Dinner
8856 recipes found

Arancini
There’s no way around it: To make arancini, you have to make risotto, although you could also use any kind of leftover risotto, as long as the mixture isn’t loose from excess liquid. This recipe employs a simple base of Parmesan risotto that is chilled, rolled, breaded and fried, but the classic version starts with saffron risotto, which explains the Italian name arancine, or little oranges, named for their shape and hue. Simmering risotto and frying the arancini are simple tasks, but the step in between is crucial: Do not skimp on chilling your risotto. If it is not properly chilled, it will fall apart in the hot oil instead of forming crisp, glistening, orbs filled with molten cheese. Serve these arancini with warmed tomato sauce or even pesto, and crown them with a flurry of gremolata or plain lemon zest for brightness.

Vegan Jollof Rice
The chef Tunde Wey is based in New Orleans, but he was born in Nigeria, where jollof rice is a well-loved dish. The rice is cooked in a flavorful tomato and pepper purée; his version is vegan, and laced with chile heat.

Squash and Celeriac Quinoa Stuffing
Vegans and non-vegans will enjoy this twist on a traditional stuffing, where quinoa replaces the bread and butternut squash, celeriac and hazelnuts add the flavors of fall. Amber St. Peter of Long Beach, Calif., submitted this recipe of which she says, “It’s hearty without the bread or gluten, and flavorful without a bunch of processed ingredients. It was a crowd pleaser the first year, and will be a permanent fixture at our table for years to come.”

Jollof Rice
A successful batch of jollof rice requires a few key ingredients (tomatoes, peppers, onions, a few herbs, spices and some stock) and a perfect sauce-to-rice ratio, so the cooked grains remain separate. I have found that the best, no-fuss way to do this is in the oven. Jollof is typically made with long-grain rice, though in Nigeria, parboiled rice is the norm. Most jollof is prepared over an open flame or on a stovetop. Missing from this oven version is the slightly smoky flavor you get from the little bits of rice that have browned on the bottom of your pan, but that’s nothing a pinch of smoked paprika can’t fix. Serve with braised goat or other stewed meats, and a side of fried plantains.

Hearty Quinoa and White Bean Soup
Soup doesn't have to be loaded with meat to be deeply satisfying. This one from Mary McCartney, devoted vegetarian, cookbook author and a daughter of Paul, is proof of that fact. Quinoa adds a lovely bit of texture, and beans – practically any variety will do – add heft and a wonderful creaminess as they break down in the broth. This recipe begs to be tampered with, so feel free to add more beans, vegetables, quinoa or fresh herbs. One reader even added a few cups of cooked pasta. It's almost impossible to mess up, so don't hold back.

Norinj Pilau (Rice With Candied Orange Peel, Saffron and Lamb)
The sour orange, unlike the sweet orange, is too tart to eat straight. But the peels, when cooked, lend a bright tang and profound fragrance. To make norinj pilau, a celebratory Afghan dish of lamb and rice, Shazia Saif Naimi recruits her husband, Asadullah Naimi, to harvest sour oranges from their backyard. He cuts the peels into skinny strips using a razor blade and brings them to a boil three times, to make sure that most (but, crucially, not all) of the peels’ bitterness is leached out. Then he stirs in sugar, saffron and cardamom, and the scent of honey and white flowers expands through the house. Ms. Naimi braises the lamb and soaks the rice, massaging the grains to release the starch. At the end, lamb and rice are mounded together in a platter of abundance, with one cup of rice — simmered separately with the orange-peel syrup — spread over the top like spilled sun.

Red Quinoa Salad With Walnuts, Asparagus and Dukkah
I had initially envisioned a salad in which the asparagus was cut into short lengths and tossed with the quinoa. But the colorful asparagus got lost in the quinoa, and since I love the look of the bright green asparagus against the red grain (O.K., “pseudograin”), I remade this and garnished it with the steamed asparagus. The quinoa, tossed with chives, parsley, walnuts and a lemony vinaigrette, is sprinkled with dukkah before serving, a surprising touch.

Sabzi Polo (Herbed Rice With Tahdig)
Cooked in two stages, this herbed rice, or sabzi polo, is a constant at the Persian New Year table, where everyone fights over the crust of crisp rice called tahdig. You can use a food processor to chop the herbs if you like. It's key to do the herbs in batches (don't overfill the bowl of the processor), to pulse rather than run and to stop and scrape a few times for even chopping. Work until the pieces are nice and small, about an eighth of an inch or the size of a small sunflower seed, but not so far that they begin to break down and form a paste.

Three-Cheese-and-Mushroom Quinoa Risotto

Quinoa With Roasted Winter Vegetables and Pesto
This combination of sweet vegetables with pungent pesto is great for a simple grain and vegetable bowl.

Risotto
Creamy and complex, classic risotto requires only a handful of simple ingredients to transform into a luxurious meal. In this most basic version, the dish is finished with just enough butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano to add rich creaminess while still allowing the rice flavor and texture to shine. Though it’s delicious on its own, this dish can serve as a blank canvas. For quick, easy upgrades, stir in 1 cup of frozen peas or 1 pound of cleaned shrimp during the last few minutes of cooking, or top the risotto with whatever cooked seasonal vegetables you desire.

Excellent White Bread
This straightforward loaf is the white bread of your dreams, and its fluffy slices make for evenly browned toast. The 1/3-cup of sugar makes this mildly sweet and perfect for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but you can cut it down to 2 tablespoons if you’d rather have something more neutral in flavor. You do need some sugar, however, to feed the yeast and ensure a lofty rise. This recipe makes two loaves, one for now, and one for the freezer or to share with a lucky friend.

Vietnamese-Style Soup With Broccoli and Quinoa
Here, Ms. Shulman adds a high-protein grain to her vegetarian pho broth instead of traditional noodles. The broccoli is thinly sliced and steamed or blanched separately.

One-Pot Turmeric Coconut Rice With Greens
No matter how you modify this one-pot rice, it can’t help but simultaneously comfort and enliven: The rice is cooked with turmeric, black pepper and rich coconut milk, which is all brightened by a mix of coconut, sesame seeds and lime. The greens, which conveniently cook on top of the rice, can be swapped out for anything that steams in 10 minutes, such as frozen peas or edamame, green beans, broccoli, grated carrots or sliced fennel. While a meal all on its own, this rice would also be great accompanied by tofu, white fish, chicken thighs or stewed black beans. Prepared as written, this dish has a relatively pure, mild flavor, so if you want more oomph, add more turmeric and saffron and season with plenty of salt and pepper as you cook.

Baked Rice With White Beans, Leeks and Lemon
Baking is a fail-safe, hands-off method for making perfect rice every time. Add roasted leeks, lemon peel, almonds and white beans, and it becomes a company-worthy vegetarian dinner inspired by prasorizo, the classic Greek rice-and-leek dish. Finished with Parmesan and fresh herbs, it's an excellent one-pan meal, but it would also be great served alongside grilled fish, shrimp or chicken. If you like, you can make it even more filling by adding other vegetables like tomatoes, zucchini or broccoli florets with the leeks and almonds, or stir in spinach, arugula or sliced snap peas after it comes out of the oven in Step 4. Omit the Parmesan and it’s vegan, too.

Speedy No-Knead Bread
The original recipe for no-knead bread, which Mark Bittman learned from the baker Jim Lahey, was immediately and wildly popular. How many novices it attracted to bread baking is anyone’s guess. But certainly there were plenty of existing bread bakers who excitedly tried it, liked it and immediately set about trying to improve it. This is an attempt to cut the start-to-finish time down to a few hours, rather than the original 14 to 20 hours' rising time. The solution is simple: use more yeast.

Crisp Quinoa Cakes With Almonds, Rosemary and Dijon

Spiced Yellow Lentils with Quinoa
This lentil dish is inspired by Mark Bittman’s revelatory article and dal recipes that ran in The New York Times Magazine on Dec. 2, 2012. I didn’t have a fresh green chile in the fridge so I used a little cayenne instead to spice it up. I wanted to introduce some color so I added half of a red bell pepper that was in my refrigerator to the mix. I am making the cilantro optional because I didn’t have any even though normally I would have used it; the dish was fine without it.

Green Bean Salad With Lime Vinaigrette and Red Quinoa
This is a green bean salad with quinoa as opposed to a quinoa salad with green beans. Red quinoa is secondary to the green beans here. The two ingredients provide a colorful contrast. The salad is alive with texture, the crisp-tender green beans with the crunchy almonds and the chewy, comforting quinoa. The flavors here are Mexican: lime juice, chile, cilantro, white or red onion. It’s simple to put together but the sum is complex.

Agege Bread
Agege bread is a soft but dense sweet white bread made from a rich, low-yeast dough. This dough will take its time to rise, but it can be prepared up to 1 day in advance and slow-proofed in the refrigerator, which will develop the dough’s flavor. This recipe fits a standard Pullman loaf pan, so it makes a lot. Serve the bread in nice thick slices alongside some obe ata and scrambled eggs, or butter and toast it to enjoy dunked into milk tea.

Quinoa Bowl With Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Eggplant and Tahini
There’s a lot going on in this satisfying grain bowl, topped with crunchy vegetables, a creamy lemon-tahini dressing and plenty of fresh mint. Feel free to substitute any cooked grain for the quinoa: Brown rice or millet would work just as well as a base for the roasted brussels sprouts with their blackened edges, and the soft, velvety eggplant. If you love tahini dressing, consider doubling it. Any left over will keep for a week in the fridge and can be used as a salad dressing or dip.

Oven-Roasted Salmon, Quinoa and Asparagus With Wasabi Oil
Seasoned oils like the wasabi oil I buy at my local specialty grocery can embellish a simply cooked piece of fish, a bowl of grains or steamed vegetables. Here the salmon is cooked in the oven, and the wasabi seasoned oil (mine is canola oil-based) is drizzled on just before serving. It’s served with quinoa, which you can also dress with the oil, and vegetables in season.

Whole-Wheat Seeded Loaves
This is a whole-wheat adaptation of Jacquy Pfeiffer’s seeded bread from “The Art of French Pastry.” The seeds and the flaked oats are soaked overnight before they’re mixed into the dough. This allows them to absorb moisture and softens them, so that the bread is wonderfully moist, and the seeds won’t be hard on your teeth when you bite. Soaking the seeds also breaks down phytic acid and protease inhibitors, which allows the nutrients to be more readily absorbed by the body. This is a two-day recipe, as you must allow time for soaking the seeds overnight.

Tartine’s Country Bread
The country bread from Tartine Bakery in San Francisco has reached cult status among passionate bakers, and deservedly so. Based on traditional principles, Mr. Robertson has developed a way to get a tangy, open crumb encased in a blistered, rugged crust in a home kitchen, from a starter you create yourself. It is a bit of project — from start to finish, it takes about two weeks — but well worth the effort. (If you already have active starter ready to go, then the process shortens to two days.) So know that you have to be patient, and that the nature of bread baking at home is unpredictable. The level of activity of your starter, the humidity in your kitchen, the temperature during the rises, the time you allow for each step — all of these elements affect the bread and any change can impact your final loaf. But that final loaf is a wonder, the holy grail for the serious home baker.