I am slowly dipping my toes into the ocean of preparing one-person meals here at home.

Aside from the sober thoughts of sitting down for a dinner alone, I also miss having someone tell me how terrific the food is, for there was never a time when Doug didn't say he liked anything I made.

As a matter of fact, I often had a difficult time figuring out what he didn't want to eat again. Sometimes, with a little nudge from me-"Did you really like it, huh?"-he might say it was good. That usually meant that I would not make it again, or at least not the same way.

I would cook and cook and cook, but Doug was eating less and less, so I would eat my portion and maybe his, too. As he lost weight, I gained. Last week my friend Ann Primo called and asked if I'd want to go to Weight Watchers with her. Again. She said she'd gained two-and-a-half pounds. Two and one-half pounds! But I thought to myself, and said aloud to her, that I had no excuse now, no reason to make butter-filled mashed potatoes with cream, meat loaf roasted with a few slices of bacon on the top, pork chops stuffed with rye bread softened with sour cream, or pasta Bolognese with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

In truth, I'd begun to cook a bit for myself, making my own cold borscht and drinking it cold with low-fat sour cream for lunch. I crafted paninis made with the great challah from Stop & Shop, with fresh tomatoes (which I'm finding, slowly at Scott's in Old Saybrook and East Lyme). I add white meat from a rotisserie chicken and mustard, and it tastes very good and healthy. For dessert, I eat a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich. And salads, of course.

Last night my friend Candy invited me to her house for a dinner salad. I took along some borscht, which was our appetizer. For salad, she put together something she said was like my black bean salad. In truth, it was way better and there were no black beans. It could be made with beef (as she did) or chicken or even canned tuna. If you use the last, try to get that terrific Italian tuna packed in oil. The salad would be delicious with cucumbers and without any meat or fish, if you like. And I promise, going forward, I will not write only about diet food.

Candy's Avocado, Tomato, Corn, and Cilantro Salad

Yield: 2 servings as a main dish

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 ears of very fresh sweet corn, husked

Approx. 1 teaspoon sugar

Cayenne pepper, to taste

1 small steak, about 3 to 4 ounces

Iceberg lettuce

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

2 avocados, halved, peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks

Juice of 1 or 2 limes

Fresh chopped cilantro, to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

Place olive oil in skillet and heat. Cut the kernels and place in skillet and add sugar and cayenne, to taste (begin with a dash of cayenne and taste; add more if you want it spicier). Sauté until hot; place in a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.

In the meantime, sauté the steak (use can use the same skillet you used for the corn) until slightly charred on each side (for rare to medium-rare). Remove from skillet and allow to cool (the steak will continue to cook, so try not to overcook the meat).

In an attractive bowl, place lettuce on the bowl, so it looks like a nest. In a stainless or glass bowl, add sweet corn, grape tomatoes, and chopped avocados; squeeze in lime juice. Mix gently, then add salt and pepper to taste. Add cilantro and toss.

Thinly slice the cooled steak and place atop the salad. Serve at room temperature.

Nibbles: A Recommendation From Lee

A few weeks ago, my friend Priscilla took her mother to an appointment in Old Saybrook, and afterward they went to Jack Rabbit's for sliders. While waiting for the burger, she walked down to Dagmar's for some pastry.

"What pastry?" I just about yelled. She said Dagmar's Desserts had moved from Deep River and taken over the space that had been another pastry shop. The next day I drove to Dagmar's-I had an appointment in Middletown and figured this would be an excuse to get a lot of sweets and leave them at the doctors' office. I bought fruit tarts, a lemon tart, a small almond cake, some puff pastry with marzipan, and a lemon cream roll. I tasted a tiny bit of each of the desserts and asked Barbara, my nurse, to take all the rest to the break room.

I am particularly crazy about almond anything-including marzipan-and have been since I was a little girl. I will visit Dagmar's again, but I wouldn't dare go again unless I was taking some of the desserts elsewhere, otherwise, I might eat everything I bought on the way home.

Dagmar's Desserts

247 Main Street

Old Saybrook

860-661-4664

www.dagmarsdesserts.com