ever!

Cooking for one

When buying a book lok at this website first http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

They raise Funds for Global Literacy, are cheep and post worldwide (for one low cost)

I looked at getting a book sent over by my mum to me that I allready own back home and the postage was $19 .... at Global World Books I got 3 books (including the one I was after) and the total for books and postage was $8.97 ... so worth a look at... Ohh and YES they do have cook books!!

I used to cook with a cookbook called 6 Ingredients or Less. I found it to be easy but tasty, perfect for one person who does not want to spend tons of time in the kitchen.

On Amazon.de I see they have one available here

you can get more information about them on Amazon.come here. There is one for chicken, one for pasta, etc, as well as the general one.

I just wanted to give an added purchase possibility of Tina's book. You can get it through Abe Books (I have had good experience with them). The postage is quite hefty (about €6 or €7 because being sent from the US), although you would still be paying postage through Amazon.

thanks, Orla!

Thanks for all the info, finally got around to doing an Amazon order that had enough books for the free postage. The cooking books I ended up buying were Six Ingredients or Less: Cooking Light & Healthy and Cooking for One (Quick and Easy Series).

Delia's "One is Fun" ;-)

I have that one. Dodgy title notwithstanding, it's quite a good book although it looks a bit dated these days.

Don't forget that with only one person to feed, you can indulge any weird food fads you feel like and if your cooking goes wrong then you don't have to apologise to anyone.

Nigel Slater's "Real Fast Food" is also good with unfussy cooking (you won't find many recipes asking for 30 different ingredients) and most of his recipes are for 1-2, not 6-8.

Nigel's book is quite good. If you like serious cooking I would suggest:

Larousse Gastronomique
Le Cordon Bleu's Complete Cooking Techniques (don't go for others Le Cordon Bleu books)

These 2 above are basic and must have in my opinion. For delicious and fast recepies I strongly suggest Nigella Express.

If you wanna go more deep in areas like molecular gastronomy I would suggest:

On food and cooking (heavy reading, very technical)
Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (or any of Hervé This books like the "casserole ones", they are fun and easy reading)