Dinner
8856 recipes found
Tomato and Ginger Braised Tofu
Tomatoes and tofu may not be an obvious pairing, but they belong together in this speedy braise. A brave amount of ginger provides a robust flavor foundation for this sauce, imparting verve. (If you’d like to increase the heat, you could add some crushed red pepper, too.) Halving the cherry tomatoes helps them break down faster, transforming them into a rich sweet, savory and tangy sauce in minutes. This recipe works any time of year: If fresh cherry tomatoes are unavailable, 28 ounces of canned cherry tomatoes will also work. Pan-frying the tofu first makes the slices sturdier and locks in moisture, creating the perfect texture to carry and soak up the braising sauce.
Garlicky Shrimp Tacos
A nod to gambas al ajillo, the immensely popular Spanish tapas dish of garlic prawns, this recipe tucks garlic shrimp into festive tacos that can be on the dinner table in 30 minutes. There are very few ingredients involved, but they all pack a punch. The quick-cooking shrimp are seared and finished in olive oil that’s infused with lots of fragrant garlic and rich smoky paprika. Be sure to save the robust oil that’s left in the skillet and enjoy it drizzled over your tacos. Dress them up with crisp sliced radishes, creamy avocado, spicy pico de gallo and fresh, herbaceous cilantro, plus a final squeeze of lime to brighten all the flavors.
Crispy Gnocchi With Spinach and Feta
Inspired by the herbaceous and jaunty flavors of spanakopita, the savory, ever popular Greek pie, spinach and feta headline this textural gnocchi salad. The spinach is not cooked, but is simply massaged, which softens it while ensuring it maintains its leafy structure. Incorporating some feta to the spinach massage is a functional move — the salt in the feta helps to tenderize the leaves — but it also adds a hint of quiet luxury to this dish, as the leaves become coated with the creamy, briny cheese. Be heavy-handed with your herbs and lemon, as these bring boldness and freshness that play off the saltiness of the feta. Everyday shelf-stable gnocchi from your local supermarket is perfect for crisping in the pan; if you choose to use frozen variety, no defrosting is required.
Chłodnik Litewski (Chilled Beet Soup)
An ideal dish for peak summer, when hot meals seem unthinkable yet fresh produce is bountiful, chłodnik litewski is perhaps the best-known of the Polish chłodniki (chilled soups). Chłodnik litewski translates to Lithuanian cold soup, and reflects a time when Poland and Lithuania were under the rule of the same dynasty starting in the late 14th century, a period in which Polish cooking was influenced by Lithuanian cuisine and vice versa. It’s certainly the most eye-catching, with a lovely magenta hue that emerges when the roasted beets meet the kefir and sour cream to form the soup’s tangy base. It combines both cooked and raw ingredients — you’ll need to roast some beets and boil some potatoes and eggs — and is best prepared in advance, ready for easy assembly. (For the most vibrant pink color, be sure to refrigerate the soup overnight, as the color deepens with time.) Beets and their greens lend an earthy note, and fresh cucumbers and radishes provide a satisfying crunch. A tangle of fresh herbs and vegetables and a soft-boiled egg on top complete the dish.
Tomato Curry
If tomatoes are spilling from your larder, “this curry reigns supreme as the most delicious way to make a dent in the basket,” writes the farmer and cook Julius Roberts in his cookbook, “The Farm Table” (Ten Speed Press, 2024). A slow, steady cooking process, starring whole roasted tomatoes, is part of this curry’s promise, so take your time frying down the onions in the base, until they’re properly sweet and tender. Mr. Roberts says he drew inspiration from South Asian curries, in which you temper whole spices in oil to enjoy their musky fullness. It’s different than using just ground, though a little turmeric pigments the sauce gold, as in a Kerala-style egg curry. Marry those lovely flavor bases with plush coconut milk and the natural juices from the tomatoes. Serve over brown rice, with a leafy blanket of fresh cilantro and fried curry leaves.
Maryland Crab Soup
While the exact origins of Maryland crab soup are unknown, the recipe is rooted in folk tradition, likely learned from Indigenous people, and changed over time depending on what was available and in season. You’ll find different recipes on menus in restaurants and homes throughout the Chesapeake Bay area, but you can usually assume the tomato-based soup is likely to contain corn, beans, peas and tomatoes. Seek out Maryland blue crab meat, prized for its sweetness thanks to the time the crustacean spends swimming in the brackish waters of the bay. While stock always adds a more robust flavor to soups, water will work fine as well for this hearty, vegetable-heavy recipe.
Peel and Eat Shrimp
This quick peel and eat recipe yields plump, juicy, extraflavorful shrimp by gently poaching shell-on shrimp in a combination of beer, butter and spices. Starting the shrimp in the cold poaching liquid allows them to cook gradually and evenly as the liquid heats up. A simple combination of beer, butter, celery salt, cayenne and paprika builds flavor, but feel free to substitute your favorite seafood seasoning to flavor the poaching liquid. By deveining the shrimp, you’ll remove the digestive tract and create an opening along the back, which makes them easier to peel once cooked. Peel and eat the shrimp while they’re still warm, dipping them in drawn butter or cocktail sauce, or cool them down and enjoy them cold, as you would for shrimp cocktail.
Charcoal-Grilled Corn With Honeyed Goat Cheese
The taste and appearance of corn grilled directly over a charcoal flame is unparalleled. The kernels become bright yellow, firm and plump, both smoky and sweet, speckled black, with bits of char. To make them even more stunning, the ears are coated with a sweet, tangy goat cheese spread that melts into every crevice, a fun, welcome alternative to simply basting cobs with butter.
Ham and Cheese Slab Quiche
Thinner and creamier than most, this quiche embraces the best parts of the ideal croque-monsieur, the perfect mingling of cheese, ham and Dijon between slices of bread. The Gruyère melds with the custard into a pseudo Mornay sauce, while the buttery, crisp puff pastry replaces toast to rich effect. The zippy acidity of the Dijon is essential to balancing the richness of this quiche; it cannot be skipped. The ham is equally non-negotiable, providing a meaty heft that grounds all the creamy, cheesy goodness. Assembled on a baking sheet, this dish is built for entertaining, but you don’t need to wait for a group to enjoy this. After it cools, slice it into slabs and store it in the fridge, if you’d like to savor it for one. It is delicious cold for a quick afternoon snack, but be forewarned: You might end up indulging in multiple slabs and ruining your dinner.
Parmesan-Crusted Chicken
These crunchy, cheesy breaded chicken breasts are baked, not fried, making for hands-off cooking and easy cleanup. Instead of relying on a typical three-part dredge — with flour, eggs and bread crumbs — this recipe uses mayonnaise to help the bread crumbs adhere to the chicken. The mayonnaise does the job beautifully, adding flavor and moisture in the process. Tossing the panko-Parmesan mixture in olive oil helps the bread crumbs brown in the oven, mimicking the crisp texture of a fried cutlet but with way less oil. Serve with a simple green salad or your favorite sauce for dipping, as these breaded chicken cutlets are essentially large-format, dinner-friendly chicken tenders.
Golden Diner’s Tuna Melt
This tuna melt, which was adapted from Sam Yoo, the owner and chef of Golden Diner in New York, is almost more about the textures than the tuna: Two slices of rye bread, crisped in butter and adorned with melted American cheese, sandwich a hefty scoop of tuna salad and a fistful of salt-and-vinegar potato chips. The sandwich will crunch, audibly, as you smash it together, and again between your teeth as you eat it. But the tuna salad is equally memorable: Reminiscent of the flavors of a Big Mac, its tangy, mayo-based sauce gets a hefty dose of acidity from minced bread and butter pickles, mustard, vinegar and Tabasco. This tuna melt eats like a tuna grilled cheese and proves that the best sandwiches are all about contrast: hot and cold, buttery and tangy, crispy and creamy.
Creamy Cajun-Spiced Chicken Pasta
A little spicy, a touch sweet and incredibly rich, Cajun-style chicken pasta is a modern take on chicken Alfredo inspired by the bold flavors of Cajun cuisine, integrating bell peppers, scallions and a heat-forward spice blend into the creamy sauce. The origin of this dish is a bit unclear — it’s not a traditional Louisianian dish — but it’s become a cult classic, with several national chain restaurants featuring versions on their menu and even more copycat recipes. For this version, chicken breasts are rubbed with a Cajun-style seasoning (see Tip) and browned in the same skillet that’s later used to build the sauce. A big squeeze of lemon juice and chopped tomatoes help perk up the pasta. For extra acidity and heat, drizzle with Louisiana-style hot sauce at the table.
Creamy Cajun-Style Chicken Pasta
A little spicy, a touch sweet and incredibly rich chicken pasta is a modern take on chicken Alfredo inspired by the bold flavors of Cajun cuisine, integrating bell peppers, scallions and a heat-forward spice blend into the creamy sauce. The origin of this dish is a bit unclear — it’s not a traditional Louisianian dish — but it’s become a cult classic, with several national chain restaurants featuring versions on their menu and even more copycat recipes. For this version, chicken breasts are rubbed with a Cajun-style seasoning (see Tip) and browned in the same skillet that’s later used to build the sauce. A big squeeze of lemon juice and chopped tomatoes help perk up the pasta. For extra acidity and heat, drizzle with Louisiana-style hot sauce at the table.
Cold Tomato and Kimchi Soba Noodle Soup
When the coolness of gazpacho meets the punchiness of kimchi, magic happens. The result is a cold soup that is alive with freshness and rich with layered flavors that belie its ready-in-minutes preparation. The fruity tang of tomatoes and the mild vegetal sweetness of cucumbers are emboldened by the sour heat of kimchi. The soup serves as the perfect base for nutty soba, a noodle that always performs exceptionally well when served cold. If you don’t have soba, try rice, egg or wheat noodles. The soup could also be consumed noodle-free, served with crusty bread for a simple and quick meal that deeply satiates. If you like, top with extra kimchi and, on extra-hot days, dot with a few ice cubes.
Garden Salad
This simple salad works well as a side for almost any main dish and is an excellent way to use up whatever fresh vegetables you have on hand. You’ll end up with a delicious, well-balanced salad as long as you combine mild, crunchy items, like tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, with more intensely flavored ones, like radishes and raw onion. Homemade balsamic, ranch or your favorite bottled dressing will all work well here, but do wait to dress the salad until right before serving for best results.
Tomato and Cottage Cheese Salad
In this deviation from a Caprese salad, slices of heirloom tomatoes are topped with dollops of cottage cheese and layered with red onions, olive oil and tender herbs, plus a savory spice blend inspired by everything bagels. Cottage cheese is a great blank canvas ingredient that plays well in sweet and savory applications, adding creamy richness to this tomato salad. Serve it up with grilled French bread at dinnertime or toasted bagels for a sunny summer brunch. Like most summer cooking, this dish is adaptable: Feel free to swap out the spice blend for your favorite textural alternative; try dukkah or za’atar.
Chopped Salad With Everything Bagel Croutons
This salad is somewhat of a New York style fattoush. Bagel pieces are tossed with olive oil, nuts and everything seasoning, then toasted in the oven to make supersavory, crunchy croutons. These are tossed through a green chopped salad with crispy lettuce, green bell pepper, scallions, cucumber, herbs and a zingy lemon dressing. The salad is rounded off with a base of tahini yogurt, adding a creamy, tangy finish that ties everything together. Perfect as a light lunch or a unique side dish, this salad is both wholesome and indulgent, offering layers of textures and flavors in every bite. Whether you’re a fan of bagels or crisp, textural salads, this recipe is sure to become a new favorite.
Harissa Puttanesca With Toasted Almonds
Pasta puttanesca, a classic Italian dish, gets a vibrant makeover with the addition of harissa, a spiced North African chile paste. In this version, harissa replaces the usual crushed red pepper, adding a smoky depth and complex warmth. Olives, anchovies and capers, classic puttanesca ingredients, deliver their signature briny punch, while toasted almonds add a satisfying crunch and a welcome protein boost. Perfect for busy weeknights, this dish made with pantry staples is both flavorful and comforting. While the recipe calls for spaghetti, any other type of long pasta will work just as well.
Corn Ribs
For a more novel approach to corn on the cob, these corn ribs are a fun, flavorful way to eat the juicy summer staple. Shucked ears of corn are quartered, coated in a barbecue-inspired spice blend, charred on a grill and tossed in butter. As they cook, the corn ribs curl, resembling pork ribs, thus earning their name. (They’re also eaten similarly, as the cob functions similarly to the pork bone.) A fair warning: Preparing corn ribs takes patience and a very sharp knife. The cobs should be patted dry before slicing, as slippery kernels will create even more instability for the tall, teetering cobs. Reach for a large chef’s knife, if you’ve got one, and make sure it’s newly sharpened for easier (and safer) slicing. Use a rocking motion to slowly slice through the center of the cobs — and don’t rush it. Serve the corn ribs as is, or with a creamy, spicy or herby dip.
Eggplant Lasagna
Roasted eggplant takes the place of pasta in this veggie-heavy riff on traditional lasagna. All the other lasagna elements are here, including a spinach, herb and ricotta filling; marinara sauce; and plenty of Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. The result is a completely gluten-free dish that tastes every bit as hearty and comforting as a true lasagna, with a welcome brightness from the addition of lemon zest. This is by no means a difficult recipe, but there are several steps. To save time, you can roast the eggplant slices in advance and store them in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before assembling the lasagna.
Oven-Seared Salmon With Corn and Tomatoes
This one-pan dinner pairs browned fish with a colorful salad of charred corn, tomatoes, scallions, herbs and lime, proving that summer cooking is best when you get out of the way of the ingredients. The salmon develops a crisp crust without requiring a sear on the stovetop thanks to a light coating of mayonnaise and the direct scorch of the broiler. You won’t taste the mayonnaise; instead, it’s there to caramelize the salmon’s surface while insulating the delicate flesh. Corn kernels cook alongside just long enough to plump, sweeten and char in spots. The salmon and salad are a meal unto themselves, or you could accompany them with quinoa or garlic bread.
Alitcha Kik (Stewed Yellow Split Peas)
Genet Agonafer, chef owner of Meals by Genet, offers an array of dishes using a variety of legumes at her award-winning Ethiopian restaurant in Los Angeles. Alitcha kik is a comforting, protein-packed yellow split pea dish that is spiced and tinted with turmeric. Alitcha refers to a meat or vegetable stew prepared without berbere, the fragrant, chile-based spice mix widely used in Ethiopian cuisine. According to Ms. Agonafer, the foundation of most Ethiopian dishes is onion. To properly cook down the finely chopped onion, she quickly boils it and then cooks it in oil with crushed garlic and the rest of the ingredients. Yellow split peas need plenty of water to soften. Alitcha kik shouldn’t be too thick; add water as necessary for a creamy consistency. Alitcha kik is traditionally served with injera, but it also pairs well with rice or bread of choice.
Quick Injera
Assertively sour, injera is a spongy, round flatbread that serves as a nutrient-rich staple of the Ethiopian diet, as well as a serving plate and utensil. Preparing injera in the traditional method takes a lot of practice and just the right set of circumstances for the days’ long fermentation of the batter. This version uses 100 percent teff flour, but streamlines the fermentation process for the novice. It is not quite as sour and shortens the fermentation time with the addition of baking powder. The hallmark of a well-made injera is the “eyes,” the tiny holes that pop up on the surface of the batter as soon as it hits the hot pan. Ideally, you want many eyes to pop up on the top, plus a smooth surface underneath. (If you have eyes underneath, it’s a sign that your heat is too high.) The consistency of the batter should be somewhere between a pancake batter and crepe batter, and, ideally, you don’t want the injera to crack. You will need a 12-inch nonstick pan to mimic the mitad, the griddle injera is typically prepared on. Be patient and don’t worry if your injera is a little finicky at first. It can take some practice to get the heat and consistency just right. Place injera on a plate and spoon dishes such as alitcha kik, tikel gomen, shiro and doro wat on top. Tear off a piece of injera and scoop up its toppings.
Zucchini Fritters
Mildly flavorful zucchini tends to adapt to whatever ingredients the vegetable is paired with, and here, a heap of tender herbs and lemon zest brings out the best in this summer staple. Crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside, these fritters are relatively simple to assemble: grab a box grater and some other seasonal produce, including scallions and basil or dill, and heat up the skillet. You’ll need to make them in batches, but frying only takes a few minutes per side. A little baking powder in the batter provides rise for extra-fluffy fritters. Serve them as a party starter, with tzatziki as a dipper, or as a summer side to burgers or grilled salmon.