Recipes By Melissa Clark
1478 recipes found
Farro Broccoli Bowl With Lemony Tahini
A hearty vegetarian dinner-in-a-bowl, farro is dressed in a lemony tahini sauce spiked with garlic, and topped with charred broccoli florets, thin slices of turnip or radish, and a soft-yolked egg. To streamline the cooking process here, the eggs are simmered in the same pot as the farro. But if you want to substitute leftover grains for the farro (brown or white rice, for example), cook the egg separately using the same timing. Or leave off the egg altogether for a vegan variation. The flavors here are mellow enough for kids, but a squirt of chile sauce or a sliced green chile garnish adds a smack of grown-up heat.
Escarole Salad With Smoky Halloumi Croutons
If you believe the only thing better than cheese is fried cheese, then you may just love halloumi. Because of its high melting point, halloumi browns before it melts, making it perfect for frying, grilling or any kind of searing. Here, it’s pan-fried with smoked paprika, then added to an escarole salad with a garlicky, lemony dressing. Slivered red onion adds pungency, while fresh parsley leaves brighten everything. If you can get the pomegranate seeds, do use them; they add a juicy sweetness that’s perfect with the richness of the cheese. Serve it by itself as a first or salad course, or with roasted vegetables, fish or chicken to round it out.
Red Wine Honey Cake With Plums
Honey cakes are an inevitable part of the Rosh Hashana meal, but this one, with its deep, spicy flavor and gorgeous hue, will be welcome any time of year.
Roasted Artichokes With Ricotta and Peas
The key to roasting artichokes is to make sure to trim away all of the tough, leathery outer leaves until only the soft pale ones in the center remain. It may seem like you’re throwing a lot away — and you are. But because roasting encourages crispness, any borderline-fibrous bits will toughen up even more, becoming impossible to chew. So for the most tender vegetables, stay on the side of over-trimming, rather than under-trimming. In this recipe, the browned artichokes are tossed with fresh herbs, peas and plenty of olive oil (use your best bottle), then scattered on top of lemony ricotta cheese. Serve this, with or without crostini, as an appetizer or part of a light supper with a salad.
Youvarlakia Avgolemono (Lemony Greek Meatball Soup)
Avgolemono is a Greek egg and lemon mixture that’s tangy and silky, and used to thicken sauces and soups. In the United States, most versions of avgolemono soup brim with grains of rice and chunks of chicken. In this recipe, a riff on youvarlakia avgolemono, ground chicken and rice are rolled into meatballs, then simmered in the broth, making the whole thing heartier without losing the soup’s characteristic brightness. Many recipes for youvarlakia call for ground beef, and, if you like you can substitute that here. Note that because of the eggs in the broth, leftovers do not freeze well.
Baked Stuffed Tomatoes With Goat Cheese Fondue
Hollowed out and stuffed with a runny mix of goat cheese and mascarpone, firm but ripe tomatoes make excellent vessels for a melting fondue.
Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies
Forget all the bad, soggy oatmeal cookies you’ve ever had in your life. Picture instead a moist-centered, butterscotch-imbued, crisp-edged cookie flecked with nubby oats. Add to this the fragrant nuttiness of toasted coconut. Then subtract any chewy raisins that may have accidentally wandered into the picture, and substitute sweet, soft dates, guaranteed not to stick in your teeth. Now mentally sandwich two of these cookies with a mascarpone-cream cheese filling. And that’s what you’ll find here. An oatmeal cookie with a little something extra, a recipe made for keeping. You can bake the cookies a few days ahead, but they are best filled within a few hours of serving.
Grape Focaccia
Pink Grapefruit, Radish And Calamata Olive Salad
Arctic Char With Soba Noodles, Pine Nuts and Lemon
Soba, the slender buckwheat noodles from Japan, are pale brown in color, earthy in flavor and springy in the bite. Pair them with a silky, pink piece of fish to create a simple, elegant study in contrasts. The fish here, Arctic char, is reminiscent of salmon but has a more delicate texture. It’s seasoned with cumin seeds that, in a clever move, are briefly toasted in a pan then steeped in oil. The deeply scented oil and seeds are then spooned over the fish for a rich coating of flavor. The fish is roasted about 10 minutes, to desired doneness, while the noodles are tossed in a dressing of finely ground pine nuts, garlic, lemon zest and juice, along with a ribbon of olive oil. The recipe calls for Meyer lemons, which are smooth-skinned, sweet, fragrant and juicy, without the acidic tartness of more commonplace lemons. Meyers are easier to find than they used to be, but are still something of a delicacy in the produce aisle. Regular lemons will do fine.
Cherry Ice Cream
Roasted Fish With Leeks and Olive Salsa Verde
Leeks show their gentle side in this speedy weeknight fish recipe. A lemony olive salsa verde adds brightness to the dish, while red-pepper flakes bring some heat. Serve this with rice, polenta or crusty bread to soak up the tangy-sweet juices. For a richer, more full-flavored variation, try salmon or tuna fillets instead of milder white fish.
Cider-Roasted Pork Loin With Pickled Apples and Chiles
Roasting a pork loin on a bed of apples, onions and cinnamon moistened with cider gives the meat a caramelized sweetness and spicy perfume. The roast browns on top while the apples and onions collapse into a meltingly tender, golden heap beneath it. Then, to offset all the soft richness, bright and tangy pickled apples and chiles are served alongside. It’s a dish that’s both company worthy and cozy, as perfect for a Sunday supper, spooned over mashed potatoes or polenta, as it is served to guests alongside an elegant gratin. Keep some extra apple cider on hand to add to the pan if it dries out and starts to burn. Just a splash or two should do it.
Kimchi Radish Pickle
Lemony Pasta With Kelp, Chile and Anchovies
Kelp, a hardy seaweed sold fresh, frozen or dried, gives this lemony pasta dish a salty depth that’s also extremely nutrient-dense. A little like pesto, the garlicky sauce coats the rigatoni in a bright green purée, flecked with darker bits of chopped parsley. Don’t skimp on the anchovies; they underscore the ocean flavor of the kelp, adding an appealing umami richness.
Stuffed Sweet Peppers With Tuna, Bulgur and Herbs
Small, sweet bell peppers (also called mini peppers) in shades of red, orange and green make attractive vessels for stuffing. In this recipe, adapted from the home cook Meline Toumani, they’re roasted until caramelized, then filled with a mixture of bulgur, tuna, herbs and capers for brightness. Offer these to nibble with cocktails when you’re feeding a crowd, or serve them with a salad and some warm pita bread for a light but highly flavorful supper for a smaller group. Be sure to use the best-quality tuna you can get here; tuna packed in olive oil (rather than water or other types of oil) is generally richer and better tasting.
Baked Cheesy Pasta With Wild Mushrooms
A more sophisticated take on mac and cheese, this golden-topped casserole has roasted wild mushrooms for a deep, earthy character, and melted fontina for the gooey factor. You can use any kind of mushrooms here. If you can’t get wild ones (also called exotic, and most of them are actually farmed), use whatever is available. The key is to roast them until they are well browned and crisp at the edges so the flavor intensifies. Serve this as a vegetarian main course or as a rich side dish to roast chicken or meats. You can assemble the casserole the day before. Just add a few minutes onto the baking time if it’s cold from the fridge when you pop it into the oven.
Roasted Carrots With Shallots, Mozzarella and Spicy Bread Crumbs
In this colorful, crunchy-topped vegetable dish, roasted carrots and shallots are topped with puddles of gooey mozzarella, while herbs, olives and a big squirt of lemon at the end add just the right level of tang. Serve this as a light, meatless meal on its own, or as a vibrant side dish to a simple roast chicken or fish.
Shortcut Banh Mi With Pickled Carrots and Daikon
Authenticity is not the goal of this banh mi. Nor is coming up with a newfangled variation. This is a sandwich that, with quick work, maintains the porky-pickled-fiery essence of a classic banh mi with easy-to-find ingredients.
Roast Chicken With Crunchy Seaweed and Potatoes
Two types of seaweed add flavor and crunch to this otherwise classic golden, roast chicken. A lemon-scented compound butter seasoned with dried red dulse (a mild type of seaweed) adds richness and a mineral, saline character to the bird, which is roasted with kelp and potatoes. As the chicken fat renders, it coats the vegetables, bronzing the potatoes and making the kelp as crisp as seaweed snacks. You do need to plan ahead to source the seaweed and marinate the chicken, but the reward is a robust, one-pan chicken dinner that hits all the right savory notes.
Roasted Asparagus and Scallion Salad
In this hearty, many-textured salad, soft, roasted asparagus is tossed with chewy whole grains and crisp, sweet caramelized scallions. You can use freekeh or farro here for the grains. Both are whole-wheat kernels, but the freekeh has a slightly smoky note from being toasted, while the farro is nuttier-tasting. You can prepare the freekeh or farro ahead and let it marinate in the dressing for up to six hours, but it’s best to roast the asparagus and scallions within an hour of serving. Don’t use pecorino Romano here, it’s too sharp. If you can’t find a young pecorino, use a young manchego or even a nice Cheddar, and serve this as a light main course or a salad course to a more substantial meal.
Lamb Tagine With Apricots, Olives and Buttered Almonds
A warming one-pot meal, this Melissa Clark recipe, recalls the finest of Moroccan tagines. It pulls the best from various tagine recipes — cinnamon sticks and green olives, lemon and saffron, and dried apricots. Done in two hours, it might not be a dish for a busy weeknight, but a leisurely one, requiring a good amount of comfort.
Peach or Apricot Ice Cream
With a satiny texture and flavored with puréed ripe stone fruit, this summery treat walks the line between ice cream and sorbet. If you want to make it even creamier and richer, substitute more heavy cream for the buttermilk.
Floating Island With Apricot Creme Anglaise
A dessert whose sweetness can set an adult’s teeth on edge is given a tart reprieve in this recipe. In thinking about a less-sweet take on île flottante, Melissa Clark considered: What would Julia Child do? Would she purée fresh apricots and stir the mush into the custard to make a sauce that was tangy and bright? The result is a dessert that takes a few hours of your time, but it rewards deeply. It’s a familiar classic, brightened up.