"dinner" news and stories

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 staffer Sarah LeTrent taste-tests simple recipes suitable for a "table for one."

Dinner is just a phone call and a drawer full of takeout menus away -- but why fuel the fire of the single-living stereotype? Hang up that phone and get in the kitchen!

A takeout feast without the help of your favorite neighborhood Chinese restaurant can be ready before the delivery boy could possibly get to your door.

Toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds give the stir-fried eggplant a nutty taste and a subtle crunch, while red-pepper flakes add a touch of heat and smokiness. Here, the classic vegetarian stir-fry brings in a Greek meze feel when served alongside crunchy pita chips for scooping.

Get the recipe after the jump!

Assuming you've been eating nothing but turkey for the last four days (we have!), these giant ravioli from Da Augusto in Rome, Italy probably look pretty appetizing right now. Even if you haven't been subsisting on Thanksgiving leftovers, freshly made pasta is nearly impossible to resist.

And don't worry, they're not stuffed with turkey. Filled with ricotta and spinach, and topped with marinara sauce and grated Parmesan cheese, they're about as far from Thanksgiving cuisine as one can get.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

Each Tuesday until Turkey Day, we're bringing you preparation tips to ensure your Thanksgiving is as smooth as your gravy (should be). If you've been following our advice, everything should be under control. But with just two days to go, here's a final check list before the big day.

Whether you make it from scratch, from a can or you buy it from a store, no Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a pumpkin pie.

This one, from Flickr user maggiejane, is a little bit store bought, a little bit from a can and a little bit homemade. On her blog, Pithy and Cleaver, she writes that while she uses a premade frozen pie crust, the filling is canned pumpkin mixed with eggs, sugar, molasses and spices like cinnamon, ginger and clove.

Sounds to us like a little bit of work for a whole lot of Thanksgiving flavor.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

No, that claw is not a scary Halloween trick. Look closer; it's actually a very tasty treat.

Because the price of lobster is so low right now -- almost half of what it was more than a year ago -- the bloggers over at REC(cession)IPES were able to add a little luxury to this simple, creamy risotto, made with arborio rice, olive oil, butter, onions, shallots and white wine. Plus, the lobster adds a much-needed burst of color to what can often be a very monochromatic dish.

Come to think of it, should you want to try this at home, there may actually be a little trick to achieving these picturesque results. As REC(cession)IPES points out, it's only live lobster that's so cheap right now. So unless you can bring yourself to butcher your own crustacean (think Julie Powell in "Julie & Julia"), you may have to settle for just feasting only your eyes on this lovely lobster risotto.