Lunch
2782 recipes found
Pineapple-Basil Smoothie
I’m not sure that I would order this just based on the name. But believe me, you’ll be pleased by this herbal concoction. Pineapple has so much sweetness and flavor on its own, and it marries well with the peppery, anisy basil. Very little else is required (no banana in this smoothie). I like to use kefir, but yogurt will work too. Pistachios and chia seeds bulk up the drink nicely, and the pistachios contribute to the pale green color.
Loaded Baked Frittata
Sautéed onion, pepper and spinach lace this sturdy frittata that’s as good warm out of the pan as it is cold. Bacon and goat cheese enrich the mix, which can be eaten alone or put in a sandwich (see tip below). This recipe is, of course, delicious as is, but you can also take a cue from one of our commenters, Joan, who made this with leftover peppers and onions, adding sliced roasted baby potatoes. Ready in 45 minutes, it lasts for up to three days in the refrigerator, so you can enjoy it as long as it lasts — which may not be very long.
Chicken Salad With Corn, Quinoa and Yogurt Dressing
While traditional chicken salad is rich with tender meat and mayonnaise, this one embraces pops of texture and color. Combining quinoa and corn, two staples in Inca, Aymara and Quechua cooking, is a great balancing act of earthy and sweet. For this salad’s dressing, mashing onion and chile together with salt (like in guacamole) releases their assertive juices into a tangy blend of Greek yogurt and lime. Since this is a room temperature salad, you can make the chicken and quinoa and reserve them up to a few days ahead, or let the whole salad meld for up to 3 days in the fridge. Eat the dish on its own, over romaine or Little Gem leaves, or with more pops, such as pepitas, mint, radishes, jicama, Cotija or Parmesan.
Toum Grilled Cheese
When I was a teenager, I remember getting freshly baked akkawi cheese manakeesh with sides of cucumber and beet-stained turnip pickles and little plastic containers of toum for dipping at a Lebanese bakery in Doha, Qatar. Cheese manakeesh, a topped flatbread found throughout the Levant, is delicious with toum, a sauce made by combining garlic, lemon juice, salt and oil. This grilled cheese hits those notes, skipping a trip to the bakery. Slathering the bread with toum instead of butter instantly gives it garlic bread vibes. Though you can purchase toum at many supermarkets and Middle Eastern specialty stores, making it at home gives it a more vibrant punch. It lasts for months and can be used anywhere a tangy, garlicky wallop is needed. Use in salad dressings, as a rub on roasted meats, as a sandwich condiment, or even as a dip for crudités.
Lemon-Garlic Kale Salad
Here's a snappy, fresh side dish or a light supper: a lemony green salad, rich with tang and crunch. The dressing is nothing more than lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt. Its simplicity makes it perfect.
Ham and Jam Sandwich
Nothing can compare to jambon-beurre, the iconic Parisian sandwich, which is really just a baguette with salted European butter and unsmoked ham. This rendition expands on that perfect trinity with a few additional pantry ingredients: Jam plays well with ham (like in a Monte Cristo), and Dijon and black pepper bring spice and spirit. Smoked ham adds yet another layer of savoriness, but any thinly sliced ham will work. The result is a hearty, complex but still delicate meal, appetizer or pick-me-up. While ham and jam sandwich doesn’t roll off the tongue quite like jambon-beurre, you have permission to call it a ham-jam-sam, if you like.
Cheddar-Sauerkraut Toast
This 10-minute, vegetarian meal is happily reminiscent of a Welsh rabbit, a Reuben sandwich and nachos. Toast slices of bread under the broiler, then top with the fermented trio of sauerkraut, pickled jalapeños and Cheddar. After a few minutes under the broiler, the cheese bubbles and crisps and the cabbage warms and mellows. The sauerkraut provides plenty of vegetables and, along with the jalapeño, tames the richness of the cheese. Adapt as you wish: Smear mustard or horseradish on the bread or trade the sauerkraut for kimchi.
Avocado Soup With Chile Oil
This sopa de aguacate is a fresh and simple creamy soup that can be eaten chilled or at room temperature for a quick meal. The onion, garlic and cumin create a delicious base that pairs perfectly with the lime juice’s acidity. Top off this sopa with chile de árbol oil and pepitas for a little hit of heat and a hint of nuttiness. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Crunchy Kale Salad With Plums and Dates
Kale salad has passed whatever nebulous test there is of food fads and become a mainstay, especially in the fall, but it’s ideal for summer, too, because it doesn’t wilt in the heat. If anything, you want to be sure to crush the finely sliced greens until they’re droopy. Kale salad can feel like a chore to chew if the greens aren’t softened sufficiently, so massage them into submission. To add a welcome, easy crunch to the tender leaves, this salad is littered with roasted, salted sunflower seeds. They’re a savory contrast to tangy wedges of juicy plums and chewy, sweet dates in the lemony mix that holds up well on any picnic table and for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Tomato Sandwiches
You may not really need a recipe for a tomato sandwich, but sometimes varying it can be nice, especially if you tend to get stuck in a habit as the summer progresses. This version, based on pan con tomate, involves rubbing the guts of a ripe tomato all over garlicky toasted bread. More tomato slices are added on top, along with slivers of onion and mayonnaise, and bacon if you'd like. It’s a supremely messy sandwich best munched over the sink, or with plenty of napkins nearby.
Tsirani Vosp Apur (Armenian Apricot and Lentil Soup)
This soup is best made with fresh apricots, available at farmers’ markets and grocery stores for a few precious weeks in the summer. But when fresh are not in season, Marina Sarukhanyan of Silk Apron Catering, who makes it year-round for her customers, suggests using bright-orange unsulfured apricots, not the dark ones. She usually gets hers from Iranian food stores, but you may be able to find them in Middle Eastern, Armenian or Russian shops as well. Make sure to drizzle the soup with tart pomegranate syrup, which contrasts with the apricots in a lovely way.
Crispy-Edged Quesadilla
This straightforward quesadilla has an unexpected twist: a border of salty, crispy cheese surrounding the tortilla. Achieving it couldn’t be easier; just press down on the folded tortilla as it heats up in the pan so the cheese spills out and turns golden. A nonstick pan is key here, otherwise the melted cheese will glue itself onto the cooking surface. Medium heat is just the right temperature for a quesadilla: It’s hot enough to crisp up the cheese but low enough to prevent the cheese from burning.
Orzo Salad With Lentils and Zucchini
The key to vibrant yet substantial summer salads is to mix raw and cooked ingredients and incorporate as many textures as possible. This one achieves that abundance in a streamlined manner by cooking lentils and orzo together in one pot. Start with the lentils, then add the orzo partway through cooking so both become tender at once. (You can do the same with any boiling ingredients.) The chewy orzo and velvety lentils then meet crisp, raw zucchini, crunchy nuts, and the pep of pickled peppers, scallions, lemon and a whole lot of fresh herbs — none of which requires more than a little chopping from you. Eat this protein-rich salad on its own, or add soft-boiled eggs, tinned fish, feta or pecorino, as you wish.
Sardine Toasts With Tomato and Sweet Onion
A classic pantry meal, sardine toasts are just the thing to eat when you’re starving and there’s nothing in the house for dinner. If you don’t have tomatoes, just leave them out. With their saline flavor and buttery texture, all sardines need is some good bread and a little crunchy onion to set them off.
Tuna Salad With Hot and Sweet Peppers
Inspired by the oil-and-vinegar tuna salads of the Mediterranean, this version includes new-world peppers. Letting thin slices of hot and sweet peppers sit with vinegar and salt for a few minutes gives them a pickled taste without taking away their crispness. It also makes for a sharp dressing when mixed with the olive oil from oil-packed tuna. Celery and parsley bring freshness to this blend, which is wonderful on its own and versatile enough to be spooned over toast or tossed with lettuce or pasta.
Smoked Salmon Sandwich With Goat Cheese
At the Russ and Daughters store in Manhattan, which specializes in smoked and cured fish of all kinds, I found a goat cream cheese that inspired this sandwich.
Chickpea Salad With Fresh Herbs and Scallions
A lighter, easier take on classic American potato salad, this version uses canned chickpeas in place of potatoes and favors Greek yogurt over mayonnaise. The trick to achieving the creamy texture of traditional potato salad is to mash some of the chickpeas lightly with a fork. It travels well, so it deserves a spot at your next picnic or desk lunch.
Tuna Crunch Sandwiches
A tuna salad and potato chip sandwich may not be quite as classic a pairing as peanut butter and jelly, but it is, anecdotally, many middle-schoolers’ first forays into experimenting with flavors and textures, and no less delicious. Beyond crunch, chips also add stability to the sandwich, holding the tuna salad in place as you eat. There’s no wrong way to make the sandwich, but seasoning tuna salad with red onion and celery, plenty of olive oil and little lemon juice, and using kettle-style salt and vinegar potato chips are especially alluring. There’s the word “optional” next to the most optional ingredients, but consider every ingredient other than the tuna, bread and chips to be adaptable according to your own taste (or how your mom made it).
Australian Zucchini Slice
A beloved Australian staple, a zucchini slice is an eggy, frittatalike lunchbox staple that’s baked until it’s firm enough to slice and eat out of hand. Most versions include bacon, but in his book, “Snacks for Dinner” (Harper Wave, 2022), Lukas Volger substitutes a combination of olives and pickled peppers for a deeply salty bite without any meat. You can serve this hot, warm or at room temperature. Or make it a day or two ahead, store it covered in the fridge, then let it come to room temperature before serving so the texture is supple and soft.
5-Minute Hummus
Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook of the Philadelphia restaurant Zahav found success with their hummus recipe, but in their second book, “Israeli Soul,” the two came up with this smart version, done in a fraction of the time of the original. It’s just as satisfying, and packed with tahini flavor, a given since it calls for a whole 16-ounce jar. The end result is nutty and smooth, and topped with roasted vegetables, a worthy weeknight meal.
Tomato-Parmesan Soup
What if you could have a tomato soup that was as plush as a cream of tomato but tasted like pure tomato? Enter Parmesan. Simmering tomatoes with a Parmesan rind is like seasoning a bowl of soup with a shaving of cheese 100 times over. It gives the soup an undercurrent of savory fat and salt that only bring out tomato's best sides. Many specialty groceries sell containers of rinds, but if you can’t find any, stir ½ cup grated Parmesan into the final soup (or cut off the rind of a wedge you’re working through). Rinds will keep in the freezer for forever, so start saving. Pair the soup with Parmesan toast, for dunking, though it’s in no way needed.
Sardines on Buttered Brown Bread
In addition to celebrating the star, sardines, these open-faced sandwiches should be a celebration of good bread and butter. Choose a dense, dark European-style rye, thinly sliced, or a rustic whole-wheat bread. They look nice open-faced, but they could, of course, be made in a two-slice format.
Sardine Salad
For a vivid take on lunchtime tuna salad, use oil-rich sardines and skip the mayonnaise. Emulsifying the deeply seasoned oil from the sardine tin with lemon juice and mustard makes the salad creamy like mayonnaise does but with flavors that are more intense and pronounced. Add any of the sharp, crunchy, fresh pops you like in your tuna or whitefish salad, such as capers, cornichons, pickled peppers or herbs, and eat this sardine salad over greens, on a bagel or English muffin, or between two slices of toast.
Huevos Rotos (Broken Eggs)
Variations of this hearty fried egg-and-potato dish can be found throughout Spain, including the Canary Islands, where it’s said to have originated. There’s always a runny egg, but whether it sits atop fried potato rounds, French fries or crunchy chips varies by region and personal preference. The potatoes are often served with chorizo sausage or Serrano ham, but in this vegetarian version, smoked paprika and red-pepper flakes mimic chorizo’s flavor and heat. Pierce the eggs just before serving so the golden yolks coat the potatoes with a glossy sauce. Serve with sautéed greens or a crisp salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette. This one-pan meal is good with a cup of coffee or a beer — it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner material.