Recipes By Andy Baraghani
35 recipes found
Herby Mashed Potatoes With Labneh
What sets these easy, zingy mashed potatoes apart is a simple garlic-infused cream and a big dollop of labneh. By crushing the garlic and gently steeping it in the cream, you achieve a deep, rich garlic flavor, without the harshness of biting into raw garlic. The labneh adds another layer of creaminess to the potatoes while also adding a delightful tang. If you can’t find labneh, sour cream is a great substitute and will provide a similarly rich sharpness.
Apple-Blueberry Crisp With Panko-Pistachio Topping
A crisp is one of the easiest high-reward desserts to put together, especially for those of us who prefer a pint of ice cream on most nights. Why not have both? What’s special about this crisp is that it takes the assignment seriously, with panko bread crumbs in the topping, for extra crispness, and a pinch of cardamom for added warmth. Underneath, the blueberries become molten as they bake, and the lemon juice brings out apple’s tart pleasures. Like any warm crisp, this one is best served with a scoop of ice cream.
Charred Cabbage With Miso Browned Butter
There’s no excuse for not having cabbage in the fridge at all times. It’s affordable, it keeps forever, and keeping it stocked means you can have a perfect dinner side in just 30 minutes. You’ll want to sear the cabbage hard on the stovetop until its outer leaves have frizzled and developed a crispy texture and smoky flavor, while the leaves inside steam and tenderize. (Yes, you could also do this on the grill!) When the cabbage is out of the pan (or if you want to multitask with a second pan), the brown butter miso sauce comes together in minutes. Slather it over the cabbage so that it can sneak into every layer.
Golden Potato and Greens Soup
This very creamy take on potato-leek soup didn’t set out to be vegan, it just happened along the way. The secret to its luxurious texture is not dairy but rather mashing the potatoes in the soup pot as they soften, which releases their thickening starches, no blender necessary. (That said, you can certainly add cream if desired.) Hearty greens like Swiss chard or kale make the soup more filling, and ground turmeric imparts a wonderful golden color. If you want to freeze some soup, simply leave out the greens and add them when it’s time to reheat.
Cacio e Pepe Ramen
Ramen noodles bring a bouncy twist to this classic Roman pasta dish. You’ll want the black pepper to be very coarse so that it can infuse the butter and achieve that fruity heat without burning. If you have a pepper mill, make sure to turn it to the coarsest setting. You can also crush the peppercorns using a flat bottomed mug or cast iron pan. If you can’t find fresh ramen noodles (which have the best bounce), you can also use the dried instant ramen noodles that come in a 3-ounce pack, discarding the seasoning packet it comes with.
Tahini Apple Tart
If you’re someone who loves a dessert packed with fruit and texture, this apple tart is made for you. The double dose of sesame is used in both the crust and filling, giving a nutty, earthy pop against the natural sweetness of the apples. They get tossed in ground cardamom for a wonderfully sweet, warm scent. Sesame is used twice: First, it becomes a spreadable paste with tahini, butter, sugar and egg, which becomes almost halva-like when combined with the cardamom-scented apples. Second, sesame seeds (and sugar) get sprinkled along the edges of the tart, making for a strikingly beautiful, textured crust.
Crispy Artichoke Pasta
Fast enough for a Tuesday night mad dash to dinner, this pantry pasta tastes more like a restaurant dish — and no one has to deal with trimming and pruning a spiky artichoke. Instead, canned artichokes are brought to the peak of their crispy potential. The key is to remove as much water from the artichokes as possible by pressing them gently with paper towels (as you would tofu). Some of the artichokes are fried in olive oil until shatteringly crisp, then the rest cook gently in more oil, along with garlic and chile flakes, to soften. They’re all mixed with pasta and Parmesan into a stunning weeknight meal.
Fresh Lemon and Chile Pasta
This quick, deeply comforting pasta is creamy, but balanced by the zing of fresh lemon. Loosely based on Italy’s pasta al limone, this simple recipe combines butter, Parmesan and lemon juice with some reserved pasta water to form a velvety sauce that comes together in the pasta pan along with everyday heroes: garlic, green chile and some cream. To squeeze as much tang from a single lemon as possible, zest is also added to the vibrant sauce, giving the dish a wonderful, sunny scent. The lemon cuts through the richness and keeps your fork twirling for more. Serve this bright and easy pasta dish on its own to perk up a weeknight or with chicken piccata or simple roast chicken for a special dinner, ideally eaten outside in the late-setting sun.
Harissa-Grilled Steak With Juicy Tomatoes
What makes this steak so great is that it’s just as delicious warm for dinner as it is cold and eaten for lunch. When choosing harissa for the marinade, look for it in a tube or can, which will have a thick, paste-like consistency (we want that explosive, concentrated red chile flavor), rather than jarred harissa, which tends to be saucier and has less potent flavor. Yogurt is the actual secret ingredient here, because the sugars will caramelize and help the meat develop a beautiful brown crust. If you have time, let the steak marinate in the yogurt mixture for a few hours or overnight to let it tenderize the meat, but if you only have 15 minutes while the grill heats up (see Tip), it’ll still be delicious.
Sticky Miso Salmon Bowl
Miso salmon is an easy meal for any night of the week but it gets taken to a whole other level here with the additions of grapefruit and honey. Combining the zest and juice from the grapefruit with honey, miso and a bit of ginger gives the fish a sticky-tangy finish when broiled. The sushi rice is mixed with a humble pat of butter and some sliced scallions, making it a comforting counterpart to this simple fish for an elegant weeknight dinner.
Extra-Green Pasta Salad
This vibrant green pasta salad gets its color from a combination of spinach and basil, but you can swap the spinach for arugula for a more peppery finish. (Some of us need a little bite in our lives!). The miso in the sauce does a lot of the heavy lifting, imparting a salty, almost Parmesan-like quality. You can eat the salad immediately or chilled for a summer picnic. If making it a day ahead, don’t add the basil garnish and cheese until you’re ready to serve.