Lunch
2778 recipes found
Puttanesca Pasta Nada
“In normal life, ‘simplicity’ is synonymous with ‘easy to do,’” Bill Buford wrote in “Heat,” his 2006 book, “but when a chef uses the word, it means ‘take a lifetime to learn.’” That’s true much of the time. But if you take care, a dish as simple as pasta with finely chopped black olives and anchovies can have a chef-like impact with minimum learning and minimum fuss. This dish resets your taste buds. No fancy shopping needed.
Succotash
Typically a combination of corn, lima beans and other vegetables, succotash was first introduced to colonial immigrants in the 17th century by Native Americans. The name succotash is derived from the Narragansett word “msickquatash,” which refers to corn (and a variety of other ingredients) cooked together in a pot. Using frozen corn and lima beans that have been defrosted make this recipe incredibly simple and evergreen, but opt for fresh versions when in season. Cook the vegetables in stages, starting with the longer-cooking ones, then toss in a tablespoon of butter when they’re all cooked for a layer of silkiness. To keep the tomatoes crisp, remove the pan from the heat before adding them, but if you want them a bit softer, toss the tomatoes in with the corn and lima beans. This dish easily adapts to preference and availability.
Green Bean Salad With Dill Pickles And Feta
Green beans, feta and dill are old friends, but using dill pickles instead of dill contributes acid, crunch and verve to the classic combination. For maximum flavor, use pickles that are brined with fresh dill or dill seeds, and chill the salad for at least 30 minutes for refreshing, snappy bites. Keep in the fridge for up to 2 days to dole out alongside roast chicken or hot dogs, or on top of salad greens or grain bowls.
Migas
In a world full of breakfast scrambles, migas is a quick, flavorful dish that deserves to be in your rotation. Pieces of tortillas (leftovers are perfect here) are pan-fried then mixed with cheesy eggs studded with softened jalapeño, onion and fragrant garlic. Together they make a filling breakfast of pantry ingredients that goes from stove to table in about 30 minutes. If you like your jalapeños on the spicier side, keep some of the seeds in while dicing. Just be careful to keep your hands away from your eyes in the process. If you’d like to top your migas, cotija, onion and cilantro are all great candidates but you can also go the extra mile and add your salsa of preference. If you’re in the mood for something smoky and blended, try a salsa taquera. If you desire a salsa with a bit more freshness, try a salsa fresca — just be mindful of the amount of jalapeños in both.
Linguine With Zucchini, Corn and Shrimp
This super fast and super easy summer pasta recipe barely cooks peak-season corn and zucchini, maintaining their freshness and crunch while highlighting their vibrant flavor. This same quick-cooking method is applied to the shrimp, which keeps its bite by spending little time in the pan. (While corn and zucchini turn mushy if overcooked, shrimp turns tough and rubbery.) Finishing off this summer pasta is a shower of fresh basil and mint, which cling to each glossy strand of linguine. Feel free to add whatever vegetables and herbs catch your eye at the market. This pasta is best eaten al fresco.
Orzo Salad
This colorful, Mediterranean-inspired orzo salad is a crowd-pleasing side dish for a picnic or potluck, and can be a satisfying, vegetable-packed lunch. The trick to a flavorful pasta salad is adding the dressing while the pasta is hot, so it can soak up plenty of flavor as it cools. This recipe takes that method a step further by tossing the hot orzo and dressing with the chickpeas, tomatoes and olives, giving the ingredients ample time to marinate. If olives aren’t your thing, try adding diced roasted red peppers or marinated artichokes for a burst of briny flavor in each bite. If preparing for a larger gathering, this recipe doubles easily, and leftovers keep well in the refrigerator, making it a good choice for meal prepping.
Crunchy Noodle and Tofu Salad
With crisp noodles and vegetables coated in a tangy dressing, this salad is reminiscent of the ubiquitous Chinese chicken salad, which isn’t actually Chinese in origin. Stripped of the chicken and given a more accurate name, this vegan take is a fresh salad with lots of textures and no active cooking. Fridge stalwarts carrot and celery combine with robust cabbage to provide heart and heft, while store-bought crispy fried noodles (sometimes sold as chow mein noodles) bring mouth-watering crunch. (They’re worth keeping in your pantry to use as a fun, effortless topper for salads or soups.) Another store-bought timesaver is baked tofu, which has already been marinated and baked, and is ready to use straight from the packet. It often comes in several flavors, and any of them will work for this recipe. The dressing is sweet, savory and acidic, and can be easily adjusted to your liking. Maple syrup adds richness, but honey, agave or sugar would all make suitable substitutes.
Crispy Shrimp Tacos With Smoky Chipotle Crema
Imagine tender, sweet shrimp ensconced in a crisp and airy tempura-like batter. Now envision those shrimp lying on a warm tortilla topped with fresh cut cabbage and a smoky-spicy drizzle of chipotle crema sauce. These tacos are not just a dream: This coastal delight can be found, just like some of the best fish tacos, along the main Mexican Pacific coast and Baja Peninsula, but you can also make them a reality at home. The toppings can vary, so add sliced or smashed avocado, spicy pickled onions, salsa macha or any other salsas you may prefer.
Snap Pea, Tofu and Herb Salad With Spicy Peanut Sauce
When the season gifts us sweet, juicy sugar snap (or snow) peas, use them raw in this textural salad. Slicing them in half diagonally not only unlocks their innate crispness, but also allows the inner peas to spill out, creating more texture. This salad is brazenly herb forward, and offers an excellent way to use up any leftover bundles in your fridge; mint, cilantro or basil can be used singularly or as a mix. The two-ingredient dressing is the simplest, and possibly tastiest, peanut sauce you’ll ever make: Peanut butter is whisked together with chile crisp and loosened with boiling water, which helps encourage it to emulsify, creating a smooth, creamy and intensely savory sauce. Looking for another shortcut? You can even skip pan-frying and use store-bought pre-baked firm tofu.
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Koshari (Egyptian Lentils, Rice, and Pasta)
With heaps of fluffy vermicelli, rice, tender black lentils, and soft pasta elbows, koshari is an iconic Egyptian meal that’s worth seeking out and making at home.
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Air-Fryer Chicken Breasts
Our zero-fuss recipe for air-fryer chicken breasts produces meat that’s tender, flavorful, and juicy—just the way we like our chicken.
Antipasto Salad
In this recipe the classic Italian antipasti platter takes the form of a single cold salad. All of the traditional elements are present here: tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, peppers, cheese and salami. Of course, you can swap all kinds of antipasti-minded ingredients into this salad and omit the meat or cheese for vegetarians or vegans, but don’t skip the butter beans, which are the star of this dish. They’re marinated in an oregano vinaigrette while the rest of the salad is prepped, ensuring they soak up as much flavor as possible. After tossing together, this salad chills in the fridge where the flavors only get better over time. So, feel free to make it ahead. Serve with a nice hunk of bread to make a bellissimo lunch or dinner.
Couscous Risotto With Tomatoes and Mozzarella
This caprese-inspired “risotto” swaps in toothsome pearl couscous for the usual short grain rice, cutting the time spent stirring in half. The result is a pleasantly chewy, creamy one-pot dish that, like true risotto, is easy to adapt. The tomatoes caramelize and concentrate in flavor when roasted, but if you don’t feel like turning on the oven, try replacing them with a heaping cup of drained and chopped roasted red peppers or sliced sun-dried tomatoes (just pat them dry if they're oil-packed). And because pesto is so flavorful, there’s no need for chicken or vegetable broth: Plain old water is the cooking liquid of choice here.
Chicken Pesto Meatballs
Simply adding pesto to chicken meatballs is a quick, easy way to infuse them with complex flavor while providing enough fat to ensure they are moist and juicy. With few ingredients, these meatballs come together fast and work well with any kind of pesto, whether homemade or store-bought. These meatballs can be eaten on their own, make a great addition to any plate and are the perfect companion to pesto pasta, of course.
Lemongrass Tofu and Broccoli
Intensely flavorful, this stir-fry harnesses the fresh, citrusy notes of lemongrass in a punchy marinade that doubles as the stir-fry sauce. While the tofu only needs a short soak in the lemongrass marinade before cooking, it also benefits from a longer one, so feel free to prep ahead and refrigerate overnight. This recipe’s cooking method is a combination of stir-frying and steaming: Searing the onions and tofu on high heat creates smoky notes, and covering the pan during cooking ensures that the broccoli stays bright green as it cooks through. If your skillet or wok doesn’t come with a lid, slide a large sheet pan over the cooking vessel. This hearty stir-fry can be eaten alone, with rice or tossed through glass or rice noodles.
Butter Bean Dip With Frizzled Onions and Preserved Lemon
Though creamy, mashed beans provide the foundation, the frizzled onion mixture is the true star of this dish. Cooked quickly over high heat, with layers of garlic, cumin and preserved lemon, these onions are sweet and salty, rich and acidic, making this a surefire hit with minimal effort. Canned butter beans are then briefly cooked in the fragrant frizzled onion oil before being mashed (or blended, if you prefer a smoother texture) to create the perfect base. If you can’t get your hands on preserved lemons, fresh lemon pulp and finely sliced zest can be used; just be sure to add an extra pinch of salt, too. This makes for a great side or dip, or spread it on pita and use as a filling for the ultimate chicken or cauliflower shawarma.
Egg-in-a-Nest Sandwich
An egg cooked in an egg-size hole cut out of butter-sizzled bread feels like a treat. But it’s not quite enough to make a meal. Here, the classic egg-in-a-nest merges with a grilled cheese and a breakfast sandwich into a meal for one that’s meant to be savored leisurely. It’s as delightful with coffee at the beginning of the day as it is in the middle for lunch, or ending it, whether at supper or at midnight. The bread slices — one cradling the egg, the other holding cheese — cook at the same time over relatively low heat so that they end up perfectly golden brown while the egg sets and the cheese melts. If you’d like a little heat, add hot sauce or any chile powder or flakes.
Tzatziki Tuna Salad
Tuna salad often includes mayonnaise, but this version delivers a similar creaminess with Greek yogurt, which imparts a freshness to the mix. Here, the yogurt is seasoned with the classic garlic-dill combination of tzatziki, which goes surprisingly well with sharp yellow mustard. Cucumber is traditionally used in tzatziki, but for this tuna salad, celery is also a fun, crunchy variation. (You also can add celery to the salad if starting with store-bought tzatziki.) If you have only tuna packed in water on hand, simply drain the tuna well and stir olive oil into the salad for richness. Sandwich the tuna between bread, mix it into a salad or enjoy it as a dip with chips or crackers.
Poutine
Composed of freshly made French fries bathed in a rich, brown gravy and dotted with squeaky pieces of fresh cheese, poutine is a Canadian specialty with small town roots. Several restaurants claim to have invented the dish in rural Quebec, an area known for cheesemaking, either in the late 1950s or early ’60s. (In one story former restaurateur Fernand Lachance replied, “Ça va te faire une maudite poutine!”, slang for “That will make a damned mess!”, to a customer who requested cheese curds on fries. Another story links poutine to restaurant owner Jean-Paul Roy, who noticed customers were adding the curds, sold separately at his drive-in, to their fries.) Poutine has expanded beyond its rural beginning, and can be found topped with everything from bacon to duck confit. Here, the fries are made fresh (highly recommended), but frozen packaged fries can be used in a pinch. Layer poutine a bit like you would nachos, except start with cheese on the bottom of the dish, followed by the fries, more cheese and, finally, the gravy.
Charred Bok Choy and Cannellini Bean Salad
This recipe breaks bok choy out of its steamed and stir-fried box, demonstrating how well it responds to charring. Don’t be afraid to cook bok choy aggressively; the stalks are robust and remain crisp, while becoming smoky and sweet. Baby bok choy can be used too, but the leaves are much smaller and more tender, so simply slice them through the middle lengthwise. Other sturdy greens like gai lan (sometimes called Chinese broccoli) or cabbages will also work. The punchy dressing is sweet and acidic, given heat and spice from the grated ginger, while tart rice vinegar cuts through the richness of the maple syrup. Keep this dressing in mind for similar salads; it is equally lovely with cold soba noodles.
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Air-Fryer Shrimp
Shrimp is delicious no matter how you prepare it, but for seafood that’s ready in less than five minutes, give it a dry-brine and a quick toss in the air fryer.
Curry Chicken Fried Rice
Add this flavorful fried rice to your roster of quick weeknight dishes: Pieces of juicy chicken thighs, richer and more forgiving than breasts, are sautéed with sweet red onion and fragrant curry powder then mixed with leftover, fridge-cold rice for a meal ready in less than half an hour. (It’s also almost worth making for the smell alone.) While so many fried rice dishes involve a significant amount of chopping, this one opts for frozen vegetables, cutting back on prep time. To maximize flavor, mild curry powder is cooked in oil to bloom toward the start of the recipe, but if you’re craving heat, reach for a spicier blend.
Roasted Eggplant Pasta Salad With Dates
Nature’s candy, plump and lush medjool dates add sweetness to this creamy and tangy pasta salad. Eggplant is roasted with cumin, oregano and crushed red pepper, then tossed with the dates on the hot sheet pan, using the residual heat to warm them so the flavors blend together. Mixed with cooked pasta, feta and bright mint, it’s a hearty yet light dish, perfect for summer nights. To streamline this dish for weeknights, use the eggplant-cooking time to prep the finishing touches (the dates, cheese and mint). Bring any leftovers to room temperature, then refresh them with a drizzle of oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Roasted Eggplant Pasta With Dates and Feta
Nature’s candy, plump and lush medjool dates add sweetness to this creamy and tangy weeknight pasta. Eggplant is roasted with cumin, oregano and crushed red pepper on a hot sheet pan, then tossed with the dates, using the residual heat to warm them so the flavors blend together. Mixed with cooked pasta, feta and bright mint, it’s a hearty yet light dish, perfect for summer nights. To streamline this dish, use the eggplant-cooking time to prep the finishing touches (the dates, cheese and mint). Bring any leftovers to room temperature, then refresh them with a drizzle of oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.