Lunch
2771 recipes found
Mushroom and Tofu Sticky Rice
Sticky rice, known as lo mai fan in Cantonese, with its signature chewy texture and natural whisper of sweetness, feels like a celebration dish but is easy enough to whip up on a weeknight. This version is vegan, and dotted with toothsome shiitake mushrooms, bouncy extra-firm tofu and, if you like, nutty roasted chestnuts. While sticky rice is often steamed or made in a rice cooker, this one can be made in any heavy pot and cooks slowly on low heat, resulting in grains that are sticky but not mushy. Start by soaking the sticky rice (boiling water cuts the soak time to just 30 minutes), which helps it cook more evenly. Naturally gluten-free, sticky rice is sometimes sold as sweet or glutinous rice and is available from most Chinese markets, as well as larger Asian grocery stores.
Yakhni (Chicken Soup With Cilantro and Green Chiles)
This Pakistani-style chicken soup uses a delicately spiced yakhni, or broth, as its base. Whole spices like black peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon sticks permeate the nourishing, gelatin-rich soup made from a whole chicken (bones and meat), slowly simmered over a few hours. The addition of a blackened onion adds sweet smokiness, while the spices and a nub of ginger add depth and complexity. Though the base of this soup is formidable, the fixings do most of the talking. Lemon juice and green chiles provide a much-needed zing, freshly ground black pepper adds even more warmth and cilantro brings a touch of herbaceousness. Adjust the fixings to your liking and preferred spice level. Add white rice to the soup for a more robust meal.
Hoisin Garlic Noodles
Fans of garlic noodles and soy sauce noodles rejoice: Here is a new, weeknight-friendly noodle dish for your repertoire. A staple Cantonese ingredient, thick and fragrant hoisin sauce is often used as a glaze for meat, but also serves as a robust, sweet and salty seasoning for these noodles. The garlic is bloomed briefly in oil, which tames its pungency and unlocks a rich, nutty flavor. Allow the noodles to cook undisturbed for a few minutes to crisp underneath, adding texture and a hint of smokiness. This recipe calls for dried wheat or egg noodles, but if you don’t have Asian-style noodles on hand, you could substitute with spaghetti or linguine. Bulk up the noodles with tofu, eggs or whatever vegetables you have on hand; these noodles welcome toppings.
Roasted Carrots With Whipped Tahini
For a spectacular vegetable side at home, try this tried-and-true formula: A swoosh of sauce on a plate topped with a cooked vegetable and a confetti of finely chopped garnish. For this iteration, blend the base (a cloud of yogurt, tahini, citrus and garlic) and chop your garnish (a pretty pile of pistachios, dill and chives) while the carrots roast. Set on a platter, served hot or at room temperature, it’s a special side dish that can also hold its own as a vegetarian main, supplemented with chickpeas, quinoa, couscous or toasted bread.
Chickpeas all’Arrabbiata
A quick rummage through the pantry brings these saucy beans to life in this humble meal that leans on the power of a few dusty cans that may be lingering on your shelves. Let chickpeas swim in this fiery, garlic-heavy arrabbiata sauce built from canned tomatoes and they take on the vibes of the best slow-simmered red sauce classics in a fraction of the time. Slip a pan of no-stir creamy polenta into the oven before getting the beans started and it will be ready to catch every drop of sauce, but you could also toss the chickpeas with pasta or simply spoon them over toast.
Minorcan Clam Chowder
Though it shares similarities with mild-mannered Manhattan clam chowder, thick, briny, spicy Minorcan clam chowder gets its signature, fruity heat from datil peppers, and its Bolognese-like texture from a vegetable purée, plus a generous simmering time. Minorcans descend from indentured servants who, in the late 18th century, were recruited from around the Mediterranean, assembled on the Spanish island of Menorca and sent to Florida to farm indigo. Many Minorcan families still live near St. Augustine, Fla., and visitors to the Spanish-settled city can eat the chowder in a number of restaurants. However, the pinnacle of Minorcan clam chowder cooking is achieved just once a year at the St. Ambrose Spring Fair, for which Mary Ellen Masters — who is known as the “Queen of Minorcan Clam Chowder” — oversees the annual effort to prepare 180 concentrated, clammy gallons.
Ham and Potato Soup
Cooked ham lends a surprising amount of flavor to this simple, hearty soup. Easy to put together using leftover ham or a ham steak, this recipe is perfect for a weeknight or a busy weekend.
Herby Asparagus Salad With Beets and Prosciutto
Asparagus is absolutely a symbol of spring, so what better way to celebrate the season than by centering them in a salad. A platter of green spears, bathed in a mustard-tinged vinaigrette, would be perfectly fine, but for something more celebratory, it’s nice to dress things up, with finely slivered raw beets, a shower of dill, parsley and mint leaves, and chopped (or quartered) soft-cooked egg. A few slices of prosciutto complete the colorful assembly. For the best flavor, look for the freshest firm, shiny asparagus available, whether pencil thin, medium or hefty.
Roasted Cabbage With Capers and Garlic
It sounds so simple — roasted cabbage with a garlicky caper oil — but the resulting dish is anything but plain. Sharp from briny capers and unapologetically pungent from the garlic, with a bold kick of zesty lemon, the flavored oil serves as both a marinade for the cabbage and a finishing glaze. As the cabbage roasts, it turns savory and caramelized while the capers develop a crunch. Make this dish heartier by roasting chickpeas alongside the cabbage, serve alongside a protein like quinoa or pan-fried tofu, toss through pasta, or simply serve with bread to mop up every last drop.
Broken Egg Salad
This dish has all the elements of a classic egg salad — eggs, mayonnaise and mustard — with one radical change: The cooked eggs are simply torn into deliciously irregular chunks of whites and yolks in a more laid-back approach. Egg salad recipes usually call for hard-boiled eggs, but since they stay largely intact here, this recipe calls for just-set yolks that are golden and jammy at their core. When cooking eggs, every second counts, so make sure you set a timer as soon as the eggs hit the water to avoid overcooking. Eat this egg salad as you would the classic: with bread as a sandwich or tartine, tossed with some chickpeas or grains, or served alongside roasted veggies.
Beef Fried Rice
Fried rice is perfect for easy and fast weeknight cooking, as it is highly customizable and can be made with all sorts of veggies and protein. This beef version employs a traditional Chinese technique of velveting meat that quickly tenderizes tougher cuts. Simply mix the beef with cornstarch and oil (seasoned here with soy sauce) and let stand for 30 minutes (or even just 15 minutes, if that’s all you’ve got) before stir-frying until browned. Feel free to add more vegetables to this fried rice, like shredded cabbage or snow peas. Be sure to have all of your prep ready before cooking, as the process goes quickly.
Miso Matzo Ball Soup
This is a delightful, comforting soup to start your Passover Seder (see Tip) or to serve any time of year. The matzo balls add a festive crosscultural touch to miso soup, a dish so beloved in Japan it’s consumed at almost every meal. Vary the vegetables and tofu as you wish, adding potatoes, onion, carrots, cabbage or really any thinly cut vegetable that you fancy. Fresh ginger and a bit of ichimi togarashi give the matzo balls some punch. Finish the soup with a sprinkle of Japanese shiso leaves, a member of the mint family. For a large crowd, you can prepare both the soup and the matzo balls ahead of time and heat them up separately, combining them just before serving.
Spice Muffins
Deep, complex flavors from molasses and stout distinguish these muffins from the typical sweeter varieties, and nutty brown butter and spices like cardamom, allspice and cinnamon bring a toasty warmth. Those familiar with Jamaican spice bun will be pleasantly surprised to find many parallels between that cake and these muffins. The chewy, spicy tendrils of crystallized ginger — which are optional in this recipe but highly recommended — stand in for the traditional fruit mix and further amplify the ground ginger in the batter.
Spring Garden Pasta Salad
A perfectly quick spring or summer dinner, this recipe draws on Meghan’s kitchen garden in Montecito, Calif., and her fondness for meals filled with vegetables. “Use a healthy dose of garlic, mint and whatever fresh green vegetables you have on hand,” she said.
Tortellini Pasta Salad
Italian sandwiches don’t hold up well, but pasta salads do, so transform your go-to deli order into a make-ahead pasta salad that’s hearty, punchy and not at all soggy. Instead of regular pasta, this recipe uses cheese-filled tortellini for soft, creamy bites. There’s plenty of salami too, of course, along with sweet and sharp roasted red peppers, balsamic vinegar, red onion and arugula. But it’s adaptable depending on your personal preferences: Add more vegetables, such as frozen corn or cauliflower, or briny olives or capers; skip the greenery, or make a grain salad by swapping the pasta for farro.
Huevos Enfrijolados (Eggs in Spicy Black Beans)
Eggs nestled in a spicy, smoky black bean sauce, huevos enfrijolados are a staple of Mexican home cooking. It’s a quick way to make a meal from what’s already in the kitchen: leftover frijoles de olla, chiles and fresh eggs. In this version, canned black beans are cooked with chipotles and garlic until rich and creamy, then eggs are gently dropped into the simmering beans to poach. Served with crunchy tostadas, queso fresco and avocado, it’s a deeply comforting, pantry-friendly meal that comes together in under 45 minutes — perfect for a weeknight dinner or a quick and hearty brunch.
Spinach and Feta Lentil Bowls
These satisfying bowls are heaped with silky greens, spicy lentils, jammy eggs and salty feta. The fact that all of the components are cooked in the same pot and can be refrigerated for the week is nice, too. The greens are cooked like horta, a Greek dish of boiled wild greens often finished with olive oil and lemon. Using a mix of spinach and bitter greens, like kale or mustard greens, creates a juicy and bittersweet combination. The lentils, dressed with oregano and crushed red pepper, provide a tender base for the toppings, but grains would work, too. And feel free to embellish further with sliced raw fennel or carrots, toasted nuts or a dollop of cottage cheese.
Tinned Fish Hand Rolls
With tinned fish, tender rice and mixed vegetables, these meal-worthy hand rolls are all at once rich, fresh, crunchy and tender. They’re also pantry-friendly and customizable: Crack open a tin of any assertively-flavored fish (save the canned tuna for spicy tuna) and slice any mix of crunchy vegetables. (Pro tip: Baby carrots stay juicier in lunchboxes than regular carrots.) Clementines may be a surprising addition, but sweet citrus and oily fish are a common duo in Persian, Mediterranean and Mexican dishes. Try to use toasted nori sheets if you can; nori snack sheets are more brittle.
Mushroom and Egg Donburi
There are many different types of donburi, a Japanese rice bowl topped with some combination of meat and vegetables, including gyudon (beef), katsudon (pork) and oyakodon (chicken and egg). In this meat-free version, which was inspired by oyakodon, mushrooms and leeks simmer in a dashi-based sauce before beaten eggs are poured over and cooked until custardy. The combination of mushrooms and leeks is especially satisfying because it doubles down on the savory and sweet contrast in the sauce, but vegetarian versions of oyakodon are also frequently made with cubed tofu or other thinly sliced vegetables and egg. To keep it vegetarian, use fish-free dashi, which can be purchased or made with dried shiitakes and kombu. (You can add the rehydrated shiitakes to the mushroom mixture.)
Honey-Garlic Salmon With Grapefruit
A flurry of chopped fresh parsley, lemon zest and garlic, gremolata is an Italian condiment that can brighten luxuriously meaty dishes like osso buco, or just about anything else that skews rich, including buttery roasted salmon fillets. This creative take on the classic garnish swaps the lemon with grapefruit, using both zest and fruit. Add the optional mint to the equation for additional brightness. Not one bit of the citrus is wasted: The juice is reduced and combined with honey and garlic to make a sweet glaze for the fish that offsets the bitter notes of the parsley and fruit.
Sweet Potato Cornbread
Old-school Southern cornbread is good anytime and anywhere, but make it a bit more surprising with sweet potato. This cornbread is seasoned with caramelized sweet potatoes and warm spices, then smeared with a delicious sweet potato-brown sugar butter that’s reminiscent of classic sweet potato pie. To save time and energy, a can of sweet potato stands in for fresh ones that require roasting. When jazzed up by caramelizing in a skillet, its flavor instantly changes from back-up dancer to star.
Salpicón de Pescado (Spicy Citrus-Marinated Fish)
In Mexican cooking, salpicón is a dish of fish, shellfish or meat mixed with chopped vegetables and tossed in an aromatic dressing. In the Yucatán, salpicones are flavored with sour orange juice and habaneros. In this version, quick-roasted fish fillets are tossed in lime and orange juice to mimic that tropical flavor. The fattiness of the fish and avocado tame the heat of the habaneros, but if you are sensitive to spice, use half of a habanero or look for habanadas, a chile that tastes just as sweet and floral as a habanero but with zero heat! You can serve this dish right away while the fish is still warm, or refrigerate the fish and pico de gallo separately for a few hours — the flavors only get better. Then mix together cold for parties, picnics or a day at the beach.
Mushroom Quesabirria Tacos
Rich with melting cheese, chiles and spices, these crispy mushroom tacos aren't trying to imitate their meaty counterparts — they're creating their own kind of magic. Birria, a true delight from Jalisco, Mexico, traditionally features beef or goat braised in chile-spiced broth until tender and served as a rich stew. As the dish traveled north to Tijuana's famed taqueros, it was transformed into cheese-filled quesabirria tacos, which became a smashing success. While tomatoes aren't traditional in most birria, they bring welcome depth to this vegetable-forward adaptation. The soul of this dish still lies in its rich consomé, a broth made with a pared-down blend of chiles and spices that is a perfect backdrop for meaty, tender mushrooms.
Seco de Pollo (Ecuadorian-Style Chicken Stew)
This lush, rich Ecuadorian stew belies its name, “seco,” which in Spanish means “dry.” In this recipe from the cookbook “My (Half) Latinx Kitchen: Half Recipes, Half Stories, All Latin American,” Kiera Wright-Ruiz boosts the flavor by first browning the chicken in a pot to a golden veneer, then gently sizzling a pulverized sofrito of onion, garlic and bell pepper in its rendered fat, scraping up the lovely dark bits. Traditionally, the chicken was simmered in chicha, a fermented alcoholic beverage often made with corn, yuca or quinoa, but a simple lager will do here, bringing a mellow, malty depth. The beer’s trace bitterness is offset by tomatoes and naranjilla, also known as lulo, a small indigenous fruit that’s lime-sour and oozily tart like a pineapple. (You may substitute freshly squeezed orange juice.) Submerged in broken-down tomatoes, naranjilla and beer, the chicken lounges, loosens, relents. At the very end, there’s a splash of vinegar to snap everything into focus, and cilantro by the fistful, clean and bright.