Pistachio-Crusted Sea Bass. Photo: Sarah LeTrent

Few of us want to make a complicated lasagna for solo dining -- by day six, you'll never want to see lasagna again! In this series, AOL Food intern Sarah LeTrent taste-tests simple recipes suitable for a "table for one."

No one should have to shudder at the thought of dining alone, or at the thought of an evening that ends with the scrape of a spoon against the bottom of a pint of Ben & Jerry's, with "When Harry Met Sally" playing in the background.

Who says eating alone has to be so gosh-darn depressing? Treat yourself with this delectable pistachio-crusted sea bass -- it's the perfect, elegant solo-dining venture.

Read more after the jump.

Pistachios are in season right about now, and add crunch and color to any recipe. Here, they are featured in a nutty, buttery topping that can be adapted to any fish, not just sea bass.

To start, roughly chop about 1/4 cup of shelled pistachios in a food processor. (The old Ziploc-and-mallet trick, which is what I used in this pic of chunkier pistachios, will work, too.) Next, add a tablespoon of softened butter, a teaspoon of basil (fresh is always best, but dried works too), and a dash each of salt and freshly cracked pepper to the crushed pistachios. Mix all the ingredients together to form a paste and smear on top of a 6- to 8-ounce, thickly sliced portion of sea bass standing on its side.

Pop it in a 400-degree oven for about 10 minutes and dinner is served. Make it a meal by serving it with brown rice, roasted broccoli and a glass of chilled white wine.

For those who don't like seafood, experiment with this topping on chicken or pork tenderloin.

It's an added bonus that snacking on a handful of these salty, green snacks while the fish is cooking can calm the chef's hunger pangs until dinnertime. And if you still feel like eating Ben & Jerry's after, no one will be around to judge.