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Shami Kebab (Crispy Beef and Chickpea Patties)
Widely considered the Rolls-Royce of Desi kebabs, shami kebabs have a silky smooth, almost creamy texture, with a thin outer shell that forms at the time of frying, giving the kebabs structure. The key to achieving the crisp exterior and creamy interior is cooking well-marbled chunks of beef with spices and chana dal until tender, then running the mix through a food processor. This paste-like mixture is used to form round patties, slightly smaller than hockey pucks. You can dip them in egg and shallow-fry right away, or freeze them, uncooked, to enjoy later. Like samosas, they freeze well, so are often found side by side at tea time, quickly fried up as a snack for unexpected guests. They also make for excellent sides at lunch or dinner, especially on special occasions. Sandwich a leftover kebab or two in a potato roll, add ketchup and a fried egg for bun kebab, the ubiquitous Pakistani street food.
Easy Chickpea Salad
A bright zesty salad with crisp cucumbers and tender chickpeas inspired by the Levant, where chickpeas have been cultivated for millennia. Ready in a flash, this salad combines lemon and fresh aromatic herbs with a crunch and flavor that improves over time in the refrigerator, making it a great salad to bring to a picnic or potluck. Serve with warm pita bread, or spoon over rice. Instead of discarding the chickpea liquid (aquafaba), try making homemade vegan mayonnaise or even meringues. Leftovers keep beautifully for up to a week, and try this: mix in a touch of that homemade mayo for a delicious chickpea salad sandwich the next day.
Cilantro-Mint Chicken Lettuce Wraps
A Desi cilantro-mint chutney adds verdant, fiery flavors to tender shredded chicken in these herbaceous, tangy lettuce cups. The heat from the green chiles, warmth from the cumin and cooling sourness from lemon juice and Greek yogurt are stellar supporting acts for the otherwise everyday chicken breast, creating a chicken salad of sorts. Make the green chutney in advance and use any extra as an accent for other meals; it’s especially good with samosas, kebabs, fritters, on sandwiches, in yogurt and with any meal that includes rice and curry. Any leftover chicken salad is excellent for sandwiches or on its own.
Roasted Fish and Leeks Vinaigrette
This zippy sheet pan dinner takes inspiration from leeks vinaigrette, a French bistro dish in which leeks are boiled until tender and dressed with a mustard vinaigrette. Here, the leeks are roasted, along with some capers, for plenty of satisfying crunch and caramelized flavor. When the leeks are tender, the fish fillets are added right to the pan and roasted until tender and flaky. (A flaky white fish, like cod or halibut, or even salmon would work well here.) Finally, what brings this dish together is the quick, punchy vinaigrette made with whole-grain mustard, parsley, shallots and red wine vinegar. Spooned over everything before serving, it balances the richness of the roasted leeks and fish with just the right amount of acidity and freshness.
Adana Meatballs
These meatballs are a take on classic Turkish kebabs in which the ground meat mixture is usually skewered and grilled. Here, the mixture is bulked up with bell peppers and onions — which keeps the meatballs plump and moist — and spiced with cumin, then formed into orbs and baked for a quick weeknight or even party-night meal. The ground meat option is flexible: Using all beef is a great option, rather than using half beef and half lamb. (But don’t swap in ground chicken or turkey, because both have added water and the mixture will be too wet to form meatballs.) You can serve the spread of meatballs, garlicky yogurt and herb salad alongside warm pita bread for guests to make their own sandwiches, or with fluffy rice.
Jian Dui (Fried Sesame Balls)
Popular in bakeries and dim sum parlors in Chinatowns around the world, these sweet bean-stuffed fried sesame balls are a pleasure to snack on, their texture a cross between a warm donut and a gummy bear. But during Lunar New Year, jian dui take on a special significance. Some believe the golden roundness of sesame balls portends money and good fortune “rolling” into your household. Non-believers, fret not: These are easy to make and their crisp chewiness makes them a delight to bite.
Tinolang Manok (Chicken Tinola)
You could call tinola a chicken soup, but that is just a literal description for a dish that, in the Philippines, is more like a form of medicine. The writer Jill Damatac remembers her lola (grandmother) putting a whole chicken in the pot; in her own version, she bronzes thighs and drumsticks then submerges them in chicken stock and sets to a simmer. The broth’s depth comes from ginger, peppery malunggay (moringa) leaves and patis (fish sauce), standing in for salt. Chayote, kin to squash but as bracing as an apple, yields a clean, juicy bite. Be patient: The soup’s subtle flavor “does not bloom, soft and gentle on the tongue, until the second mouthful,” Ms. Damatac writes in her memoir, “Dirty Kitchen” (Atria, 2025). As a luxurious topping, she buys extra chicken skin from the butcher, crisps it and adds it to the soup at the last moment, for a satisfying shatter.
Baked Tofu
This recipe delivers crispy baked tofu that's perfect for salads, stir-fries, curries or rice bowls topped with sauce. Both firm and extra-firm tofu work well, though extra-firm has more bite. Since tofu quality varies significantly between brands, try a few to find your favorite. While you can press tofu between towels and weights, a tofu press makes the process easier if you cook tofu often. Skip lining the sheet pan here: Direct contact with the metal pan creates more crispiness. For a shortcut, freeze your tofu first to skip the pressing step entirely.
Pesto Chickpea Soup
If you constantly find yourself searching for the next no-fuss pantry meal to make after a busy day at work, this pesto chickpea soup is for you. It requires just a handful of ingredients and minimal effort; slicing two shallots is the most difficult thing this 20-minute recipe will require. The modest but mighty recipe relies on store-bought or homemade pesto as its main flavor source. The steps are as simple as can be: The shallots cook in the pesto’s fragrant oil until softened. Next, canned chickpeas are added to the pot and crushed, then simmer in vegetable broth until thickened. Finally, a second dose of pesto gets swirled in the stew alongside fresh spinach, preserving their radiance for a bright boost of flavor.
Pickle Lemonade
The tart, tangy flavor of pickles can be found across the food spectrum — from pickle-brined chicken to pickle soup and even pickle brine margaritas, it seems nearly everything is better with brine. It’s no surprise, then, that simple lemonade is improved with the addition of salty pickle brine, too. Balancing out the sweetness of lemonade’s sugar, it lifts the drink and makes it a bit more complex, with an unexpected yet familiar flavor profile. You might not immediately guess the secret ingredient, but it’s a pleasant surprise once revealed. Depending on what brand of pickles is used, adjust the flavors and add more pickle brine as you like; the level of lip-smacking tartness is up to you.
Italian Dressing
Ever-popular Italian dressing has endless commercial versions available, but you probably have everything you need to make it at home in your pantry. Here, earthy herbs, tangy vinegar and sweet honey are blended with the Italian culinary staples of garlic and olive oil, creating a perfectly balanced dressing that is ready to drizzle over a classic “pizza shop” salad of crisp romaine, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, olives and cubes of provolone, or soak into chunks of almost-stale bread, ripe tomatoes and sliced onions for a perfect panzanella salad. Of course, it can enhance much more than just salad. Use it as a marinade for chicken, drizzle it over roasted vegetables or toss it with pasta salad. Feel free to make your own Italian seasoning mix (see Tip) instead of buying it, and you can easily swap out the red wine vinegar for white wine or balsamic varieties.
Jalapeño Grilled Chicken Breasts
These might be the juiciest chicken breasts you’ll ever cook. The fresh, peppery, neon-green brine — imbued with fresh onion, jalapeños, garlic and sake — results in irresistibly succulent meat with the clearest, most straightforward pepper taste. Bolstered by the barbecue’s fire taste, this grilled chicken is great alongside freshly steamed jasmine rice and your favorite hot sauce. If you don’t have an outdoor grill, an indoor grill pan works well; just be sure to ventilate your space well by turning on the hood vent and leaving a nearby window or door open. If you’re cooking this on an indoor grill pan, feel free to cover any empty spaces with thickly sliced onion and extra jalapeños: This prevents the pan from scorching and also gives you a free vegetable side dish.
Atole de Grano (Savory Corn Porridge With Chicken)
Atole is often thought of as a sweet, drinkable corn-based beverage, but in parts of Mexico, it also refers to this hearty, savory porridge made with masa harina and hominy. This version, inspired by the traditional atole de grano, is thick, creamy and deeply comforting — perfect for showcasing the variety of textures and flavors that different forms of corn can bring. Here, sweet corn kernels and chewy hominy add dimension to the velvety base, while a topping of roasted chicken and caramelized poblanos brings savory depth. A final flourish of lime, chicharrones and hot sauce adds brightness and crunch. Quick to come together and endlessly adaptable, this dish is a warm embrace in a bowl.
Sotol Pepino
This refreshing drink doubles down on the earthy herbal complexity of sotol, a traditional spirit from Northern Mexico. When making this cocktail, be sure to muddle the cucumber and mint well. This ensures the final drink is infused with plenty of their bright, vegetal and herbal flavors — as well as a pretty green hue. A pour of blanc vermouth adds a touch of floral sweetness.
Sotol Cítrico
The bright, citrus-forward combination of sotol, grapefruit, lime and orange bitters adds a sweetly acidic punch that balances the herbal, earthy undertones of sotol, a traditional spirit from Northern Mexico. A few dashes of orange bitters underscore those citrus notes even further (and should you have another citrus-based bitter on hand, such as grapefruit or lemon, feel free to swap it in). Serve it up in a chilled glass just as written, or add a salt or Tajín rim for a welcome layer of texture and spice (see Tip).
Tanghulu (Candied Fresh Fruit Skewers)
This popular Chinese street food snack turns fresh fruit into a glossy, colorful candied treat. Tanghulu was originally made with hawthorn berries, a fruit popular in traditional Chinese cuisine and medicine. These days, more widely available fruit like strawberries, grapes and tangerines are the stars, skewered and coated in a syrup mixture that sets into a crackly shell. Be sure to dry the cleaned fruit well to help the syrup adhere. A candy thermometer is crucial for this recipe, as the sugar mixture must reach 300 degrees in order to form the hard candy shell (otherwise the coating will turn chewy and sticky). To clean the pot of any remaining caramelized sugar, add some water to the pot, bring it to a simmer and stir until the hardened sugar melts.
Mujadara (Lentils and Rice With Fried Onions)
Comforting, nourishing and budget-friendly, mujadara (which has a variety of spellings) is a humble lentil and rice dish beloved across Levantine cuisines. This version uses rice, but it can also be prepared with bulgur. Either way, deeply browned onions are the star and foundation of the dish, so make sure to cook them until they are a rich golden brown. Be sure to save the cooking water from the lentils, as it provides a flavorful broth to cook the rice. This version of mujadara is spiced with cumin, but feel free to add other spices, such as coriander. The crunchy fried-onion topping is optional, but highly recommended for a joyful party of flavors and textures. Serve mujadara with a side of plain yogurt and a simple green salad, cucumber and tomato salad, fattoush salad or fresh herbs like mint.
Herbed Cucumber-Yogurt Salad
A cucumber salad dressed with tart yogurt and lots of chopped dill and mint makes a cooling, pleasantly refreshing saucy accompaniment to grilled meat. This is a handy brightly flavored salad to make all summer long, and so simple.
Oven Chicken Kebabs
Made with ground chicken (or lamb), these Turkish-inspired kebabs are highly spiced with red pepper, paprika, cumin, sumac and onion. They may also be grilled or broiled. Serve with lavash flatbread or pita and some refreshing vegetable salads.
Tomato-Feta Salad
Cherry tomatoes make a colorful zesty salad that’s good on its own or very welcome as a picnic side dish. They are halved and tossed with a garlicky vinaigrette, roughly chopped olives, cilantro and parsley and a shower of crumbled feta, an ideal accompaniment to grilled meats.
Roasted Cauliflower Caesar
For this more robust take on Caesar salad, you start by cutting thick slabs of cauliflower before breaking them into smaller pieces and roasting, which ensures maximum caramelized edges while using every part of the vegetable. The florets, stems and even the leafy bits roast together with capers, creating a mix of textures in the dish. The crispy capers and golden cauliflower harbor a punchy, Caesar-inspired dressing made with Parmesan, mayonnaise, anchovies, garlic and Dijon. This dish is delicious warm, but also can work as a cold salad the next day.
Asparagus Gomaae With Chilled Tofu
The classic Japanese side dish gomaae typically features blanched spinach coated in a sesame dressing, but here, the nutty sauce pairs beautifully with earthy asparagus. The asparagus is seared just briefly to unlock its buttery sweetness and juiciness; make sure the pan is hot when the asparagus makes contact to ensure the outside chars, even with a short cook time. The asparagus goma-ae is served atop chilled tofu, which serves as a creamy, refreshing backdrop for the bold umami of the sesame sauce. Eat this as a light meal, or partner it with rice or noodles.
Spiced, Dry-Brined Mushrooms
Dry brining is a technique typically used to tenderize and flavor meat by harnessing two simple but powerful culinary tools: salt and time. This vegan recipe applies the process to mushrooms, along with a fragrant spice blend and olive oil to aid in flavor, color and texture. Just thirty passive minutes can produce a meaningful metamorphosis for these mushrooms, releasing excess moisture and allowing the mushrooms to brown deeply. Once pulled from the oven, the mushrooms can be stuffed into a roti with pickled onions and cucumbers, served on a mezze platter next to muhammara and hummus, or enjoyed however you please! Oyster mushrooms are a fantastic choice, but maitake, baby bella, portobello or a blend of each will work well, too.
Pan-Seared Chicken With Peas and Prosciutto
These chicken cutlets develop a beautiful golden crust without the effort of breading by cooking them primarily on one side. Starting with cutlets pounded to an even thickness ensures moist, perfectly cooked chicken in record time. Smothered in a bountiful pan sauce of sweet peas, salty prosciutto and tender silky lettuce, this quick one-pan chicken dinner makes for a relaxed and satisfying weeknight meal.