Dinner
8856 recipes found
Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Spinach With Feta
A ho-hum sheet-pan of potatoes and greens this is not. Caramelizing sweet potatoes and wilting soft greens on a sheet pan is a smart way to cook two vegetables at once in this efficient and exciting recipe. There are bolts of pickled jalapeño, salty feta and scallions, but the pickled jalapeño brine is the key. It’s used like a spicy vinegar, seeping into the sweet potatoes to complement their flavor. To make it a meal, top with a fried egg or roasted Mexican chorizo, swaddle in a pita or tortilla with tahini or sour cream, spoon onto grains or brothy beans, or into omelets or frittatas. Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to a week.
Coconut Butternut Squash Soup
Once you’ve got the squash baked, this soup comes together quickly. The mellow flavors of squash, kale and red onions synergize delectably and look gorgeous together as well.
Saag Paneer
Saag refers to an Indian vegetable dish in which spinach or other dark greens are stewed with ginger, garlic, fresh chiles and spices until meltingly soft. As the name suggests, saag paneer includes paneer, a mild Indian cheese that is firm enough to cook without melting. The heat of the serrano chiles balances the creamy richness, but for a milder dish, remove the seeds before mincing the chiles. The fresh greens are finely chopped before cooking, to help them break down faster into a silky gravy. Thawed chopped frozen spinach can be used to save time, but make sure to drain well and squeeze out the excess liquid first. Finish the dish with a little heavy cream (or plain yogurt) to lend body and richness. Serve with steamed rice and/or Indian flatbread (such as naan). Any leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
Ramen Carbonara
If you have bacon, eggs and a pack of ramen noodles in the pantry, this quick dinner (or breakfast or lunch) comes together in a snap. The strategy: Cook the noodles in a Parmesan-rich broth in the same pan you use to cook the bacon. The clever cook who invented this is the novelist Stacey Ballis, a regular contributor to the breakfast blog Extra Crispy. Since ramen noodles are parcooked, they quickly soften and soak up the broth. (Stirring in eggs thickens it into a sauce.) If you use pancetta and good Parmesan, it tastes surprisingly like the Roman original. But it is always delicious and filling, and even more unctuous if you add a runny fried egg on top.
Hazelnut and Coriander Spiced Sous-Vide Salmon
Salmon and Tomatoes in Foil
Here is a simple recipe for salmon prepared en papillote (a fancy name for “in paper,” though like most everyone else these days, you will use aluminum foil). Layer salmon, tomato and basil on lightly oiled foil and wrap it all up — you can even do it a night before cooking. When the time for dinner comes, you can steam, grill, roast or pan-grill the packages — though our testing shows roasting is easiest. You can substitute almost anything comparable for each of the ingredients: salmon can be replaced by any fish steak or fillet, or by boneless, skinless chicken breast. The herb and vegetable can also be varied at will, as long as the vegetable will finish cooking at the same time as the protein: if you were cooking broccoli, for example, you would have to cut it into small pieces; if carrots, you'd have to parboil them.
Slow-Roasted Turkey With Apple Gravy
Padma Lakshmi likes big, bold flavors — spices and citrus especially — and infuses her Thanksgiving turkey with them. She prepares the bird over a bed of herbs and produce, then uses those pan juices to create a fruity yet savory gravy. To keep the turkey moist, Ms. Lakshmi starts with a buttermilk brine, then roasts the bird at a low temperature to make sure it cooks through but doesn’t dry out. But first, an initial blast in a very hot oven darkens the turkey in spots thanks to the sugar in the buttermilk brine. A final basting and uncovered cooking in the oven helps even out the mottled skin and ensures a delicate crispness. You can garnish the platter with the fruits, vegetables and herbs used in the recipe or serve the bird unadorned.
Poached Eggs With Mint and Yogurt
Fresh eggs, whether purchased at the farmers’ market or taken from your own home coop, are a great start to any recipe that calls for eggs. This one is adapted from “The Fresh Egg Cookbook” by Jennifer Trainer Thompson and gives the eggs the unlikely partners of plain Greek yogurt and fresh mint. It’s served with pita or flatbread. A strange combination? You won’t think so once you’ve started to eat.
Zucca in Agrodolce (Sweet and Sour Butternut Squash)
Squash marinated in vinegar is prepared differently from region to region in Italy. In Sicily, an agrodolce (sweet and sour) marinade, along with thinly sliced garlic and fresh mint, enlivens the palate. Typically, the squash is pan-fried, but it works just as well baked in the oven, as done here. How much sugar you use depends on the zing of your vinegar and the sweetness of your tooth. Zucca in agrodolce is best served at room temperature, and it’s left to rest for just long enough so that the butternut squash soaks up the sweet and sour syrup. You can also make it a day in advance; just remember to it bring to room temperature before adding the final garnish of fresh mint and serving.
Vegetarian Mushroom Wellington
Classic beef Wellington is a technical feat in which a tenderloin is topped with foie gras or mushroom duxelles, then wrapped in puff pastry and baked. This vegetarian version is less exacting yet just as impressive. Seared portobello mushrooms are layered with apple cider-caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms, which are seasoned with soy sauce for flavor and bolstered with walnuts for texture. The rich mushroom filling is vegan, and the entire dish can easily be made vegan, too. Swap in vegan puff pastry, a butter substitute in the port reduction and caramelized onions, and an egg substitute for brushing the puff pastry. You can assemble and refrigerate the dish up to 1 day before baking it. Prepare the port reduction as the Wellington bakes, or skip it entirely and serve with cranberry sauce for a touch of tangy sweetness.
Braised Goat Leg in Obe Ata
Obe ata is my versatile, back-pocket Nigerian recipe. A bright purée of red bell peppers, onions, tomatoes and habaneros, this stew is the base of several dishes, such as jollof rice and stewed amaranth greens, and accompanies starchy mains as a sauce. This tangy recipe, enhanced by the lingering heat of habanero chiles, uses goat, but you can substitute lamb, beef or pork cuts of a similar size. Any large bone-in cut of meat will do, and will be coaxed into tenderness after a slow braise. The best way to serve this is right in the pot or on a large platter for guests to share, garnished with a mess of fresh herbs and citrus zest and served alongside steamed rice, jollof rice, fried plantains or crispy yam fries.
Ham Bone Soup
This hearty soup requires a good afternoon simmer, filling your house with the aromas of all things good and warming. The marrow imbues the broth with a silkiness and richness, and the kale is thrown in for color and health. You might want hot sauce, or not. Either way, a bowl of this is the kind of thing that cures what ails you.
Stracciatella Alla Romana (Roman Egg Drop Soup)
Tendrils of quickly cooked eggs, seasoned with cheese, nutmeg and pepper, float in a meaty stock in this traditional Italian soup. To avoid clumps that make the dish seem more like failed scrambled eggs than a delicate broth, pour the egg mixture into the hot stock in a thin stream, whisking as you go and promptly pulling it off the heat when done. In the dead of winter, when warmth is elusive and colds seem to be overtaking everyone, there's nothing better.
Pineapple Avocado Salsa
A sweet, fruity flavor and a mix of textures set this salsa apart. It goes great with salmon or just about any other fish. This is a sweet, fruity salsa, with a wonderful array of textures: juicy, sweet-acidic pineapple; soft, creamy and subtle avocado; and crisp and refreshing jicama, with everything set off by the heat of the chiles. The avocado gives a pale green cast to the mix. It looks beautiful with salmon and goes with just about any other fish, as well as with chicken or even fajitas.
Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Soup)
In Korean cuisine, kimchi is not only a condiment or pickle; it is also used as an ingredient in many cooked dishes. Kimchi soup, called jjigae, is a satisfying example. The fermented kimchi vegetables quickly provide deep flavor to the broth, so the soup can be produced in little more than half an hour. Aged kimchi, which is more intensely sour, is the preferred type to use. Surprisingly mellow, the soup is neither too spicy nor too salty. This version incorporates butter, an addition inspired by a recipe from Lauryn Chun, the founder of Mother-in-Law’s Kimchi and the author of “The Kimchi Cookbook.”
Italian-Style Tuna Sandwich
Though an American cook (or even a French one) usually adds mayonnaise to the bowl when dressing canned tuna for a sandwich, Italian cooks invariably anoint theirs with olive oil instead. Capers, olives and anchovy often join the festivities; here they are combined with garlic and parsley to make a zesty salsa verde. Choose the best quality Italian or Spanish canned tuna—the extra cost is well worth it. The other essential ingredient is freshly baked bread, like a good crisp baguette or crusty ciabatta roll.
Fresh Ham With Maple-Balsamic Glaze
Think beyond pink. Here is a recipe for a fresh ham — uncured, unsmoked, straight from the butcher — roasted slowly in the oven beneath a shower of salt and pepper, glazed with maple syrup and balsamic vinegar, and finished with a mixture of toasted pecans and candied ginger. It makes for a holiday centerpiece of some distinction, and marvelous sandwiches afterward. Those with access to good pork, free-ranging and fed well, with lots of fat, do not have to brine the meat before cooking. But if you’re picking up a supermarket ham, it is a good bet to do so.
Miso-and-Apple-Glazed Baked Ham
Vegetarian Chili With Winter Vegetables
I have made several versions of vegetarian chili; in some the beans take center stage, others are just as focused on vegetables. This thick, satisfying chili is equally focused on both. I particularly like the way the sweet flavor and comforting, creamy texture of the winter squash plays against the spicy flavors in the chili.
Pernil
Perhaps the best known and most coveted dish from Puerto Rico, pernil is a positively sumptuous preparation for pork shoulder. It’s marinated (ideally overnight) in garlic, citrus and herbs, then slow-roasted on high heat to achieve a crisp chicharrón, or skin. Traditionally, it’s prepared for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but for those of us in the diaspora, it’s made for most special occasions. Shoulder is also a relatively inexpensive cut of meat, and it yields a lot of servings, leading to exciting leftovers. This recipe is deeply indebted to the chef Maricel Presilla and her recipe in “Gran Cocina Latina,” her cookbook published in 2012. Her method is a foolproof way to get that chicharrón as well as tender meat that falls off the bone. It’s blessed by her brilliance. (Watch the video of Von Diaz making pernil here.)
Garlicky Beef Tenderloin With Orange Horseradish Sauce
The allure of beef tenderloin pulls hard. When properly cooked until the surface is seared to a glistening mahogany and the center is tender and running with beefy juices, it is one of the most regal, festive and delectable things a cook can serve. As a finishing touch, serve the meat with a pungent, creamy horseradish sauce that is shockingly easy to prepare.
Spiced Brown Lentils With Yogurt
In India, dal refers to a number of lentil-shaped legumes. They are served with rice and curries, and are usually soupy, unlike this thick rendition, which resembles refried beans in consistency. If you prefer a soupier dish, double the amount of liquid.
Quick-Braised Cod With Herbed Yogurt
In this blissfully easy weeknight dinner, cod and shallots are braised in butter and wine, then topped with an herbed, garlicky yogurt sauce. It’s fast, flavorful and comforting, especially when served with mashed potatoes to drink up the pan juices. You can substitute any other mild-fleshed fish for the cod. Hake, sea bass, flounder and porgy all work nicely, though you may have to adjust the cooking time, depending on the thickness of the fillets.
Turkey Potpie
No one knows when people started making pies, but they were common in medieval Middle Eastern and European cooking. “The Oxford Companion to Food” speculates that the English word may come from the word “magpie,” because magpies collect random items in the way a pie often houses varied ingredients. It’s appropriate, then, that this pie is here to accommodate your Thanksgiving leftovers: turkey, of course, but also leftover roasted squash or sautéed mushrooms in place of peas, chop up half a rutabaga instead of carrot and celery, or a stray leek or shallot instead of onion. Any fresh soft herbs can go in the biscuit topping. For an even simpler version, use canned biscuits arranged on top of the filling as the crust, or defrosted puff pastry with a vent cut in the middle. For a more assertive flavor, use the larger amount of mustard.