I second the America's Test Kitchen "Cooking for Two" series that refigures larger recipes. Also rethink leftovers as repurposed ingredients and enjoy an additional meal. I will grill an additional chicken breast and the next day make up a quick chicken salad for lunch. Leftover medium rare steak becomes a house salad with grilled steak, perfect for a cookless summer meal. Leftover rice can be quickly turned into chicken fried rice... add in that grilled chicken breast at the end just long enough to heat. I have mentioned meats, but the same can be done with grilled or oven-roasted veges as well as other cooked whole grains.
I really love Melissa Clark's book, "Dinner Changing the Game." Great recipes, gorgeous photos. I am a single person and have cooked her recipes as is. Clearly, I have leftovers but not too much waste. And best, none of the recipes are terrible complex or time consuming. I think it's a great staple for cook of any level!
America’s test kitchen published a cookbook of several hundred of their most popular recipes scaled down for two with lots of photos and notes on techniques and ingredients as well as a section on 30min meals. Certainly worth looking through, i find the instructions are easy to follow and don’t assume any prior knowledge of technique.
Can't swear to the pictures, but three great books about cooking for one.
One by Judith Jones, legendary cookbook editor and no mean cook herself. At the end of her life and in her widowhood, cooked for herself and wrote about it. Title is something like "cooking for one and includes tips and recipes from some of the fine chefs and cooks she worked with.
Joe Yonan, food & dining editor at Washington post wrote columns about eating alone and cooking for one, first as a meat eater, then on a plant diet. Turned both series into fine cookbooks.
Have a look at all three in libraries or stores, pick 1 or 2 you like, of cook a sample recipe from each to see if the approach suits your current needs.
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One by Judith Jones, legendary cookbook editor and no mean cook herself. At the end of her life and in her widowhood, cooked for herself and wrote about it. Title is something like "cooking for one and includes tips and recipes from some of the fine chefs and cooks she worked with.
Joe Yonan, food & dining editor at Washington post wrote columns about eating alone and cooking for one, first as a meat eater, then on a plant diet. Turned both series into fine cookbooks.
Have a look at all three in libraries or stores, pick 1 or 2 you like, of cook a sample recipe from each to see if the approach suits your current needs.