Appetizer
3523 recipes found
Charred Eggplant With Burrata and Fried Capers
When summer cooking feels like too much, the simple formula of grilled vegetables served with an herby dressing and a ball of burrata will get you through the season. Here, grilled or seared eggplant is bathed in an herbaceous, lemony caper-infused olive oil for a light dinner or side dish. Salt-packed capers work best, as they are generally larger and have a petal-like shape that opens up when fried, resulting in a crisp shell that is crunchy and salty (but, brined capers work, too). Make sure to dry the capers well before frying to prevent aggressive spitting when they hit hot oil. Fried capers are highly snackable, so consider making a double batch. Serve with bread, flatbread or, for something heartier, pasta.
Yakitori (Grilled Chicken Skewers)
Yakitori is Japanese skewered and grilled chicken that can use approximately 30 different chicken parts, from momo, or chicken thigh, to nankotsu, or chicken cartilage. This recipe calls for marinating chicken thighs, gizzards and livers in a savory-sweet sauce of ginger, sake, mirin, soy sauce, garlic and a touch of brown sugar, grilling or broiling, then scattering with chopped scallions. Serve it alongside something fresh and green, like a cucumber salad, and a pile of rice.
Grilled Vegetables With Spicy Italian Neonata
Summer squash, bell peppers, eggplant and greens are the stars of this greenmarket grill party. The spicy vibrant finishing sauce is inspired by Calabrian neonata, a preserved condiment made with hot peppers and baby fish. The condiment is often drizzled onto pasta, pizza or grilled bread. Here, briny anchovies, salami and olives season the sauce with salty, meaty notes to contrast with the spicy pickled cherry peppers and cool, crunchy celery. The fiery, tangy dressing, which can be made a few hours ahead, provides a lively boost for the smoky, tender veggies. Leftover neonata keeps for a week and makes a great sandwich topping the next day.
Corn on the Cob With Old Bay and Lemon
If you’ve had the pleasure of eating your way through a bucket of Maryland blue crabs poured out onto newspaper, you’ve probably had Old Bay seasoning. It’s a blend of celery salt, black pepper, crushed red-pepper flakes and paprika, and any member of its fiercely loyal Mid-Atlantic fan base will tell you that it should be present at any proper crab or shrimp boil. In this recipe, you get lots of that seaside flavor without having to source fresh blue crab.
Bricklayer-Style Nachos
Bricklayer-style beef, or puntas al albañil, made with tender pieces of beef, salty bacon and sometimes chorizo in a chunky fire-roasted salsa, is a beloved taco filling in Mexico. Once a common snack available near construction sites in central Mexico, it became popular beyond street food stands, expanding into homes and restaurants over the years. Here it’s used as the foundation for nachos, topped with mounds of melted cheese, tangy queso fresco, creamy avocado and crunchy scallions for a hearty, delicious meal.
Stracciatella With Spinach
This light, classic Roman soup may be all you want to eat for a few days after Thanksgiving. It’s traditionally made with chicken stock, but why not use turkey stock instead?
Coconut Shrimp
No one really knows the origins of fried coconut shrimp, the crunchy, breaded kind that’s served in chain steakhouses and beachfront restaurants, but its roots are likely found in the tiki bar culture, which was all the rage in the United States after World War II, when access to tropical produce like coconuts and pineapples became an everyday thing. Using egg whites instead of whole eggs and cornstarch instead of flour yields shrimp that are simultaneously crunchy yet light, and go just as well with piña coladas as they do with Champagne. We paired ours with a simple spicy-sweet dip made with marmalade, Dijon mustard and Sriracha, but you can also serve them with store-bought sweet chile sauce.
Yucatan Shrimp
This is a dinner to evoke deep summer, when the heat lies heavy even at dusk and humidity wraps you like a blanket: shrimp tossed in garlic butter made fiery with Indonesian sambal and jalapeño, cut by lime, fragrant with cilantro. It is a kind of scampi for the sun-kissed and sun-desirous alike, a vacation on a plate. Add a mojito and a couple of beers. The recipe comes out of southwest Florida, from Doc Ford’s Sanibel Rum Bar and Grille, a restaurant that sits off the road that runs slow and sultry along Sanibel Island toward Captiva, past the placid, russet waters of Tarpon Bay. Randy Wayne White, one of the owners, named the place after the fictional protagonist of his mystery novels. The air smells of salt and mangrove there, of tropical rot and fresh-cut grass. He graciously sent along a recipe, which we adapted for use at home, in 2010.
Brown-Butter Shrimp With Hazelnuts
Shrimp is an ideal weeknight ingredient, for both its versatility and its quick-cooking nature. This one-skillet meal pairs sweet shrimp with crunchy hazelnuts that are toasted in oil to awaken and refresh their rich, nutty flavor. Browned butter infused with garlic gently cooks the shrimp, keeping them tender and juicy, and a final addition of lemon juice turns the mixture into a tangy, rich pan sauce. Leftovers can be tossed with greens for a quick and satisfying salad, or used for a seafood-based fried rice.
Poached Shrimp With Thai Basil and Peanuts
This quick shrimp salad is garnished with roasted peanuts for crunch. You can serve it on crisp lettuce leaves for an impressive presentation, but cucumber rounds also make a fine conduit.
Mark Bittman’s Shrimp In Green Sauce
Green sauce means different things to different cooks, but I like the Iberian interpretation best. It draws its color from parsley and its impact from chilies, scallions, and, mostly, garlic. I find it difficult to use too much garlic here, and have never really reached the outer limit; my recipe calls for six cloves, but twice that amount is not unreasonable. Shrimp is the perfect candidate for this green sauce: it can withstand high heat, it gives off some juices while it cooks, and its pink hue is absolutely gorgeous when surrounded by the flecks of green. This dish won't take you much more than half an hour. And although it's a perfect week-night meal, divided into eight it makes an impressive starter for a dinner party.
Zucchini and Carrot Fritters With Yogurt-Mint Dip
These crispy fritters, which Melissa Clark developed for her picky daughter, are also an ideal cocktail accompaniment. Hot, salty and crunchy: They can be devoured in one or two bites. To make them, combine shredded or diced carrots and zucchini, lemon zest and scallion with a light batter of flour, egg, milk, coriander and pepper. Let them rest for a half-hour so the vegetables can soften, then drop the battered vegetables by the spoonful into the oil and fry until golden all over. Sprinkle with salt and serve with a creamy dip of yogurt, mint and garlic, and watch them disappear.
Hobak Jeon (Pan-Fried Zucchini)
The chef Peter Serpico learned how to make hobak jeon, battered and fried slices of zucchini, by watching his mother-in-law cook. After her granddaughter was born, she would often trek from Queens, N.Y., armed with groceries and Korean recipes, to Mr. Serpico’s Philadelphia apartment. This recipe is inspired by her simple yet satisfying jeon and appears in “Learning Korean,” a cookbook chronicling Mr. Serpico’s journey with Korean food as an adoptee. There is one twist in his recipe: He adds a fish sauce to the batter, which gives the zucchini a salty depth.
Shrimp and Avocado Salad With Citrus Vinaigrette (Camarones a la Vinagreta)
Versions of seafood “coctel” are found around the Caribbean, usually with ketchup as a base for the sauce. In this recipe adapted from Von Diaz's “Coconuts and Collards” cookbook, the tomato and onion are part of the salad, and the dressing is based on citrus and olive oil, plus a bit of mustard to make it creamy. It’s a refreshing and satisfying dish for hot weather, perfect with a cold beer at the end of a long summer day. Diced avocado makes the dish more filling, but it is optional.
Zucchini Carpaccio
Raw zucchini has a fresh, green flavor that is lost when the vegetable is cooked. Excellent olive oil and fresh lemon juice make the perfect dressing to bathe the slices in; the acid softens and flavors the zucchini. After the nuts and/or herbs, the garnishes are all optional. Try them in any combination, or play around with others: cracked black pepper, crushed pink peppercorns or crumbled dried chiles.
Zucchini and Tomato Tartlets With a Cheddar Crust
These individual tartlets have a Cheddar-spiked, buttery crust holding a filling of honey-drizzled roasted vegetables and creamy ricotta. You can use any roasted vegetables here, changing up the mix to suit the seasons. Late summer is perfect for some combination of zucchini, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and even corn. Then try the likes of winter squash, brussels sprouts and mushrooms in fall; cabbage, onions and other root vegetables in winter, and sautéed greens and asparagus in spring. If you’re planning ahead, you can make the dough up to five days in advance and roast the vegetables the day before (store them in the refrigerator). But do try to bake these on the same day as serving. They are at their best still warm.
Fettuccine With Zucchini
Beautiful, glossy zucchini from the farm stand are to be treasured. Here they are diced, sautéed until tender, bolstered with garlic, pine nuts and Grana Padano, and mingled with fresh pasta.
Lemony Zucchini Slaw
This salad of julienned zucchini is dressed in yogurt and tossed with a generous amount of lemon juice and zest. Use as many bright herbs as possible, or a single herb if you prefer, and chop them at the last minute.
Marinated Zucchini With Farro, Chickpeas and Parmesan
Zucchini’s a tricky vegetable, prone to mushiness. Here, we avoid those pitfalls: By pan-frying planks, you’ll get tender, rich insides with golden-brown exteriors. And when you pair these cooked pieces with delicate raw zucchini ribbons (don’t call them zoodles!) you’ll get just a glimpse of this vegetable’s full potential. A generous handful of arugula, and a bed of farro and chickpeas, fill out the rest of the meal. Cooking the chickpeas along with the farro may seem strange, but it will make the canned beans softer, creamier, and more flavorful than simply dumping them into the salad. For added crunch and flavor in every bite, roughly chop the zucchini noodles and the planks before tossing.
Greek Zucchini Fritters
These zucchini fritters are based on a recipe I learned from the cookbook author Diane Kochilas. A classic mezze served in Greek taverna, they’re like a Greek version of latkes.
Coconut-Stewed Bamboo Shoots With Shrimp (Ginataang Tambo)
Dressing seafood in coconut milk is a classic way of cooking it, writes Nicole Ponseca in her book, “I Am a Filipino.” Here, shrimp are quickly sautéed in a heady coconut milk sauce laced with onion, ginger and slivers of red chile. Slippery pieces of bamboo shoot (canned, or fresh if you can find it) add texture and a gentle earthiness.
Grilled Zucchini With Miso Glaze
This dish plays on the sweetness and fruitiness of plump zucchini. Scoring the flesh in a crisscross pattern creates crevices for the miso glaze to seep into while also allowing the heat to penetrate the zucchini. Cooked quickly on high heat, the squash maintains its shape and heft, with flesh that is just tender enough. Covering the zucchini with a lid during cooking locks in all the moisture, ensuring that it becomes juicy. A grill pan is ideal for achieving smoky char marks, but you could also use a regular skillet or cook it on an outdoor grill (see Tip). If you are cooking for a group, count on one zucchini per person. Serve this as a side dish or with rice for a simple, quick and flavorful meal.
Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes With Red Pepper Dressing
Zucchini’s inherent versatility is well known. It shows up in pastas, vegetable stews and can even be pickled. In this salad, thinly sliced zucchini is very briefly blanched, then paired with other summery ingredients and served at room temperature. Roast the red pepper yourself or use a quality brand from a jar.
Zucchini Frico
It may be daunting to imagine, but this dish is really quite simple. All you do is take some good hard cheese, grate it, spread it in a nonstick pan and let it melt until it turns golden. Montasio is traditional, but Parmesan, asiago or a young, not too salty pecorino will all work well, too, so use whatever you have. You can form frico into small individual crackers for neater serving, or you can make one large cracker the size of your pan and break it apart as you devour it. Frico on its own doesn’t need much embellishment. All it truly requires is a chilled cocktail or a glass of Italian white wine served alongside. But this one incorporates zucchini. First, I browned thin rounds of zucchini in olive oil, then I topped them with the cheese and let them cook. It took only five minutes, plus another minute or so to let the cheese crisp up after I turned it out of the pan.