Lunch
2800 recipes found
Orange and Radish Salad
The marriage of radish and orange punches way above its weight as a salad. This version is based on one James Beard collected. Alice Waters, the founder of Chez Panisse, has a recipe, too. So does Paula Wolfert, who dedicated her nine cookbooks to Mediterranean cuisine. Their inspiration came from countless Moroccans who have this salad in regular rotation, often with orange flower water. This recipe leaves it out, opting for a simpler but still refreshing salad that requires careful, precise preparation of the oranges and the radishes to make it shine. If you like, add a pinch of cinnamon to the dressing or sprinkle a bit on top.
Grilled Chicken Skewers
Tuna Mushroom Burgers
I have always had a weakness for tuna burgers, and I like these even more than the classic all-fish burger because the mushrooms assure a moist texture. They are inspired by a recipe by Clifford Pleau, which was presented at the 2015 Worlds of Healthy Flavors conference. If you use sushi-grade tuna for these burgers you might want to just sear them on each side to get a rare, sushi-like interior. If you use ahi tuna, you could still cook them rare, or cook them for about 2 minutes on each side. This will produce a burger that is more well done but still nice and moist. The burgers are delicious either way. Don’t use a food processor to chop the tuna; finely chop with a knife or a cleaver. The texture will be too pasty if you use a food processor. I found that the punch of the wasabi paste dissipated when the burgers were cooked, so add more if desired.
Roasted Cauliflower, Paneer and Lentil Salad
The Indian cheese paneer doesn’t typically show up in salads, but this one from food writer Nik Sharma’s cookbook, “Season,” involves cutting paneer into cubes and roasting it alongside cauliflower for about 25 minutes (though doing so for longer wouldn’t hurt). Paneer maintains its structure in heat, so its skin will come out of the oven charred, its insides still soft. You’ll stir the paneer and cauliflower with green and black lentils, cooked and drained, and scallions, resulting in a pleasing jumble of textures. Drizzle it with a cilantro-lime dressing, which gives the salad a tart kick.
Zuni Café’s Hamburger
Made to exacting standards, the hamburger at Zuni Café, in San Francisco, is legendary. First, grass-fed beef is salted well in advance of grinding, which gives the meat its succulence. Grilled over coals and flipped three times to prevent it from overcharring or becoming tough, the patty is rested, like a roast. It is then served on a toasted square of rosemary focaccia, smeared with handmade aioli and accompanied by Zuni’s acclaimed house pickles: fuchsia-red onion rings and turmeric-tinged sliced zucchini. It is wonderful on its own, but toppings like Shelburne Farms Cheddar, Bayley Hazen blue cheese, grilled onions or portobello mushroom are also available, and most customers can’t resist a heaping plate of shoestring potatoes alongside. It’s perfectly possible to make these burgers at home, but know that the full project involves several recipes, so it’s probably best to spread the work out over a few days.
Slow-Smoked Brisket
This brisket is pretty close to Nirvana for Texas barbecue fanatics who rely on backyard equipment. No smoker is needed, no mops or mesquite — just time and fire and a reliable thermometer. The long, low smoke replicates the results of the bigger, hotter pits used in Central Texas: fork-tender, peppery meat, each bite bathed in drippings and juice. Use potato rolls or thick white bread to soak it all up.
Inside-Out Lamb Cheeseburgers
Grind the lamb for these smoked mozzarella-stuffed patties yourself and you'll be rewarded with burgers that are full of flavor. "Grinding" may sound intimidating, but it's easy and quick to do it at home with a food processor. Then be sure to handle the meat gently. Make the patties with a light hand, and resist the urge to press on them with a spatula as they cook.
White Bean Salad With Roasted Cauliflower
This is the kind of substantial salad that’s nice to have on hand, no matter the occasion. If you have time, it’s best made with large dried white beans, such as cannellini, simmered at home. (It’s great to have a pot of cooked beans in the fridge all summer long, for deploying in salads and soups.) But using canned beans is absolutely OK. The recipe calls for roasting the cauliflower, but it could also be cooked on a grill to impart some pleasant smokiness.
Ham-Cured, Smoked Pork With Cognac-Orange Glaze
Think of this cured, smoked pork loin as ham you can make in a hurry, with 2 days’ curing time and an hour or so of smoking, as opposed to the weeks or even months that a traditional ham takes. Plus, the loin has no bones, so it’s a snap to carve. For the best results, use a heritage pork loin, like Berkshire or Duroc. Depending on your grill, the pork and the weather, smoking time may be as short as 1 hour or as long as 1 1/2 hours. The orange juice in this Cognac-citrus glaze cuts the saltiness of the cure, while the Cognac makes a nice counterpoint to the wood smoke. Besides, brown sugar and orange marmalade go great with salty ham.
White Bean and Collard Soup
This is an ideal soup for roasted stock, if you're able to make some. Other beans you can use in this recipe: split peas, black-eyed peas, pinto or any pink bean, or black beans.
Marinated Mozzarella, Olives and Cherry Tomatoes
This simple dish of marinated cherry tomatoes, olives and mozzarella is best, of course, when cherry tomatoes are in season. That it gets better as it sits is a boon: Bring it to potlucks or picnics, or simply let it sit in your refrigerator, a satisfying lunch at home. A generous handful of basil leaves, sprinkled atop just before serving, gives everything a bright, herbal finish. You’ll want to make this all summer long.
Baltimore Pit Beef Sandwich
Lemony White Beans With Anchovy and Parmesan
These white beans, adapted from Alison Roman's cookbook "Nothing Fancy" (Clarkson Potter, 2019), could potentially be a whole meal, but they are also great alongside another protein since they pull double duty as both starch and salad. While this dish is beautifully seasonally agnostic, it is a summery dream with grilled whole trout or lamb shoulder, and lots of cold red or white wine, preferably in the sunny outdoors.
Lessons Worth Savoring Spinach Timbales
Braised Chicken With Lemon and Olives
A good cook needs an assortment of chicken dishes to fall back on. Aside from roasting or frying (and in addition to grilling), braising chicken is a simple technique to master. Chicken thighs make the best braises; use skin-on bone-in thighs for the best flavor. Though it could be done on the stovetop, this dish is oven-braised. Here are more recipes using chicken thighs.
Chilled Beet-and-Sauerkraut Soup With Horseradish and Crème Fraîche
This recipe — invented by Camino’s Russell Moore because he couldn’t bring himself to discard the salty, pickly liquid left over from sauerkraut — is often on Camino’s menu in the winter. He tells me it is an especially good one to make at home, because so many of us have old jars of sauerkraut cowering in the backs of our refrigerators. If my own refrigerator is any gauge, he is correct.
Cashew Chicken
Cashew chicken dishes have long been a classic of American Chinese cuisine. But Andrew Chiou and Tim Ma, the co-owners of Lucky Danger in Washington, D.C., have noticed it fading from menus in the area. According to Mr. Chiou, the dish is all about textural contrast: the crisp, battered chicken that’s been tossed in a thin, sweet-and-savory sauce; crisp-tender vegetables like celery, as well as softer straw mushrooms; and, of course, the satisfying crunch of cashews. Their version is similar to the famous, deep-fried cashew chicken dish popularized by the chef David Leong in Springfield, Mo., in the 1960s. Enjoy it alongside other dishes as part of a multicourse meal, or just with steamed rice.
Fruit-Stuffed Loin of Pork
Meal in a Bowl With Chicken, Rice Noodles and Spinach
This comforting soup is a simplified version of a Vietnamese phô or a Japanese ramen (using rice sticks instead of somen).
Japanese-Style Beef Stew
This beef stew is loaded with the warmth of soy, ginger, sweetness (best provided by mirin, the sweet Japanese cooking wine, but sugar or honey will do, too), winter squash and the peel and juice of a lemon. These simple and delicious counterpoints make a great stew.
Doenjang Jjigae
A well-executed doenjang jjigae, or fermented soybean paste stew, can be a quiet but powerful exercise in restraint. This simple recipe allows the umami-rich flavor of the doenjang (DWEN-jahng) and the natural sweetness of onion, zucchini and radish to shine. The oil-packed anchovies here may not be as traditional as dried, but they are an effective substitute that I learned from my friend James Park. You can make this dish vegan by skipping the anchovies and swapping the slightly lily-gilding rib-eye steak for cubed medium-firm tofu.
Kasha Varnishkes
Kasha, toasted hulled buckwheat, is not what you would call versatile. But kasha varnishkes — kasha, noodles (typically bow ties), loads of slow-cooked onions and fat — is an amazing dish, one I used to beg my grandmother and mother to make for me, one that shows kasha in a light that does not shine on it elsewhere, at least in my repertory.
Chicken Chop Suey
Chop suey may sound like something your grandmother ate in the 1950s, but this version from China Café in L.A.'s Grand Central Market — a chicken stir-fry enlivened with plenty of bright bok choy — is honest, simple and plainly delicious.
Chicken and Mango Soba Salad With Peanut Dressing
Japanese buckwheat noodles are usually served cold or in a hot soup, but here, they’re given a bright jolt of color and texture. Delightfully chewy soba noodles are combined with chicken, mango, snap peas, cucumber and a spicy peanut dressing for a great warm-weather lunch that’s also picnic-friendly. Serve it alongside any grilled meat or fish, or leave the chicken out to make it vegetarian. To make this ahead, prepare all the salad components in advance, but wait until serving time to combine to keep flavors and textures vibrant.