Recipes By Ali Slagle
497 recipes found
Garlic Chicken With Giardiniera Sauce
Traditional Italian green sauces typically include a long list of ingredients: chopped herbs, vinegar or citrus juice, garlic, shallots, capers and anchovies to name a few. But this recipe streamlines the process by mixing fresh green herbs with giardiniera, a condiment of pickled mixed vegetables that contributes the oil, vinegar and punchy flavors. Giardiniera, which is Italian for “gardener,” is a colorful and crunchy mixture typically made with cauliflower, peppers, celery and carrots. It’s commonly found on supermarket shelves with the pickled peppers, and is used on Italian beef and muffuletta sandwiches as well as antipasto plates. While spices, the balance of vinegar to oil, and vegetables vary, any will work here. Eat this combination on its own, with orzo or salad greens, or in a sandwich.
Michelada Chicken
This spicy, tangy chicken is flavored with — you guessed it — ingredients that make a michelada. This recipe combines beer, Worcestershire, hot sauce and lime for a marinade that results in surprisingly tender meat and a sizzled crust, as well as a sauce that, for obvious reasons, is good enough to drink. Eat the chicken with tortillas, rice and beans or a creamy slaw. The marinade also works well on steak. (For grilling instructions, see Tip.)
Sheet-Pan Grilled Cheese
Ever dream of serving warm grilled cheese sandwiches to a crowd without feeling like a short-order line cook or getting stuck with a slightly soggy sandwich? A sheet pan can help: It allows you to cook four sandwiches at once, with less attention than they require on the stovetop, and provides the opportunity to add cheese to the outsides for a crisp, chip-like contrast to the gooey filling. This oven technique is amenable to different kinds of breads and cheeses, and can take additions for melts. Grilled cheese just got even more convenient.
Sheet-Pan Sesame Tofu and Red Onions
This sheet-pan recipe makes simple ingredients into a meal of delightful contrasts: savory and sweet, crisp and soft. The roasted tofu’s nuttiness is accentuated by a coating of turmeric and sesame seeds. Onions, which are often the sidekick to other vegetables, are roasted until soft, crackly-edged and sweet, becoming alluring enough to take top billing. A scattering of citrus-dressed herbs adds freshness. This dish goes well with steamed or roasted sweet potatoes or squash; massaged or sautéed hearty greens; rice or other grains; pita or tortillas; or something rich and creamy, like hummus, yogurt, mozzarella,peanut sauce or avocado.
Sheet-Pan Gnocchi With Mushrooms and Spinach
This sheet-pan dinner is inspired by classic steakhouse sides: roasted mushrooms, creamy horseradish-mustard sauce, wilted spinach and roasted potatoes. Well, kind of. Instead of whole potatoes, this recipe uses store-bought gnocchi, a superspeedy stand-in that takes on the fun combination of browned and chewy when roasted. This dish is hearty enough to be a full meal, though it’d also make a great side to braised beans, roast chicken, a seared pork chop and, of course, steak. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Twice-Baked Potatoes
At its simplest, a twice-baked potato is creamy, cheesy mashed potatoes cradled in crisp, salty skin. That’s the recipe you see here: comforting, satisfying and pretty much ideal. But if you dream of other flavor combinations, like bacon, scallions and sour cream; blue cheese and chives; or cauliflower and Parmesan, just follow the recipe below and stir in any additions (reserving some for garnish) after the dairy in Step 3. Shower the top with more grated cheese if you like, then bake, garnish and dig in.
Mashed Cauliflower
For surprisingly flavorful and creamy mashed cauliflower, cook your florets not in water but in a gently simmering pot of milk seasoned with garlic and thyme. When the cauliflower is mashed (or blended), the pectin in the cauliflower will thicken and smooth the mash. Add the garlic- and herb-infused milk one tablespoon at a time until you reach a light, silky consistency. All that’s needed is a little sour cream for tang. Save the leftover infused milk for braising white beans, a can of tomatoes, or for making more mashed cauliflower.
Shrimp Scampi With Orzo
The universal appeal of shrimp scampi, frankly, isn’t the shrimp but the pan sauce: garlicky butter lightened with white wine and bursts of lemon, parsley and red-pepper flakes. Scampi is often tossed with pasta or served with crusty bread, but this version instead uses quick-cooking orzo. It simmers directly in the pan sauce, imparting a starchy gloss — and soaking up the garlicky scampi flavors. Toss the shrimp with some garlic, lemon zest and red-pepper flakes to marinate while the pasta gets a head start on the stove, then simply toss the shrimp on top of the orzo to steam. It all comes together in a flash, and feels effortless. Pair this dish with Caesar salad, steamed broccoli or arugula, or bask in its simple comfort, straight from a spoon.
Baked Spaghetti Squash
Once baked and scraped into noodle-like strands, spaghetti squash becomes a frequent pasta understudy, tossed with pesto, tomato sauce or roasted vegetables. But it’s a versatile ingredient, as its mild flavor and gentle crunch also make it a good base for stews or even curries. For a basic roasted spaghetti squash recipe, follow Step 1, scrape the insides into strands, and be on your way. For a complete side dish, proceed with the rest of the recipe and top with herby breadcrumbs and Parmesan. You can also add mozzarella, which will melt into delicious little pools among the squash strands.
Vegetarian Bean and Cheese Enchiladas
Enchiladas can be a bit of a project, but here, the process has been streamlined, making them a truly possible weeknight endeavor. Begin by sautéing peppers, onions and garlic until charred in spots, then blend half of the vegetables with canned tomatoes and chili powder for the sauce and combine the rest with black beans, shredded cheese and cumin for the filling. If you’re short on time, you could use store-bought enchilada sauce (you'll need three cups), but quality varies, so taste it and add whatever you think is missing: chipotle in adobo or chili powder for smokiness, hot sauce for heat, dried oregano or fresh cilantro for complexity and salt for overall flavor.
Caramelized Lemon Chicken
Making a chicken shine with glaze typically requires combining a form of sugar (like honey or maple syrup) with something to balance that sweetness, like lemon juice. But there is an ingredient in your baking arsenal that does both of those things: lemon curd. The sugars in the curd help the skin caramelize to a deep mahogany, while the curd’s fat and moisture keep the meat juicy. Spread it on chicken and each bite gets perfumed with sunny lemon. While you can make this recipe using chicken just as you purchased it, the added step of removing the backbone (also known as spatchcocking or butterflying) ensures all parts get browned.
Crispy Baked Chicken
For pull-apart tender chicken with crisp, deeply spiced skin, rub it with a spicy-sweet mix and roast it low and slow while you’re doing something else. Because this chicken is cooked at a moderately low temperature, the spices will bloom but not burn, and the chicken fat will render slowly and completely (which means you don’t need any oil). The smoky rub in this recipe will turn the chicken skin into what tastes like a barbecue potato chip, but you can use other spice blends, too, like garam masala or Montreal steak seasoning. Just be sure your mix includes sugar for browning and salt for accentuating flavors. Whole chicken legs (with the thigh and drumstick attached) provide a more generous portion of juicy meat and skin that shatters, but a mix of drumsticks and bone-in thighs work, too.
Tomato-Butter Pasta
When you have ripe, perfect tomatoes that you want to enjoy without much fuss, this is the pasta to make. (If your tomatoes are tasteless, your pasta will be too, so don’t try this with the off-season grocery store variety.) It’s inspired by pan con tomate, in which grated tomato and its juices are spooned onto garlic toasts. Here, with vigorous stirring, grated tomato and cold butter form a glossy, light, pretty-in-pink sauce that tastes of sweet, just-cooked tomato. The red-pepper flakes, garlic, basil and Parmesan bring out the flavor of the tomato, and while there are plenty of other ways to embellish further, you don’t need to: This is lazy, easy summer cooking at its best. (P.S. Leftovers make a great room-temperature pasta salad.) To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
One-Pot Rice and Beans
Not only is rice with beans adored the world over (see: gallo pinto, khichdi, hoppin’ John and Caribbean rice and peas), it even has its own Wikipedia page. This deeply flavored rendition is inspired by these comforting traditions and a desire to wash as few dishes as possible: The rice cooks with the beans and the starchy liquid they’re canned in. As the two ingredients cook together, the beans disperse and glom onto the rice. For an extra kick, sauté chopped jalapeño with the onions, or add 1/4 cup salsa with the stock.
Crispy Rice With Dill and Runny Eggs
This one-skillet meal has crisp and herbaceous rice, creamy lima beans and pockets of jammy egg yolk. Its inspiration comes from baghali polo, a traditional Persian rice dish that is often served at Nowruz alongside braised or barbecued meat. In it, fava beans steam with rice, dill and spices, then sometimes the bottom is crisped tahdig-style. In this complete one-pan meal, the rice and lima beans are steamed and crisped in a skillet, then eggs are nestled right into the rice to cook. Lima beans are buttery like fava beans, though you could use another bean or even a vegetable (see Tip). A punchy topping, like feta or lemon, rounds out the meal.
Lemony Orzo With Asparagus and Garlic Bread Crumbs
Every spoonful of this pasta has a happy jumble of lemony orzo, grassy asparagus, garlicky bread crumbs, fresh herbs and salty Parmesan. The pasta and thinly sliced asparagus cook together in the same pot, then rest in a lemony dressing while the garlic bread crumbs are toasted, so the pasta has time to absorb as much flavor as possible.
Portobello ‘Steak’ au Poivre
Steak au poivre, a classic French dish of peppercorn-crusted steak with cream sauce, seems like it was meant to be made with mushrooms. Not only do mushrooms sear well, but they’re also a friend to the dish’s main flavorings of heavy cream, heady spices and warming liquor. For the best results, crisp the mushrooms first in a hot pan, baste them with garlic butter until tender, then let them simmer in the cream sauce so they soak up that richness. Eat with roasted, mashed or fried potatoes, a salad of watercress or another spicy green, and red wine, of course. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Roasted Broccoli Rabe and White Beans With Burrata
With just a few ingredients, this impressive and quick dish boasts many flavors and textures. Roasting broccoli rabe creates tender stems while the leaves crisp like chips. The broccoli rabe cooks alongside paprika-stained white beans, which become warm, creamy and even crisp in spots as they roast. Eat the beans and greens warm or at room temperature, as a starter or vegetarian main, with slices of orange and a puddle of creamy burrata for softness and sweetness. (You could also use ricotta, thick yogurt or avocado instead of the burrata.) This dish is good on its own, or with farro, pearl couscous or crusty bread.
Citrusy Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup
With lentils, sweet potato, chard and earthy spices, this soup is certainly hearty and cozy, but it’s also surprisingly uplifting, thanks to the acidity and crunch of chard stems and jalapeños that have been quick-pickled in citrus juice. The chard leaves simmer in the soup until silky, while the raw stems marinate in a combination of lemon or lime juice, salt and jalapeño. They’re really all this soup needs, but you could also add a little richness to individual servings with yogurt, avocado, a poached egg or a drizzle of oil.
One-Pan Salmon Niçoise With Orzo
This one-skillet dinner has the bright flavors of a salade Niçoise but is more substantial, so you can eat it all year long, even on a chilly evening. For a happy mix of exciting textures — tender salmon and orzo, snappy green beans, juicy tomatoes — cook the orzo with shallots and olives, then in the last few minutes of cooking, nestle in the green beans and salmon fillets to cook. Meanwhile, stir together a vinaigrette that’s punchy with fresh tomatoes, vinegar, Dijon mustard and raw shallot to spoon over the finished dish. Adapt this rendition further as you like, adding anchovies with the sautéed or raw shallots, swapping the salmon for canned tuna, or adding capers or sliced cucumbers to the tomato vinaigrette.
Crispy Tofu and Cabbage Stir-Fry
This tumble of crisp tofu, charred cabbage and citrusy coriander includes a couple tricks you’ll want to employ in other dishes. The flavor of the stir-fry is propelled by using the coriander plant multiple ways: Combining coriander seeds with fresh stems and leaves — also known as cilantro — creates a range of complex but related flavors. Then there’s what might be the quickest — and your new favorite — way to cook cabbage: When large pieces of cabbage are cooked undisturbed in a hot pan, they don’t have a chance to turn to mush. Instead, the cabbage becomes sweet and crisp-tender, with a smoky edge. Eat the stir-fry with grains or noodles, like rice noodles or soba. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Skillet Tortellini With Corn and Crispy Rosemary
You can have cheesy pasta, juicy corn, fried rosemary and loads of bacon in just 20 minutes, with the use of just one skillet. Fresh store-bought tortellini are a boon to quick meals, especially when they’re cooked directly in the sauce instead of a big pot of water. But it’s the trifecta of salty bacon, sweet corn and rosemary that makes this pasta substantial enough for cool nights yet fresh enough for summer — which is to say, it’s great for any time at all. To incorporate a green vegetable, add one that can cook in three to five minutes along with the pasta, such as halved snap peas, thinly sliced asparagus or broccolini, or spinach, or eat the pasta alongside a light salad of greens or crunchy vegetables.
Miso-Mustard Salmon
In this single-skillet recipe, miso and Dijon mustard create a one-two punch of salty and spicy to balance the sweetness of salmon and cabbage. Slather the mighty combination on the salmon fillets, sprinkle with sesame seeds for crunch, then roast on top of caramelized, crisp-tender cabbage. Serve with steamed rice or sweet potatoes if you like, then use the remaining sauce to drizzle over everything. The thinned miso mustard is also great to have around as a salad dressing for crisp lettuces, or a sauce for roasted vegetables or tofu. It will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator
One-Pot Ginger Salmon and Rice
This one-pot meal follows in the tradition of takikomi gohan, or Japanese mixed rice: Short-grain rice cooks with meat, seafood or vegetables and seasonings like dashi, hijiki, mushrooms and soy sauce. This recipe’s umami is driven by toasted nori (or gim); the sheets used for sushi or kimbap and the little, boxed seasoned snacks both work. When cooked with the rice, the seaweed loses its crunch, but its nutty, briny flavor infuses each grain. Seaweed goes well with salmon, which is lively with lemon and ginger, and silky from a quick steam on top of the rice. And while you could add any vegetable that steams in 10 minutes, crisp-tender asparagus works especially well.