Recipes By Yossy Arefi
145 recipes found
Chocolate Doughnut Muffins
These supersoft, pillowy chocolate muffins are reminiscent of your favorite chocolate doughnut, but with no fussy frying necessary. Packed with sour cream and just a drop of oil, they stay moist and delicious for days. They come together quickly in one bowl, so you can mix them up for a morning treat or afternoon snack without much effort. The cinnamon-sugar coating gives them a crunchy and lightly spiced exterior, which is a pleasing contrast to their soft centers, but they are just as tasty with a heavy dusting of confectioners’ sugar instead.
Cilantro-Lime Salmon and Rice
Bright and vibrant cilantro and lime liven up this weeknight-friendly, one-pot meal. Start by toasting rice in butter in a skillet to create a flavorful base, then, when the rice is almost finished cooking, add green beans and briefly marinated salmon to steam. Like many one-pot meals, this one is carefully calibrated so that each of the ingredients finishes cooking at the same time. Give the beans a head start to ensure they tenderize in the short time it takes the delicate salmon to cook through. To serve, garnish the finished dish with more cilantro and lime juice.
One-Bowl Molasses-Chocolate Cake
This simple recipe, rich with chocolate chips and earthy molasses, is both forgiving and budget-friendly. It gets much of its moisture and fat from oil, which has a number of benefits. First, oil-based cakes also keep wonderfully, staying moist and delicious – sometimes even tasting better – after a few days at room temperature or in the refrigerator. But, best of all, its reliance on oil means that the batter comes together in one bowl and quickly. Bake it today, and serve it alongside a milky tea or coffee.
Pepperoni Baked Pasta
This cozy dish takes all of the flavors of your favorite pepperoni pizza and spins them into a family-friendly baked pasta that is quick and easy to make. Make sure to cook the pasta just shy of al dente to ensure that the finished pasta doesn’t get mushy. Pepperoni adds nice heat and spice, but feel free to add olives, sautéed mushrooms, or any of your favorite pizza toppings to the mix. If you don’t have time or inclination to make your own tomato sauce, crisp the pepperoni as directed in Step 3, skip the garlic and crushed red pepper, then add 48 ounces of your favorite marinara sauce to the pot used to crisp the pepperoni. Stir the sauce to scrape up any browned bits and warm it through, then turn off the heat and proceed to Step 6.
Vanilla Cupcakes
This easy recipe makes 12 light, fluffy cupcakes that are packed with vanilla flavor and topped with a classic buttercream frosting. They use the reverse creaming method made popular by author Rose Levy Beranbaum in which the dry ingredients are mixed with a solid fat (butter, in this case), before the liquid ingredients are mixed in, which helps ensure that you don’t overmix your batter. This mixing method, along with the buttermilk and a combination of butter and oil, creates the soft, tender crumb of these cupcakes. The confectioners’ sugar frosting is a simple affair, flavored with lots of vanilla, some lemon juice and a bit of salt to balance out the sweetness. Make sure to whip the frosting until it is completely smooth and soft. This recipe makes enough to frost the cupcakes with a thin layer; for a more generous topping, you’ll want to double it.
Berry Jam Buns
A filling made from berry preserves and fresh berries replaces the buttery cinnamon sugar you might expect in a cinnamon roll, for a colorful twist on a favorite. You can use any berry jam you like, but a low-sugar variety will provide the most vibrant fruit flavor. The cream cheese icing is the perfect gooey, creamy topping that gently melts into the tops of the rolls. This dough is adaptable: You can let it rise overnight in the refrigerator, instead of at room temperature, so you can serve fresh, warm rolls for breakfast without getting up at the crack of dawn to make them. If you let the dough rise at room temperature, don’t skip the refrigeration time after the dough rises, as the dough is much, much easier to work with when cold. For the very best texture, these rolls are best served warm, on the day they are baked.
Lemon Yogurt Cheesecake
This tart and tangy cheesecake utilizes lots of lemon zest and juice for a punchy, bright flavor, plus Greek yogurt for a smooth, light texture that is irresistible. The filling is tucked into a straightforward graham cracker crust, but you could easily substitute an equal amount of gingersnaps for the grahams. Make sure to cool the cooked cheesecake in the oven, with the door slightly ajar, to help avoid cracks. (But if you do end up getting a few cracks, you can just cover them with whipped cream or fresh fruit and no one will be the wiser.) For impressively crisp-edged slices, run a knife under hot water and dry it in between cuts.
Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Galette
This savory galette has a secret layer of herbed goat cheese underneath a pile of sweet butternut squash, savory herbs and smoked paprika. The key is to slice the squash nice and thin, so it has time to bake through as the crust gets golden and crisp. Though you could use store-bought pie crust for this recipe (see Tip), the homemade crust is flakier and tastes much more delicious. If you are making your own crust, make sure to leave some time for it to chill and relax; it will be much easier to roll out and will bake up light and flaky. Serve the galette warm or at room temperature, with a green salad on the side.
No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
This no-bake cheesecake has a lot going for it: a buttery, lightly spiced cookie crust, fluffy pumpkin filling and a lofty spiced topping. Another draw: If you decide to make this for Thanksgiving, it won’t need any precious oven space — and can be prepared up to four days in advance. Feel free to substitute about 2 tablespoons of your favorite pumpkin spice blend for the spices in the cheesecake. The topping is optional, and you can also serve it on the side, instead of crowning the cheesecake. If you can’t find Biscoff cookies, use crunchy gingersnap cookie crumbs instead.
Sheet-Pan Pumpkin Pancakes
This light and fluffy pancake is a perfect fall breakfast for a group, and comes together much more quickly than cooking individual pancakes in a skillet batch by batch. You could even mix all of the dry ingredients together the night before to make this large-format pancake even faster. It is lightly sweetened and gently spiced with cinnamon and ginger, but feel free to add about 2 tablespoons of your favorite pumpkin spice blend instead of the cinnamon and ginger. Serve with butter and maple syrup for the full experience. A serving tip: If you cut the large-format pancake into 12 pieces, each piece is equivalent to one large pancake.
Grilled Harissa Shrimp
Harissa paste is a spicy North African condiment that is typically made from some combination of red chiles or peppers, garlic and a slew of fragrant spices, often including coriander and cumin. Here the paste is used alongside a bit of honey and lemon as a quick marinade for grilled shrimp. Prepared harissa varies quite a bit from brand to brand in its heat level, but this dish is meant to be punchy and spicy. Serve the grilled shrimp with rice or flatbread, or on top of a crunchy salad, and you’ll have an easy dinner sorted. Make sure that your grilling area is very well ventilated, as the paste will get quite smoky once it hits the hot grates.
Peach Crisp
Peach crisp is one of the joys of summer, and honey-sweet peaches need very little adornment, aside from this buttery crisp topping. Choose peaches that are just ripe for baking, as super-ripe peaches will turn into mush during this dessert’s long bake time. In this crisp, the peaches are peeled for the most luscious texture — and you can do so using a standard Y-shaped peeler (no need to boil a pot of water). That said, if you don’t have the time or energy to peel your peaches, you can leave them on for a slightly more rustic dessert. You may notice there aren’t any spices in this recipe, but vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg all pair very nicely with peaches.
Caramelized Zucchini and White Bean Salad
This flavorful and hearty salad makes use of one of summer’s most abundant vegetables, zucchini. You start with a big pile of shredded zucchini and onions, then might marvel at how much it cooks down as it browns and caramelizes. Next, you’ll toss that potent blend with creamy white beans and herbs to make an easy, flavorful side or main. The mint adds brightness, and it pairs well with other soft herbs, like parsley, dill and basil. The caramelized zucchini mixture makes a great base for bean salad, but it is so versatile it can be used in many other ways: Make a big batch and toss it with pasta, serve it on top of ricotta-slathered toast, or top a flatbread with it; you really can’t go wrong.
Charred Green Beans and Lemony Yogurt
Everyone needs a simple summer side dish formula and this one is very adaptable. Broil or grill a pile of bright, snappy green beans until just charred but still crisp-tender, then set over a bed of well-seasoned lemony yogurt. Top with a flurry of herbs plus a squeeze of lemon juice and you have the foundation for endless summer lunches and dinners. This recipe is equally delicious with broccoli florets, small peppers, sliced eggplant or halved carrots. You can char the green beans under your broiler or on a grill, but make sure to use a basket if you are grilling, otherwise the beans may fall through the grates. Serve the veggies and yogurt with a quickly grilled protein, like chicken, tofu, or shrimp, or simply with bread.
Orecchiette Salad With Halloumi Croutons
Crispy, salty, chewy cubes of sautéed halloumi add great texture and heartiness to this bright pasta salad filled with veggies, herbs and tomatoes. The tomatoes are marinated with red wine vinegar, oil, salt and pepper, which infuses them with flavor and helps them release their juices for the punchy dressing. Crunchy cucumbers, lots of fresh herbs and some optional arugula round out this hearty salad. When seasoning the pasta and vegetables, keep in mind that the halloumi is quite salty. This salad is best enjoyed the day it’s made, while the halloumi cubes are still warm.
Roasted Potato Salad With Lemon and Feta
Roasting the potatoes rather than boiling them gives this potato salad great texture and deep caramelized flavor. Potatoes are a great canvas for all sorts of flavors; this salad pairs them with creamy feta, briny olives, punchy pepperoncini, juicy tomatoes and lots of herbs for a bright twist on a classic picnic side. Take care not to season the potatoes too heavily with salt, as the feta and olives will add lots on their own.
Miso-Honey Chicken and Asparagus
This quick and easy sheet-pan meal is broiled instead of baked, which chars the marinade slightly on the chicken, browns the asparagus for maximum flavor and cuts the cooking time to around 10 minutes. The miso-honey mixture packs a punch, with lots of garlic, ginger and as much hot sauce as you like. It doubles as a marinade for the chicken and a sauce to spoon over the chicken and asparagus once cooked. Make sure to arrange the chicken thighs in a single layer, so they cook and char evenly, and keep an eye on the pan, as some broilers have hot spots. Feel free to substitute broccolini for the asparagus, and serve with steamed rice, if desired.
Herby Feta and Yogurt Dip With Sumac
This tangy and creamy dip is the perfect appetizer for a warm summer evening outside, and it makes a nice condiment for grilled meats and veggies, too. Fresh green herbs brighten up the salty feta, and sumac gives it another layer of flavor and a gorgeous pop of color. Choose a feta in brine over vacuum-packed, if you’ve got the option. Feta varies a lot in salt content, so you won’t see a measured amount of salt here; just taste the dip and add a bit if you think it needs it.
Muesli
Essentially oats soaked in fruit juice, or milk, with nuts and fruit, Bircher muesli has a long history, and enough versions floating around to prove it. The original was created in the early 1900s by Maximilian Bircher-Benner, a Swiss doctor. It consisted of oats, grated apple, nuts, lemon and condensed milk and honey, but over time, people have gotten creative with the formula. This version is a choose-your-own-adventure recipe that is great to make ahead in large or small batches. Some recipes call for apple juice or applesauce for moisture, but this version uses creamy Greek yogurt instead. Tahini adds richness, but substitute another nut butter or skip it all together if you’d rather. Swap out the nuts and dried fruit to suit your tastes and what you have. (Dates are especially nice.) Thin individual servings with more milk, if needed, then top with additional fresh fruit, nuts and a drizzle of maple syrup. It’s cool, creamy, chewy and crunchy all at once.
Chocolate Lava Cake for Two
Chocolate lava cakes gained popularity in the late 1990s thanks to the chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and they have stuck around on dessert menus for good reason: They are rich chocolate cake and velvety sauce all in one, and they are surprisingly easy to make in under an hour. If you like to plan ahead, you can prepare the batter a day in advance, refrigerate it, then pop the cake into the oven when you are ready for dessert. This recipe, made in a 10-ounce baking dish, is meant for sharing, but you can also make it in two 6-ounce ramekins. Just cut the baking time to 7 to 9 minutes. Also, be sure to use chopped chocolate bars or chocolate fèves rather than chocolate chips here. Chips are made with stabilizers that inhibit melting and will negatively affect the texture of your dessert.
Pumpkin Sheet Cake With Molasses Cream-Cheese Frosting
This simple, warmly spiced pumpkin cake is enough to feed a crowd, making it a perfect holiday treat. It's also relatively versatile: You can serve it in the pan for an easy presentation, or transfer it to a platter for something a little more refined. The frosting is just enough to coat the cake in a thin layer, but, if you want more, you may want to more for a generous coating. And, for a more subtly flavored frosting, substitute an equal amount of dark maple syrup for the molasses, or skip the molasses entirely for pure cream-cheese flavor.
Lemon Sheet Cake With Buttercream Frosting
This pleasantly zesty lemon cake is baked in a standard 9-by-13-inch pan, no layering or trimming required, and is easy enough to bake on a weekday. Cover the cake with casual swoops of fluffy lemon buttercream for the perfect teatime or anytime treat.
Spicy Ginger Applesauce Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
This simple sheet cake is packed with three kinds of spicy ginger: fresh, ground and crystallized. The cake is delicious on its own, but cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of crystallized ginger push it closer to dessert. The cake can be made a day in advance, covered and refrigerated and brought to room temperature before serving. The crystallized ginger should be sprinkled on just before serving as it will weep in the fridge.
Apple Sheet Cake With Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
This lightly spiced apple cake comes together in no time at all, and a few swoops of fluffy cinnamon cream cheese frosting dress it up for dessert. As written, this recipe yields a modest amount of frosting, so frosting lovers may want to double the recipe. Make sure to use fresh cinnamon for this recipe (and all of your fall baking) to get the best results.