Lunch
2804 recipes found
Pan Bagna
Celery and Walnut (or Hazelnut) Tzatziki
Tzatziki, the creamy Greek salad made with cucumber, yogurt and lots of garlic is already one of my favorite dishes, and I think I may like this adaptation made with celery even more. The celery never loses its crunch or distinctive flavor. Walnuts and walnut oil add another dimension, which is nutty and crunchy. You could also try something new and use hazelnuts and hazelnut oil. Serve this as part of a mezze spread, as an appetizer or as a salad.
Shortcut Banh Mi With Pickled Carrots and Daikon
Authenticity is not the goal of this banh mi. Nor is coming up with a newfangled variation. This is a sandwich that, with quick work, maintains the porky-pickled-fiery essence of a classic banh mi with easy-to-find ingredients.
Grilled Halloumi and Minted Zucchini Sandwiches
Halloumi, a Greek cheese, has a squeaky texture and high melting point and maintains its bounce even if you grill it or sauté it to a golden crust — which is exactly what you’ll do for this riff on a simple cheese sandwich. Fresh baguette, grilled zucchini and onion, the soft-crisp cheese? It is a sandwich rich and savory enough for dinner.
Veal, Tuna and Caper Sandwich
Seared Tuna, White Bean and Fennel Salad
Rich tuna and creamy white beans are the foundations of a favorite warm-weather Mediterranean salad, often accented with tomatoes and onion. Here, well-seasoned tuna fillet is instead seared rare in a cast-iron skillet, though it could also be grilled over hot coals. But feel free to use best-quality canned tuna, and skip the cooking altogether. The crisp, thinly sliced fennel adds freshness and mirrors the fennel seed in the seasoning.
Roasted Asparagus and Scallion Salad
In this hearty, many-textured salad, soft, roasted asparagus is tossed with chewy whole grains and crisp, sweet caramelized scallions. You can use freekeh or farro here for the grains. Both are whole-wheat kernels, but the freekeh has a slightly smoky note from being toasted, while the farro is nuttier-tasting. You can prepare the freekeh or farro ahead and let it marinate in the dressing for up to six hours, but it’s best to roast the asparagus and scallions within an hour of serving. Don’t use pecorino Romano here, it’s too sharp. If you can’t find a young pecorino, use a young manchego or even a nice Cheddar, and serve this as a light main course or a salad course to a more substantial meal.
Grilled Eggplant, Peppers and Onions
The happy mix of eggplant, peppers and onions is found throughout the Mediterranean. Cooking the vegetables over hot coals adds a welcome smokiness, but even a stovetop grill gives a hint of smoky flavor, so don’t fret if you can’t grill outside. This salad is meant to be served at room temperature. Feel free to make it up to 2 hours ahead.
Macaroni Beaucaire
Orecchiette and Summer Vegetables
Shrimp and Scallop Dumplings
A bowl of Chinese dumplings is always welcome, whether served in broth or, like here, simply dressed with rice vinegar and spicy sesame oil. It’s no trouble at all to chop and season the filling, and store-bought wrappers are easy to stuff and seal. Four minutes in boiling water is all it takes to get these bright-tasting shellfish dumplings on the table.
Cold Tomato Soup with Farro
Farro’s role in this gazpacho of sorts (without the traditional bread thickener), is that of a garnish. It contributes texture and substance to the light summer soup. I spoon about 1/4 cup of the cooked wheat berries into each bowl and also add diced cucumber. The farro sinks, the cucumber floats. When you get to the bottom of the bowl, you’ll find some lingering grains of farro enrobed in the delicious, tangy soup.
Braised Halibut With Asparagus, Baby Potatoes and Saffron
The whole dish is incredibly easy and follows a classic sear and simmer braising procedure: Sear the fish and set aside, sauté the aromatics, simmer the potatoes until tender, then gently simmer the fish and asparagus with the potatoes until done. Don’t add more than a pinch of salt to the water when cooking the potatoes, otherwise the reduced broth will be too salty.
Fried Green Beans, Scallions and Brussels Sprouts With Buttermilk-Cornmeal Coating
This buttermilk batter fries up to a fluffy/crispy coating. When I was deciding what vegetables I wanted to coat and fry with this batter I knew that I would use scallions and green beans. (I used green beans with almost all of my recipe tests this week) Then I found a half-pound of brussels sprouts that had seen better days in my crisper. I trimmed off the yellowing outer leaves, quartered them, gave them a dunk in the batter and eased them into the hot oil. Now I will never throw out old brussels sprouts again. Okra would also be a good choice for this recipe. You can serve these plain or with any number of dips, either spicy (think Sriracha or chipotle aioli) or Japanese.
Pearl Couscous With Creamy Feta and Chickpeas
Baking pearl couscous with chickpeas, roasted tomatoes and garlic results in a one-pan vegetarian meal that’s cozy and very savory, especially if you use a flavorful stock for cooking. Soft and almost porridgelike in texture, it satisfies the same urge as polenta or risotto. Lemon zest and fresh herbs make it bright, while feta, added at the end, gives the whole thing a creamy richness. Save leftovers to bring to work for lunch the next day; they pack up perfectly. If you feel like you need more vegetables here to round out the meal, serve this on a bed of baby spinach, some of which will wilt on contact with the hot couscous.
Veggie Burgers
Apricot and Almond Tart
French Toasted Apricot Brioche
Garlic Shrimp With Peas
Seek out shrimp in the shell and use the shells for a quick, easy seafood broth. Freeze what broth you don’t use in the dish; it comes in handy when you need a seafood broth for a risotto or a stew.
Banh Xeo
Banh xeo are Vietnamese rice pancakes filled with various vegetables and meats. Thin and crispy, the finished pancakes are cut into pieces, tucked into lettuce wraps, and finished with fragrant herbs and a spicy nuoc cham dipping sauce. This recipe features the classic shrimp and pork, using bacon for the hit of smoky flavor. If bean sprouts are unavailable, try finely shredded cabbage instead. The batter can be made two days ahead and stored in the refrigerator. When ready to use, bring it to room temperature and whisk until well blended, adding water if needed to thin the batter. (It should be slightly thicker than the texture of heavy cream.) Banh xeo are best eaten as they are made, but if you need to keep them warm while making all four pancakes, heat the oven to 200 degrees and set a rack over a baking sheet. As you make the pancakes, transfer them to the rack to keep warm.
Deep-Fried Cauliflower With Crispy Dukkah Coating
Deep-fried cauliflower is a Middle Eastern specialty, so why not make it even more Middle Eastern and use a batter made with dukkah, the complex Middle Eastern condiment made with a mixture of nuts, seeds, spices and, in this version, chickpea flour. The batter is thin (you have the option of adding a bit more chickpea flour) but the cauliflower gets just enough of a coating to come out of the oil with a perfect thin crispy shell. Serve it with garlic-laced yogurt or with tahini sauce. In this recipe you have the option of using olive oil, which is traditional; but use a work-horse oil, not the expensive oil you reserve for drizzling and dressing salads.
Supreme Hot Pot
This dish came to The Times in the late 1990s as part of a Chinese New Year story about the author Gish Jen. Growing up in Scarsdale, N.Y., she was “suspicious” of her mother’s cooking. “I mean, I never ate the kind of Chinese food they serve in restaurants.” But she came to love her mother’s family-style Shanghai cooking. This dish is her mother's.
Summer Tomato and Basil Soup With Farro
Creamy Goat Cheese and Cucumber Sandwich
A creamy goat cheese and cottage cheese blend provides satisfying and comforting flavor. I use sumac to bump up the already satisfying and comforting flavor of the creamy goat cheese and cottage cheese blend that blankets cucumbers, celery and dill. My first choice for bread is pumpernickel, but black bread or whole wheat country bread are also good.