Dinner
8856 recipes found
Grilled Watermelon and Feta Salad
I love watermelon and feta salad, whether the watermelon is grilled or not. The sweet, juicy watermelon against the salty, creamy feta and pungent onions is a winning combination. This version introduces heat — if you serve it right after grilling the melon (it isn’t a must) — and char. Throw the watermelon slices, with the rind, onto the grill after or before you’ve grilled your meat or fish or vegetables. Grill them on both sides until just charred, then cut away the rinds and dice up the melon for the salad.
Mushroom Burgers With Almonds and Spinach
These delicious vegetarian patties have a great texture because of the almonds and bulgur. Like other vegetarian patties, they can be a little tricky to turn when you brown them. If they break apart, just patch them together.
Cauliflower “Mac” and Cheese
Somewhere between macaroni and cheese, British cauliflower cheese and a cauliflower gratin is this burbling dish of tangy, creamy cauliflower. Cauliflower florets cut into noodle-size pieces step in for macaroni in this pasta-less macaroni and cheese; they’re roasted and draped in a mixture of melty Cheddar, heavy cream, garlic and cayenne. You could also add mustard, thyme or rosemary, or even caramelized onions, and swap out the Cheddar for Gruyère or another cheese. As the cauliflower cooks in the cream mixture, the cream thickens slightly and the cauliflower continues to brown. Serve it with a bright, crisp salad to offset the richness.
Mushroom Lasagna
This lasagna tastes very rich, even though it really isn’t. It combines an olive oil béchamel with a simple mushroom ragout and Parmesan cheese. I prefer no-boil lasagna noodles because they’re lighter than regular lasagna noodles. But I still boil them because I think the results are better if they’re cooked until they’re flexible (a couple of minutes) first.
Croque-Madame
This is a variation of Amanda Hesser’s croque-monsieur, a ham and Gruyere sandwich topped with béchamel. Here, we invite you to pop a fried egg on top. Voila! A croque-madame (reportedly named such because the egg resembles a lady's wide-brimmed hat).
Chicken Cacciatore
This classic Italian dish must have hundreds of versions, all resulting in a rustic braise of chicken, aromatic vegetables and tomatoes. My version includes lots of mushrooms, both dried and fresh. You can add kale to the dish if you want to work in some leafy greens (see variation below). You can increase or decrease the number of chicken pieces according to your needs. This stew freezes well; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator for the next night’s dinner. If the stew doesn’t thaw completely, heat gently in a casserole or use your microwave’s defrost function.
Wild Rice and Mushroom Casserole
This hearty mix of wild rice, creamy white beans and aromatic vegetables (spinach, leeks, fennel and mushrooms) makes a satisfying meatless main course or a very substantial side dish for Thanksgiving — and beyond. If you want to go all out, use some exotic mushrooms such as chanterelles, maitake (hen of the woods) or black trumpet, but a basic combination of cremini and shiitake mushrooms also works perfectly.
Spicy Corn and Coconut Soup
A good corn soup is creamy and naturally sweet; an even better corn soup is spicy, refreshing and addictive. In this recipe, it’s the combination of shallots, garlic, ginger, chiles and coconut milk, rather than heavy cream or butter, that makes the soup at once cooling and rich. It’s a dinner in a bowl (and a vegan one at that), but it would surely welcome a side of steamed rice or salad of leafy greens. To serve, add garnishes that are any combination of spicy (extra fresh chile or store-bought chile oil), crunchy (toasted coconut, chopped peanuts or cashews, fried shallots) or fresh (torn cilantro, chopped scallions), and it’ll be even more dynamic.
Sweet and Sassy Sweet Potato Pockets
This portable recipe was created by Kathy Patalsky, of Los Angeles. Ms. Patalsky came up with the recipe in college to bring to a family feast. “Since I love Thanksgiving, I didn’t want to miss out on any of my favorite dishes,” she said. “So instead of bringing multiple dishes and crowding the already crowded dinner table, I made these little gems. I wanted my entire vegan Thanksgiving meal stuffed inside a puffy pita pocket.”
Farro and Cauliflower Parmesan
This dish has all of the crispy-melty-tomatoey appeal of a chicken or eggplant Parmesan, but it uses only one pot. Olive oil provides richness, and broiling lends a cheesy crunch without the mess of breading and frying. The pizzalike flavors and mellow cauliflower make it a (potentially) kid-friendly meal. Feel free to omit the olives if that makes more sense for your family. In fact, this dish is highly customizable: Add more or less red-pepper flakes, throw in some capers or use broccoli rabe instead of cauliflower. Any salty, hard aged cheese will work in place of Parmesan, like asiago or pecorino. Leftovers are great crisped in the oven.
Mollie Katzen-Inspired Potato and Broccoli Burgers
The famed vegetarian cookbook author Mollie Katzen has a whole chapter devoted to burgers and savory pancakes in her beautiful cookbook “The Heart of the Plate.” Before I’d looked carefully at the chapter I’d bought a bunch of broccoli with the idea that specks of broccoli would be beautiful in a burger. Mollie, with her delicious Walnut-Coated Broccoli-Speckled Mashed Potato Cakes, was way ahead of me on that idea. I loved her idea of coating the burgers with ground walnuts and barely cooking the finely chopped broccoli before incorporating it into the mix. I’ve made a variation on Mollie’s burgers, using red potatoes, cumin and garam masala.
Whole Roasted Cauliflower With Almond-Herb Sauce
This striking dish has become a modern classic, as chefs around the world are working out new ways to push vegetables into the center of the plate. It makes a lovely vegetarian main course after a pasta intro, or a gorgeous side dish for lamb or fish. Omit the anchovies in the sauce, and it becomes entirely vegetarian; replace the butter with more olive oil, and it turns vegan. Try using pale orange, green or purple cauliflower, or a head of spiky, psychedelic Romanesco. Carve it at the table, just like a roast, for maximum impact.
White Beans au Vin
This recipe uses canned white beans in place of chicken for a quick and totally vegetarian riff on classic coq au vin. Mushrooms, red wine, Cognac and a splash of balsamic vinegar stirred in just before serving help this dish develop an impressive depth of flavor in just a short time. The quality of your vegetable broth makes a big difference here; use an organic or other good-quality brand for best results.
Lentil and Escarole Soup
The combination of legumes and bitter greens like escarole is common in southern Italy. Escarole is a bitter lettuce that looks a little bit like frisée but with wider, tougher leaves. It’s high in vitamin A and a good source of iron and potassium. This recipe is adapted from one in “Cucina Rustica,” by Evan Kleiman and Viana La Place. If you can't find escarole, you can substitute any hearty green.
Potato and Pea Patties With Indian Spices
The whole spices in this burger, adapted from the chef Suvir Saran, contribute not only amazing flavors, but texture as well. It's nice to use a combination of light-fleshed sweet potatoes, which go well with the spices, and starchy red boiling potatoes, which help hold the burger mixture together.
Lasagna With Tomato Sauce and Roasted Eggplant
This is a great do-ahead dish. I made two of them for a dinner party during a very busy week; I roasted the eggplant one day, made the sauce another, assembled the lasagnas quickly on the morning of my dinner party and refrigerated them until I got home about an hour before my guests were due to arrive.
Parmesan White Bean Soup With Hearty Greens
Whatever you do, don’t throw away your Parmesan rinds: Within those waxy rinds is enough rich umami and salty cheese flavor to carry an entire soup’s broth. Collect and store them in an airtight container in the freezer (or purchase a container of them at your grocery store). Once you have about 10 ounces of rinds, simmer them with aromatics as you would to make chicken or bone broth. (For an easier cleanup, enclose the rinds in cheesecloth or muslin.) Use the broth to make risotto or minestrone, a pot of beans or this soup, which combines beans and greens with the garlic and lemon rind from the broth. Use whichever beans and greens you like, and mop up every last Parmesan-y drop with a hunk of crusty bread.
Tamagoyaki (Japanese Rolled Omelet)
Tamagoyaki, a Japanese staple, is made by carefully rolling several thin layers of cooked egg into a rectangular omelet, which creates a soft and delicate texture. Traditionally, it’s made in a special tamagoyaki pan, but this version also works with an 8-inch nonstick skillet. There are sweet and savory variations, and this recipe falls somewhere in between the two: The soy sauce, mirin and dashi pack it with umami, while the sugar adds a subtle sweetness. The technique can be challenging at first, but do your best to keep each layer consistent in color and each fold parallel to the last. Don’t worry about little tears; they’ll be covered up with the next layer.
Kimchi Jjigae With Ribs
The world of bubbling jjigaes, or stews, is vast and varied. The most beloved might be kimchi jjigae, a pot of extra-fermented kimchi boiled in its own juices until mellowed and yielding. Pork belly, Spam and tofu are common protein additions, as are tuna and mackerel pike. In this version, baby back ribs lend both flavor and body to the broth and are fun to eat with your hands. In case your kimchi is less than ripe (it should taste sharp and funky), a couple of seasonings help fortify this jjigae’s flavor: Fish sauce adds savory depth, and maesil cheong (green plum syrup) lends rounded sweetness. And though watercress is not a traditional ingredient in kimchi jjigae, it is a favorite addition to this family recipe.
Braised Tofu in Caramel Sauce
This is a vegetarian take on a classic of Vietnamese restaurants, ca kho, or fish braised in caramel sauce. Here, tofu, firm and rich, absorbs the velvety sauce and heightens its flavor. Vietnamese caramel sauce — nuoc mau — is easier to make than you might think, though it can be a dramatic process. In essence what you’re doing is melting sugar in a pan, then allowing it nearly to burn and finally adding water and soy sauce in order to arrest the process at a dark and golden bittersweet flavor that is at the heart of Vietnamese cooking.
One-Pan Pork Chops With Feta, Snap Peas and Mint
Brawny and golden brown, these seared pork chops make a hearty one-pan dinner that’s rounded out by sweet sugar snap peas and loads of fresh mint. The feta, added at the end, melts into the pork and peas, spiking the sauce with its brininess. Be generous with the fresh lemon juice at the end; this rich dish gains a lot from the tang.
Turkey Tetrazzini
This classic turkey or chicken spaghetti casserole is rich with cheese and has a crunchy bread crumb topping. It was named after Luisa Tetrazzini, a famous Italian opera star at the turn of the 20th century. She enjoyed her fame with a flamboyant and generous public life, singing not only in opera houses but also for free on city streets: In 1910 she gave an outdoor Christmas Eve concert for a huge crowd in San Francisco. It’s unclear exactly how this particular dish came to be named after her — it was certainly meant as a compliment — but some accounts say it was her own recipe. The optional curry powder isn’t traditional, but it’s delicious, and a little added flair seems in the spirit of Ms. Tetrazzini.
Tomato-Fennel Soup With Brie Toasts
The childhood pleasure of tomato soup with a side of grilled cheese had been enshrined in my mind since I’d last had it, decades ago. A tart, bright tomato soup and a crispy sandwich with an oozing interior: no wonder they are an iconic match. This recipe, spiked with fennel and Pernod, is livelier and more sophisticated than your usual tomato soup. It has a more complex flavor, too, with the fennel bulb adding a pronounced sweetness, along with a very gentle licorice flavor brought out by the Pernod. Serve with slim croutons seasoned with fennel seeds and topped with Brie. (Here's a helpful tutorial on how to cut up fennel.)
