A Man, A Can, A Plan

I am NOT a good cook. Let’s get that straight. But I like to play with food and I LOVE cookbooks! I have tons of cookbooks, which always makes guests laugh when they see the shelf in our kitchen. But, for me it’s all about culture, language, history, and social psychology.

Tonight I made a meal from one of my favorite “weird” cookbooks. I have a whole category of weird cookbooks: The Beet Cookbook, The White Trash Cookbook, and today’s pick, a cookbook called: “A Man. A Can. A Plan.” 

This is a cookbook for men who can’t cook—bachelors of a certain era, divorced guys, etc. It’s written in very guy language—explains what utensils are—“grab one of those big spoons with holes in it”. And it’s made of that very thick, shiny cardboard, the kind of pages you

see in books for babies. But the cool part is that all of the the recipes are based on food that comes in cans. Yes, my dear friends who only eat organic or local or vegan will just die thinking about this book. So die. There is good food in this book—
Think Grandma. Think church supper.

Tonight’s yummy casserole was “Spaghetti Western”:

Two cans of Spaghetti O’s. One can black beans. Half pound ground round, two chopped scallions, 2T grated cheddar, 2T chili powder. Cook all in one pan. Six minutes tops.

Add nice salad: Baby spinach, Bibb leaves, a tomato, (sure, organic) salt & pepper, juice of half lemon and olive oil.

Dinner was ready in under ten minutes and it was delicious. And there are leftovers.One serving: 450 calories and 14 grams of protein. Which means I can have biscotti and ice-cream while we watch another episode of “To Serve Them All Our Days.”