Recipes By Sheela Prakash
15 recipes found
Skillet Orzo With Chorizo and Dates
This smoky, sweet one-pan orzo uses a hands-off approach that takes cues from paella, allowing the orzo to simmer, untouched, so that a golden crust (called socarrat) forms underneath. It’s not quite as crispy as what you’ll get from traditional rice-based paella, but it still makes for some nice textural contrast. Just be sure to use a well-seasoned cast-iron or nonstick skillet to prevent the orzo from sticking. Cured Spanish chorizo lends smoke and spice, dates provide pops of chewy sweetness, and a shower of goat cheese crumbles brings creamy tang.
Sheet-Pan Roasted Salmon With Tuscan Bread Salad
Panzanella, the peak-summer bread-and-tomato salad, turns into a satisfying dinner when you toss in tender flaked chunks of salmon. A simple anchovy-Dijon vinaigrette does double duty as both a quick marinade for the fish and the dressing for the colorful salad. Roasting the fish and toasting the bread on a single sheet pan makes for easy cleanup. This salad is delicious served as soon as it’s been tossed, when the bread cubes retain a crouton-like crunch, but it can rest a bit, too, at which point the bread cubes soften after soaking up the dressing and tomato juices.
Caramelized Carrot and Halloumi Salad
Salty bites of crisp, golden-brown halloumi play well with sweet and tender caramelized carrots and red onion in this warm salad that takes inspiration from fattoush. Here, kale and crunchy toasted pita add enough bulk to ensure this dish is satisfying enough for dinner. It’s all tied together with a simple vinaigrette that’s both earthy and herbaceous, thanks to the blend of herbs, sesame and sumac found in za’atar. If you’d like to make this salad vegan, feel free to skip the cheese.
Chickpeas all’Arrabbiata
A quick rummage through the pantry brings these saucy beans to life in this humble meal that leans on the power of a few dusty cans that may be lingering on your shelves. Let chickpeas swim in this fiery, garlic-heavy arrabbiata sauce built from canned tomatoes and they take on the vibes of the best slow-simmered red sauce classics in a fraction of the time. Slip a pan of no-stir creamy polenta into the oven before getting the beans started and it will be ready to catch every drop of sauce, but you could also toss the chickpeas with pasta or simply spoon them over toast.
Honey-Garlic Salmon With Grapefruit
A flurry of chopped fresh parsley, lemon zest and garlic, gremolata is an Italian condiment that can brighten luxuriously meaty dishes like osso buco, or just about anything else that skews rich, including buttery roasted salmon fillets. This creative take on the classic garnish swaps the lemon with grapefruit, using both zest and fruit. Add the optional mint to the equation for additional brightness. Not one bit of the citrus is wasted: The juice is reduced and combined with honey and garlic to make a sweet glaze for the fish that offsets the bitter notes of the parsley and fruit.
Skillet Gnocchi Alla Vodka
Penne pasta might be the most common canvas for creamy, dreamy vodka sauce, but consider branching out: Toss plump, pan-fried gnocchi with the Italian-American favorite and the result is possibly even more cozy. To keep this dinner weeknight-friendly, everything comes together in a single pan. While the recipe is quick-moving, don’t skimp on the few minutes it takes to caramelize the tomato paste: Cooking an entire can of tomato paste until it’s rusty red in color and almost burnished in spots is the secret to a deeply savory sauce without hours of simmering on the stovetop.
Brussels Sprout Salad With Pomegranate and Pistachios
This autumnal side, inspired by tabbouleh, swaps the usual parsley and tomatoes for shaved brussels sprouts, scallions, chopped fresh mint, juicy pomegranate seeds and roasted pistachios, all tossed together in a tangy sumac-lemon dressing. The traditional bulgur remains, ensuring this salad has enough heft to stand out as a great vegan option at the Thanksgiving table and beyond, though the jeweled bowl is sure to attract omnivores, too. Perfect for potlucks, it can be assembled ahead of time, and, since it’s served at room temperature, it can easily be packed up and carried wherever you might be heading.
Sticky Toffee Loaf Cake
This soft and tender loaf is an ode to sticky toffee pudding, the decadent classic British dessert. Brown sugar date cake is swirled with toffee sauce before baking, and it buckles and absorbs the sauce as it cooks in the oven. A sprinkle of flaky salt pleasantly offsets all that sweetness, as does the toffee-yogurt topping (a simple combination of extra toffee sauce and Greek yogurt), which is served alongside for dolloping onto each slice, making this cake as well-suited for a brunch spread as it is for dessert.
Fire Crackers
This spicy, savory snack, also known as Alabama fire crackers or comeback crackers, is of unclear origin but beloved in the South. Though fire crackers are traditionally prepared using saltines, oyster crackers are also common — and the choice here because they’re fun to devour by the handful. Classic fire crackers are marinated with store-bought ranch seasoning and red pepper flakes then baked until crisp and golden. This version calls for a quick, homemade ranch-inspired blend. These crackers will stay fresh for up to one week, making them ideal for impromptu holiday gatherings and gifting alike.
Cardamom Coffee Banana Bread
Adding cardamom to coffee is a well-loved practice throughout the Middle East and one that plays off each ingredient's traits. Sweet, floral cardamom mellows the acidity of coffee while coffee’s inherent bitterness keeps the peppery, menthol-like notes of the spice from overpowering. Here, the couple transforms a humble banana bread, perfuming it with extra warmth, while chopped dark chocolate adds richness. An optional coffee drizzle ensures this loaf is eye-catching but if you’d rather keep things simpler, sprinkle it with coarse turbinado sugar before baking to lend a touch of sparkle as well as pleasant crunch.
Braaibroodjie (Grilled Cheese and Chutney Sandwiches)
A braai is South Africa’s beloved open, wood-fired equivalent to an American barbecue and these grilled cheese sandwiches are an integral component. Mrs. Ball’s, an iconic South African dried-fruit chutney, lends sweet tang, though sweet fruit chutney such as Major Grey’s or even apricot jam can be used in a pinch. A hinged grill-basket or baker’s twine helps keep the sandwiches together while they’re flipped. This recipe is adapted from one by cookbook author Jan Scannell, known as Jan Braai ever since he became the head of the National Braai Day initiative, founded in 2005. Mr. Braai believes that “the correct way to slice braaibroodjies is diagonally, and the correct time to serve is immediately.”
Couscous Risotto With Tomatoes and Mozzarella
This caprese-inspired “risotto” swaps in toothsome pearl couscous for the usual short grain rice, cutting the time spent stirring in half. The result is a pleasantly chewy, creamy one-pot dish that, like true risotto, is easy to adapt. The tomatoes caramelize and concentrate in flavor when roasted, but if you don’t feel like turning on the oven, try replacing them with a heaping cup of drained and chopped roasted red peppers or sliced sun-dried tomatoes (just pat them dry if they're oil-packed). And because pesto is so flavorful, there’s no need for chicken or vegetable broth: Plain old water is the cooking liquid of choice here.
Slow-Roasted Salmon With Salsa Verde
Salsa verde is pesto’s zippier cousin. This Italian green sauce, not to be confused with the Mexican sauce of the same name, is bright, briny and the perfect compliment to silky slow-cooked salmon. Chopping everything by hand saves you from dirtying an appliance and provides just the right amount of rustic texture. Serve the fish with something to catch every drop of sauce, such as farro, orzo, polenta or rice. Any extra salsa verde can be stored in the fridge for up to a week. Drizzle it on grilled meats, toss it with pasta or fold it into scrambled eggs.
Roasted Chickpeas
Roasted chickpeas are a pleasantly crisp-on-the-outside, slightly chewy-on-the-inside addition to salads, noodles, creamy soups and grain bowls. Rub the chickpeas vigorously in a dish towel not once but twice to ensure that they’re completely dry before sliding them into the oven, and do your best to remove all the skins that fall off in the process. While this may seem fussy, it’s the secret to achieving the crispiest results. To make these chickpeas your own, rummage your spice cabinet and swap the smoked paprika for za'atar, chili powder, garam masala, herbes de Provence or anything else that sounds good.
Caramelized Onion, Broccoli Rabe and Sweet Potato Hash
This started as a refrigerator clean-out but turned out to be a delicious Sunday brunch. Feel free to substitute the rabe for another green like spinach or kale. This is a recipe that's made for adaptation.