Lunch
2804 recipes found
Potato ‘Salad’ and Tomatillo Tacos
The filling for these tacos can also stand alone as a potato salad, but it’s very nice and comforting inside a warm tortilla.
Turkish Red Lentil Soup
Spaghettini With Spicy Lentil Sauce
Shrimp Gumbo with Andouille Sausage
Most cooks agree that gumbos must have the vegetable trinity of chopped bell pepper, onion and celery, and that they should be highly seasoned. Some gumbos do contain sausage, shrimp and chicken, but there are humbler ones that are made with only salt pork, onions and greens. Finally, there is the filé powder camp. These cooks use copious amounts of the stuff, which is made from finely powdered sassafras leaves. Added at the last minute, it thickens the soup while imparting a flavor that’s earthy and herbal. I confess to using all three — a roux, okra and filé powder — in my own gumbo, which I hope is not sacrilegious. Not having grown up in gumbo territory, I based mine on a number of visits to New Orleans.
Whole Roasted Squid With Tomatillo Salsa
Here’s a tasty room-temperature salad for lunch on a sunny fall day. You can roast the whole squid on a sheet pan in a hot oven, on the stovetop in a cast-iron pan or on a grill over coals. They cook quickly, and are done as soon as the tubes puff up and the tentacles are firm, which takes mere minutes. If you want them browned, leave them longer on the heat source, but they taste perfectly good if cooked pale.
Potato Soup With Indian Spices
This easy vegetarian soup is surprisingly full flavored. (To make it vegan, substitute cooking oil for the butter and ghee.) If you want it more stewlike, use less water; if you want it brothy, use more. It keeps well and actually tastes even better a day or two after it is made. I like to add a pinch of asafetida (also called hing), which can be found in specialty spice shops or Indian groceries and lends a heady aroma that is especially good with potato dishes. Don’t worry if you don’t have it on hand. More important are the sizzled cumin seeds, mustard seeds and garlic (the tarka) added when the soup is finished, which really give the soup its character. If you find the soup too thick upon reheating, just add a splash of water and adjust the salt as necessary.
Charred Okra Salad With Garlicky Yogurt
Broiling okra until golden crisps it nicely throughout and chars it at the edges. In this recipe, it’s then spiced with cumin and turned into a salad filled with herbs, lettuces, tomatoes and other vegetables. Dressed with yogurt and topped with spicy cayenne onions, it makes a flavorful and unusual side dish or a light, vegetable-filled meal.
Linguine With Lentils And Prosciutto
Grilled Chicken On Skewers
Cold Spicy Kimchi Noodles
Could this be the anti-ramen? Either way, it’s my new favorite cold pasta, custom-made for hot summer weather because it is refreshingly and unapologetically spicy. Make the sauce in advance, but wait to toss with the noodles until just before serving. While you could order Korean ingredients online, it’s more fun to go to a Korean supermarket, if only to see all the different types of kimchi. Korean red pepper flakes are without seeds, and only medium hot, so you can use a lot.
Susanna Foo's Grilled Chicken Breasts
Shrimp Pasta With Corn and Basil
This particularly American combination of flavors — shrimp and corn — is light, summery and very tasty, both sweet and slightly spicy. If you are feeling flush, you can make this pasta with lobster instead.
Cheesy Kimchi Noodles
Instant ramen ranks highly among comfort foods because it can be quickly prepared and those little seasoning packets provide lots of flavor with minimal effort. No packets are used in this recipe, but the addition of gooey, melted Cheddar and funky fermented kimchi makes the dish even more satisfying. Sautéed scallions and garlic balance out the spicy Sriracha, soy and sesame sauce, while the runny yolk from a crispy fried egg adds richness and mellows the spice. The cheese becomes sticky as it cools, so these noodles are best served immediately while still warm and glossy.
Slow-Grilled Chicken With Lemon
The secret to grilling chicken is a combination of low heat, indirect grilling (in which the food is set off from, not over, the coals), and a final blast of hot, direct heat.
Saffron Thai Grilled Chicken
Kimchi Noodle Cake
This savory pan-fried noodle cake made with rice noodles (or leftover cooked spaghetti) packs a lot of flavor with just a few ingredients, ideal for a quick breakfast or lunch. The mixture can be assembled well in advance. It’s more steamed than fried, but a crisp bottom is revealed when the cake is flipped. Look for the red pepper paste (gochujang) at Korean markets.
Fufu (Swallows)
Making swallows can be a labor of love. Throughout West Africa, swallows, which are a satisfying accompaniment to vegetable soups and stewed meats, are traditionally prepared by pounding cooked starchy roots or tubers in a large mortar with a heavy pestle. As the vegetables break down, hot water is added and the mixture becomes stretchy and soft, with a texture like yeast dough. All swallows are not fufu, but fufu is the term commonly used in the diaspora to describe the method in this recipe: continuous cooking, stirring and kneading turns finely milled starch into a smooth, elastic mass. The result, like that of the classic method, is notably neutral in taste and always served warm.
Croque Monsieur
In Italy, bricklayers and plutocrats alike eat the same thing for lunch: panini, sandwiches layered with meat and cheese and flattened between two searing griddles. Today they're almost as common as cappuccino in America, albeit much cheaper and easier to make. One affordable panini press, and you're on the fast track to the perfect party food.
Mushroom-Farro Soup With Parmesan Broth
This dish is layered in earthiness and umami thanks to its ingredient list: farro, dried and fresh mushrooms, shallots and Parmesan broth. Farro is a rustic grain, hearty enough to maintain its integrity and stand up to a long simmer. Similar to arborio rice, pearled farro readily releases its starch as it cooks, thickening the broth and marrying the ingredients in a blissful union. A pinch of fennel pollen at the end is a classy move, though absolutely not mandatory.
Greek Skillet Pies With Feta and Greens
The Greek cookbook author Aglaia Kremezi has no problem making phyllo dough at home whenever she makes anything pie-like. With a little practice, anyone can do it. For these simple skillet pies, she recommends grilling them in an iron stovetop ridged pan or on a grate over coals. Filled with feta and herbs, these flat thin-crust pies give a new meaning to grilled pizza.
Winter Squash and Wild Mushroom Curry
This is comfort food, Indian-style, adapted from a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey. It’s also vegan, and perfect for a fall evening. Use a mixture of cultivated mushrooms; they come in all shapes and sizes. Look for royal trumpets, a large, meaty type of oyster mushroom; shiitakes, and small portobellos. Use some wild mushrooms too, if you can, like golden chanterelles, lobster or hen of the woods. You can make this as spicy as you wish, but be sure to include some cayenne and green chile, to complement and play off the creamy coconut milk sauce. Serve with basmati rice, rice noodles or mashed potatoes.
Arugula Salad With Peaches, Goat Cheese and Basil
This simple, quintessential summer salad is a reminder that seasonal ingredients at their very best don’t need much fussing (or much cooking at all, in this case). Here, peppery arugula and earthy goat cheese get brightened with juicy summer peaches, but the recipe can be tweaked to suit all seasons: If you can’t find ripe peaches, you can use cherries, strawberries, plums, raspberries or even cherry tomatoes in their place.
Korean Chilled Buckwheat Noodles With Chilled Broth and Kimchi
This recipe is inspired by the signature Korean summer noodle dish, naeng myung. The traditional dish is made with a strong beef broth. I’m using a vegetarian broth I make with dried mushrooms and kelp, adapted from a recipe in Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everybody.” You could also use chicken stock. The dish can include chicken or meat, or it can be vegetarian, as this version is, with tofu standing in for chicken. It can also be vegan if you omit the boiled eggs. Make the broth a day ahead so that it will be nice and cold.
Grilled Chicken Pita With Yogurt Sauce and Arugula
You might need a few common ingredients from the grocery store — chicken breast, cucumbers, yogurt, herbs — to make this satisfying pita sandwich, but it’s not at all difficult to put together. It’s a year-round favorite. If you’re in the mood to bake, try making your own pita bread.