Lunch
2808 recipes found
Corn and Lima Bean Ragout
Farro Pasta With Peas, Pancetta and Herbs
This quickly made, exceedingly delicious recipe is a springtime celebration of peas: snow peas, sugar-snap peas and garden peas, all freshly shucked. (Of course, you can use only one kind, if you prefer.) A touch of pancetta adds a salty umami to the peas' sweetness. Good ham or thick-sliced bacon also work, and, for a vegetarian version, you can use roughly chopped green olives. Here, the rustic, nutty flavor of whole-grain farro pasta provides a lovely contrast. Look for dried farro spaghetti or, if you can find them, fresh farro pappardelle or fettuccine. But if farro pasta is unavailable, whole-wheat or buckwheat noodles are also quite pea-friendly.
Refrigerator Corn Relish
This colorful, mildly spicy relish is sweet, but not as sweet by a long shot as many corn relish recipes I’ve seen and tasted. It goes well with everything from burgers to tofu sandwiches. You can add more chiles to the recipe if you want a spicier relish.
Soupe au Pistou (Provençal Vegetable Soup)
Yogurt and Bean Dressing With Cilantro and Lime
One of my favorite variations on Lisa Feldman’s bean and yogurt dressing base is her cilantro-lime dressing. Blend cilantro into just about any dressing, purée, sauce or soup, and I’ll be there with a spoon. I use a little more cilantro and lime juice than Lisa calls for, to achieve a pale speckled-green mixture that is slightly zingy; add a small green chile if you want a bit more spice.
Pappardelle With Pancetta and Peas
The very notion of buttery noodles and fresh sweet peas is enough to make anyone swoon. As a meal, it is the essence of simplicity. But no one will complain if there is also a whisper of new green garlic, a dab of herby pesto and a dollop of ricotta. Oh, and a touch of lemon zest. Add tender mustard greens and a few bites of pancetta or bacon to round it all out.
Summer Squash Refrigerator Pickles
With its spongy texture, summer squash will soak up the spicy flavors in this mix. Experiment with other spices if you wish. I like to use a mix of yellow squash and zucchini. Add the pickled squash to salads, use it as a relish or as a condiment with grains, meat or fish.
Sicilian Stuffed Pizza With Ricotta and Arugula
At a pizzeria in the small Sicilian town of Vallelunga-Pratameno, about a couple of hours' drive from Palermo, you could get nearly any kind of pizza, but the house specialty didn’t look like a pizza at all. To make it, the dough was stretched as usual, then slid naked, with no toppings, onto to the oven’s stone floor. In no time at all, the dough began to puff up until nearly spherical, like a giant pita bread. It was taken from the oven, split open and filled with fresh local sheep’s milk ricotta and a large handful of arugula. To serve, it was cut into wedges, like a heavenly sandwich. My version includes a few anchovies and strips of roasted pepper, but even without them, it is delicious.
Ham Biscuits
Charred Tomatoes With Egg, Anchovies and Bread Crumbs
Charring tomatoes briefly over hot coals enhances their natural sweetness and adds a bit of smoky flavor. Use large tomatoes cut into thick slices, halve small tomatoes or thread whole cherry tomatoes on skewers. Paired with egg, anchovies, bread crumbs and a garlicky dressing, what’s not to like?
Pork Burgers With Spices
Yogurt and Bean Dressing With Thai Flavors
This version of Lisa Feldman’s yogurt and bean dressing is based on her slightly sweet Thai ginger dressing. Sriracha sauce, I’ve noticed, has become the go-to condiment for many chefs. It contributes just enough spice and pungency to the mix (you can add more if you want more heat). I like to serve this with grains, and as a dip or a dressing for crispy salads.
Baked Rice With Chicken and Mushrooms
This warming, savory, hearty baked rice casserole was originally meant to be an Indian-style biriyani, but my larder was stocked with Gallic ingredients: mushrooms, thyme, garlic, parsley. I switched gears, heading in a French direction. It’s a great dish for feeding a crowd and also reheats beautifully, so it’s worth making the entire batch. Serve with a crisp green salad, juicy wilted spinach or mustard greens, or all-season frozen peas.
Pickled Green Beans
In the South these are sometimes called “dilly beans” because of the dill that goes into the jars with the beans. My only reservation about making pickles out of green beans is that it is impossible for the beans to retain their wonderful green color. But I forget about this regret when I taste them, redolent as they are with coriander seeds and dill. You can serve them as an aperitif, garnish or side, or cut them up and add them to salads.
Pears Poached in Red Wine and Cassis
A classic French dessert with liqueur that adds a deep berry essence. Wine-poached pears make fora classic French dessert. I like to add a little crème de cassis liqueur to the wine, along with honey, vanilla and cinnamon. The cassis, made from black currants,adds a deep berry essence to the syrupy wine. You can serve these pears warm or chilled. The poached pears will keep well for a couple of days in the refrigerator. The pears will continue to soften.
Maureen Abood’s Eggplant With Lamb, Tomato and Pine Nuts
With its layers of golden eggplant, cinnamon-scented lamb, and sweet tomato sauce topped with melted cheese, this traditional Lebanese dish is made for celebratory meals and gatherings. Even better, it’s just as good served warm or room temperature as it is hot from the oven. It also reheats well, meaning that you can bake it the day before, and reheat it before serving if you like. Pull it out of the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature for an hour, then reheat it covered for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
Roast Pork Dip
This roast pork dip sandwich, with shredded meat slathered in a rich roux-based dipping sauce, comes from Brian Landry, the chef and an owner of Borgne Restaurant in New Orleans. Pork butt, pierced with garlic slivers and rubbed with fresh rosemary, is slow-roasted until meltingly tender on a bed of vegetables that flavor the final sauce. The meat can be made ahead and then reheated before it is tucked into a crusty roll, a delicious tweak on the po’ boy. “They say the sign of a good po’ boy is how many napkins it takes to get through a sandwich,” Mr. Landry said. “This one takes a lot of napkins.” At Borgne he garnishes it with crispy fried onions, Tabasco-enhanced mayonnaise and melted Swiss cheese.
Roasted Japanese Eggplant With Crushed Tomato, Pecorino and Thyme
This roasted eggplant was adapted from a recipe from the Phoenix chef Chris Bianco, who regularly showcases Arizona eggplant as an antipasto at his restaurants Pizzeria Bianco and Tratto. But it works just as well with thick sliced conventional eggplant, and tomato sauce or sweet peppers substituted for the heirloom tomato. The succulent roasted eggplant comes together with the comforting flavors of the thyme, garlic and tomato. Serve as a side, or pair with polenta or fresh bread to round out a main course.
Tomatoes With Basil and Anchovies
A great tomato salad starts with great tomatoes. Buy ripe tomatoes in season from the market or farm stand, or, even better, pick them straight from the garden. The anchovies (they are rinsed briefly to tame them) are an important feature, the perfect counterpoint to the tomatoes’ sweetness. Add a large handful of aromatic basil leaves just before serving.
Savory Melon Tartare
Salty white cheese is a savory component that complements melon quite nicely. This recipe calls for a mellow, ripe, densely textured variety, possibly as commonplace as cantaloupe or as exotic as a Galia or Charente melon. Don’t use watermelon.
Crab Cake Banh Mi Sandwich
Classic banh mi, one of the most delectable sandwiches known to humankind, is built in a crisp baguette spread with mayonnaise, and contains pâté, ham and roasted pork, along with strips of pickled vegetables, cilantro and hot chiles. But there are countless variations on this Vietnamese staple. Some are filled with chicken, others with beef, and a Louisiana po’ boy-style banh mi contains fried oysters. Miniature crab cakes are another option — what’s not to like?
Spring Rolls With Shredded Broccoli Stems, Vermicelli and Red Pepper
Lately I’ve been finding bags of shredded broccoli stems or broccoli stem slaw in supermarkets. I used just such a bag for this. You can grate the stems that come with your bunch broccoli for these, or you can save a bit of time and effort by buying the bagged product. Whichever way you go, these light, pungent spring rolls are easily assembled. The only problem you may have is if they sit for too long. If the broccoli stems have not been purged before you make the spring rolls they will continue to drain and the water can eventually dissolve the wrappers (I learned this when I made them, kept them overnight and took them the next day on a flight).
Anchovied Eggs
Dried Fruit Compote With Fresh Apple and Pear
An alcohol-free compote with a variety of dried fruit and a bright flavor. This compote, which I like to add to my morning yogurt, does not involve wine, though you could add some red or white wine for flavor if you wanted to. The sweetness will vary with the type of fruit used. If you use dried sour cherries, don’t use too many, because they will give the compote too stronga sour cherry flavor. Sweet fruit, like dried apples, pears and raisins, will result in a compote with a brighter taste. Apricots are great too, contributing another rich taste layer. I add fresh apple and pear for their texture, which remains somewhat crunchy even after they simmer.