Recipes By Alison Roman
149 recipes found
New Shrimp Louie (Poached Shrimp Salad)
In this spirit of classics like shrimp Louie or niçoise salad, this is a fairly basic, highly customizable salad-for-dinner deal, in which the nonnegotiables are fresh seafood (shrimp or salmon), crunchy lettuce (romaine or Little Gems) and tons of lemon (which comes in a tangy vinaigrette made with shallot and tarragon). From there, you can add any number of raw or lightly blanched vegetables, like shaved radish, sliced avocado or blanched green beans. To make things easy and efficient, the shrimp, eggs and green beans can all be cooked in the same pot of boiling water, so it’s not much of a fuss.
Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Think Stouffer's without the freezer. While it can be enjoyed straight from the pot, this macaroni and cheese has a slightly looser sauce than the stovetop variety to allow for thickening in the oven. Bread crumbs, while optional, make it truly spectacular.
Creamy Weeknight Macaroni and Cheese
Just as quick as the boxed variety, this creamy macaroni and cheese skirts the traditional butter and flour roux with assistance from cream cheese. While the cream cheese adds an important lusciousness, it doesn’t do the macaroni and cheese any favors when it comes to its flavor, so it’s important to use the sharpest, tangiest Cheddar you can get your hands on. For perfectly coated noodles, make sure to cook the pasta in the sauce for a minute or two.
Classic Lasagna
While not a 30-minute meal, this lasagna is quicker and more straightforward than most. If you’re in a real time crunch, use your favorite jarred red sauce. For greater success with the lasagna noodles, which have a tendency to stick together, boil them in the largest pot possible or work in batches — they need as much water as possible to move freely so they don’t clump. This lasagna can be assembled, baked and refrigerated up to five days ahead, or frozen up to a month ahead if wrapped tightly.
Classic Birthday Cake
A birthday cake needn't be elaborate. A few layers of tender yellow cake and creamy chocolate frosting will do the trick. In this version of the classic pairing, brown sugar and buttermilk provide a sophisticated flavor to the cake, and sour cream adds a slight tang to the chocolate frosting. It’s worth noting that both the cake and frosting can be made ahead. Just make sure you bring the frosting to room temperature before assembly so that it spreads easily. One note: The buttermilk and brown sugar in the batter means that the cake might appear slightly darker on the outside after baking than your typical yellow cake, but don't worry. The inside will be tender and moist.
Garlic Braised Short Ribs With Red Wine
If you weren’t already sure about how easy and delicious braised short ribs can be, consider this classic and straightforward recipe an excellent gateway. The ultimate hands-off, do-ahead dinner, these are done on the stovetop in a large Dutch oven but can easily be adapted to a slow cooker if that’s your thing. When purchasing the ribs, ask for the thickest, meatiest ones available as they tend to shrink quite a bit once braised.
Classic Zucchini Bread
A quintessential quick bread, zucchini bread blurs the line between breakfast and cake, making it acceptable for both. This version is on the sweeter side, the vegetal flavors mellowed by brown sugar, cinnamon and a bit of browned butter. While not always necessary, squeezing excess water from the zucchini will prevent the batter from being too wet while keeping the end result moist. Since this recipe makes two loaves (if you’re going to grate all that zucchini, might as well make it count), know that one will freeze excellently for at least a month. The recipe can also be halved with great success.
Cobb Salad
While the origins of a Cobb salad are still up for debate, what goes into one is fairly absolute: tender chicken breast, tangy tomatoes, perfectly hard-boiled egg and, perhaps most important, crispy bacon. This classic version relies on crumbled blue cheese and ripe avocado for creaminess, rather than a cheese or buttermilk-based dressing, making way for a mustardy shallot vinaigrette. The way each of the ingredients is prepared will depend on personal preference: Are you a chunky, chopped salad kind of person? Or do you prefer your lettuce torn and tomatoes sliced? Here, the torn and sliced approach is taken for a more elegant visual, but feel free to make it your own. It also halves nicely if you're cooking for two.
Classic Tiramisù
Done correctly, a classic tiramisù can be transcendent. A creamy dessert of espresso-soaked ladyfingers surrounded by lightly sweetened whipped cream and a rich mascarpone, tiramisù relies heavily on the quality of its ingredients. If you don’t have a barista setup at home, pick up the espresso at a local coffee shop, or use strongly brewed coffee. As for the ladyfingers, make your own or buy them, but keep in mind that store-bought varieties can range from soft and spongy (like angel food cake) to hard and crunchy (like biscotti). Both kinds will work here, but if you're using the softer variety, stick to a light brushing of espresso, instead of a deep dip.
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts
This is sort of a no-recipe recipe for brussels sprouts that will have you wanting to make them every day of the week. Once you memorize the proportions, you can vary the fat and seasonings any which way you like. One important tip: Having a large enough skillet is key, so the sprouts have a chance to brown on one side before steaming and turning to mush.
Eggs Benedict
Decadence is what makes eggs Benedict a star of the brunch table. To get there, order and timing are key. First, you'll want to make your hollandaise. While intimidating in theory, the process is a lot like making mayonnaise. If the emulsion is stable, it won't break, even when held at room temperature. Next, poach your eggs, and toast the English muffins while you crisp up the Canadian bacon. From there, it's as simple as stacking your ingredients and sprinkling them with herbs, salt and pepper. Once you’ve mastered this basic version, you can explore its variations: Add sliced avocado, or even swap in some smoked salmon (eggs Hemingway) or wilted greens for the Canadian bacon (eggs Florentine).
Spinach Artichoke Dip
Spinach artichoke dip has a way of inciting controversy. Should it be served cold or hot? Is it lowbrow or classic? Should it be served in a bread bowl or with tortilla chips? Well, the good news is that there are no wrong answers here, only delicious, creamy dip. This particular one is best served hot (or at least room temperature), but it is also acceptable to spread it on crackers after being chilled. And with the inclusion of fresh spinach, it could almost be described as classy. Use canned artichoke hearts; they've got a tangier flavor and better texture than the frozen ones. If you want to go a step further, transfer it to a skillet and run it under the broiler after cooking, which gives you bubbling dip with a golden top.
Cinnamon Rolls
What these cinnamon rolls lack in bells and whistles, they make up for in butter and brown sugar. As classic as can be, they are also the ultimate make-ahead breakfast treat, because they can be assembled the night before baking. The success of these rolls depends on the yeast to provide proper lift and rise, so make sure yours is still fresh and alive before diving in. Also be sure to budget a few hours for letting the dough rest and rise. This recipe calls for a 9-by-13 baking pan, but if you have a 9-inch round pan, feel free to use that instead; the rolls will be more tightly huddled together, beckoning to be pulled apart.
Royal Icing
When it comes to decorating sugar cookies, there’s nothing more iconic or festive than that thick, glossy royal icing. You'll want to mix the ingredients until they're fluffy, and until the icing flows fluidly from the whisk. Once it's the texture of hot fudge, it'll be ready to apply to your cookies. After it dries, at least an hour later, it’ll take on a matte, smooth appearance resembling an eggshell, a perfect canvas for your most inspired designs.
Cucumber and Tonic
An evolution of soda water with bitters, think of this as a spin on the gin and tonic. Vegetal cucumber and herby mint replace the botanicals in the gin. If tonic water is too bitter for you, swap in soda water instead. And, if you're eschewing alcohol in all its forms, skip the bitters. (They do contain alcohol, though it's diluted here.)
Salted Apricot-Honey Cobbler
Unlike most cobblers, which ask you to chop or slice the fruit, this one is meant to preserve the integrity of the apricots, which bake until totally tender, jammy and saucy, while still maintaining their shape and texture. The idea is to spoon out one of the barely sweetened, oaty shortcakes from the pan and then top it with the roasted, honey-sweetened fruit. Ice cream is optional but recommended.
Baked Chicken With Crispy Parmesan and Tomatoes
Think of this as an easy version of chicken Parmesan, tender chicken, tangy tomatoes and crispy bits of Parmesan. Here, there’s no pounding, breading or frying required. The bath of garlicky tomatoes gently cooks the chicken, keeping it juicy, while the dusting of Parmesan returns some richness lost in choosing boneless and skinless breasts. Seek out chicken breasts on the larger side to give the Parmesan a chance to properly brown and crisp up without overcooking.
Garlicky, Buttered Carrots
This is one of the few occasions when overcrowding the skillet is a good thing. These carrots are cooked in fat (schmaltz, olive oil, butter), with a pinch of something spicy (red-pepper flakes, cayenne, even hot paprika), sort of half-steaming on top of each other until just tender (no mushy carrots here, please). At the end, they are seasoned with a bit of finely grated or chopped garlic off the heat, which quiets the garlicky punchiness without extinguishing it entirely. Like a sandwich cut into triangles, the fact that the carrots are sliced into rounds makes them taste above-average delicious.
Garlicky Chicken Thighs With Scallion and Lime
These tangy chicken thighs are a weeknight alternative to a long, weekend braise. They may not fall entirely off the bone, but the quick simmer in a rich, citrusy sauce yields an impossibly tender thigh that you wouldn’t get with a simple sear. Serve with rice, whole grains or with hunks of crusty bread for mopping up the leftover sauce.
Sheet-Pan Trout With Garlicky Broccolini
The benefits of cooking trout in its whole, butterflied form go beyond visual appeal — the large piece drastically reduces the risk of overcooking, and the longer roasting time gives other vegetables on the pan, like wispy broccolini (or smashed boiled potatoes, or halved cherry tomatoes), a chance to crisp up. Once the pan is out of the oven, spoon over a punchy dressing made from raw garlic, smoky Aleppo pepper and fresh lemon juice, and let the residual heat mellow and meld the flavors before serving. Most grocery stores sell trout already butterflied (it’s the most common ready-to-buy preparation), which saves you the extra step of trying to figure out how to do it yourself. If not, ask and they will happily oblige.
Sheet-Pan Chicken With Chickpeas, Cumin and Turmeric
The yogurt marinade does two very important jobs in this sheet-pan chicken recipe. One, the acidity in the marinade helps tenderize the meat, and two, the sugars in the yogurt help brown and caramelize the skin of the chicken as it roasts. Be sure to toss the chickpeas occasionally as they roast to encourage them to get coated in the chicken fat as it renders.
Skillet Chicken With White Beans and Caramelized Lemon
One of the best parts of cooking skin-on chicken in a skillet, aside from the obvious (crispy skin), is the delicious fat left behind. To maximize the amount of fat yielded, be sure to cook the chicken on the medium side of medium-high heat, which gives the fat plenty of time to render before the skin browns. All this extra time on the stove means you won’t have to finish your chicken in the oven. (The only exception are extra-large pieces, which may need a brief stint in a 350-degree oven to completely cook through.) While just about anything is great tossed in this liquid gold, using it to caramelize thick slices of lemon and wedges of shallot takes the dish to an even more complex, savory, tangy place. You can let the seasons or your pantry dictate what gets added next: hearty leafy greens, chunks of summer squash or a simple can of chickpeas or beans are all welcome to the party.
Vinegar Chicken With Crushed Olive Dressing
This tangy, turmeric-stained, sheet-pan chicken makes the most of the schmaltzy bits left behind on the pan, which is deglazed with fresh garlic, briny olives and a bit of water. Think pan sauce, but done on a sheet pan.
Labneh Dip With Sizzled Scallions and Chile
In this very high-brow version of ranch dressing, adapted from "Nothing Fancy" by Alison Roman (Clarkson Potter, 2019), scalliony chile oil gets sizzled with cilantro stems (or chives) and swirled into thick, lemony labneh. If you can find green garlic, which tends to be hyperseasonal, use that or even ramps in place of the scallions. Serve with raw vegetables for dipping, as a spread with crackers or flatbread, or alongside roasted lamb or vegetables.