Main Course
8665 recipes found
Couscous With Tomatoes, Cauliflower, Red Peppers and Olives
Cauliflower is one of the few cruciferous vegetables you find in North African tagines. The spicy tagines make a good vehicle for this nutrient-rich food and are one of the few types of dishes in which cauliflower can be cooked until quite soft and not lose its appeal.
Country Bread With Apples
This is a whole wheat version of a classic Norman country bread. Normandy is apple country and apples find their way into many dishes in this region. I came across the bread in “Bread Alone” by Daniel Leader, and have adapted the recipe. The dough ferments overnight in the refrigerator, and after it has come back to room temperature the chopped apples are kneaded in. It goes beautifully with cheese.
Couscous With Turnips and Sweet Potatoes
Turnips store well and are a vegetable you can count on during the winter. They are rich in sulfuric compounds, particularly glucosinolates, that are believed to have antioxidant properties. They’re also a very good source of potassium. When you can get them with the greens attached, they’re a two-in-one crop, like beets, as their greens bring you a whole new set of nutrients – lots of calcium, vitamin K, vitamin A and beta carotene – and culinary possibilities. Turnip greens are similar in flavor to kale, perhaps a little more bitter, and with a more delicate texture. Winter turnips are not sweet and tender like young spring turnips. They stand up to longer cooking times, so they’re perfect for soups, stews and gratins. But I found them equally welcome in a frittata and a stir-fry. This spicy, comforting couscous demands little in the way of prep time. It’s the long simmer on the stove that results in the tasty broth. As it simmers, the sweet potato falls apart into small bits that tint the broth.
Quinoa, Spinach and Poached Egg
I’m in that third situation a few nights a week, and often all I want to eat is a salad — but a salad with substance. I’m hungry at the end of the day, and dinner is the one meal of the day that I sit down to enjoy in a leisurely fashion, whether alone or in company. I’ve found that one of the most enjoyable ways to bulk up my salads (as well as panini and grain-and-vegetable combos) is to top the dish with a poached egg. Sometimes poached eggs are the centerpiece of my dinner, cooked in marinara or spicy tomato sauce and served with toasted country bread or over rice.
Baghali Ghatogh (Fava Bean Stew)
A popular and beloved stew from northern Iran, baghali ghatogh is an ambassador of early spring produce. Earthy, bright-green fava beans, fragrant dill and an assertive amount of garlic are combined with eggs for a comforting meal. Although shelling and peeling fresh favas is a rite of passage (see Tip), it’s a time-consuming task, given the amount needed here (but if you have the time, go for it!). Frozen fava beans are a worthy substitute, but if they aren't available, you can use canned butter beans or frozen lima beans. Just enough eggs are used to give the stew some heft, but they shouldn’t overwhelm the vibrant flavors of this verdant stew. The eggs can be incorporated two ways: cracked in and poached, or stirred in to break apart. Baghali ghatogh is typically served over rice with a side of smoked fish and pickled garlic, or with bread.
Chicken Koftas With Lime Couscous
This splendid yet easy meal pairs koftas (gently spiced meatballs) and couscous with fresh accents from herbs, limes and crunchy pine nuts. Using a food processor to blitz all the kofta ingredients provides enough friction to help the meat proteins bind and form a much nicer and compact kofta. A similar technique is traditionally employed in India, where ground meat is chopped until it becomes a paste. While the sweet and tart taste of dried cherries are nice here, cranberries are an excellent substitute, bringing a similar spot of brightness to this dish.
Root Vegetable Tagine With Herbed Couscous
A pot of warm, fragrant root vegetables spooned over bright, lemony couscous is as good as gold on a winter day. Studded with chickpeas, raisins and meaty morsels of stewed tomatoes, this dish balances traditional tagine spices — cinnamon, coriander and turmeric — with a bright boost of ginger and lemon. Given a little time on the stove for the flavors to deepen and the vegetables to turn spoon-tender, this tagine is a worthwhile investment. Double it for a week of leftovers. You don’t need a traditional terracotta tagine to pull this dish off. A Dutch oven mimics the same high heat conduction and similarly traps steam to keep the vegetables tender and moist, and bathed in flavor from the broth.
Baked Asparagus With Shiitake, Prosciutto and Couscous
In this satisfying, set-it-and-forget-it spring dinner, asparagus, mushrooms and prosciutto are steamed in a parchment packet under low heat. The technique was inspired by a recipe in Paula Wolfert’s “The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen: Recipes for the Passionate Cook.” The parchment insulates the ingredients, while keeping the temperature steady and allowing the flavors to mingle. Here, the result is tender asparagus infused with earthy and sweet flavors from the mushrooms and prosciutto alike.
Couscous With Tomatoes, Okra and Chickpeas
Okra is popular in the North African cuisines of Tunisia and Algeria, where it is also dried. Because you don’t cut it up, the okra doesn’t become slimy. It contributes great flavor to the stew. Very high in dietary fiber, okra is a great source of vitamins A, C, B complex and the phytonutrients glutathione, xanthin, lutein and beta carotene, all believed to have antioxidant properties. For the best texture and flavor, look for the smallest pods you can find
Cauliflower Salad Sandwiches
Pulling from the greatest hits of chicken salads, with crunchy walnuts, crisp apples, sweet raisins and a spiced mayo-yogurt dressing, this best-of-all-worlds sandwich subs out the chicken for cauliflower. The aggressively roasted cauliflower serves as a sponge, soaking up all the flavors of the dressing while adding layers of bitterness and earthiness. This salad only gets better as it sits, allowing the flavors to meld and the cauliflower to soak up even more dressing. Even once it’s built, this sandwich improves after it has sat for a few hours. Do you plan ahead? This makes an ideal picnic dish. Not sure when you’ll get a chance to eat or where the day will take you? This cauliflower salad sandwich is here for you.
Spicy Butternut Squash Pasta With Spinach
Here’s a vegetable-filled pasta bake that comes together in under an hour. The most time-consuming part of this recipe is prepping the squash. You can buy precut squash, or cut it yourself: Trim the ends so that it can stand up flat. Use a sturdy vegetable peeler to remove the skin. Cut off the bulbous part from the neck. Scoop the seeds out of the bulbous part. Half the squash lengthwise, then cube it. If you’re sensitive to heat, leave out the jalapeños, or remove the seeds before slicing into rounds and placing on top.
Provencal Crown Roast
Stew Peas and Spinners
Jamaican stew peas are ubiquitous to the island nation, and each version is as individual as the person cooking them. Red peas (kidney beans) are mellowed out with coconut milk and stewed alongside beef, pork, chicken or even vegetarian options. Allowing ample time to soak the peas before cooking makes for a streamlined process. And, as ever, your most crucial ingredient will be time. But the more you make this dish, the more it’ll gel alongside your personal preferences: more garlic, less meat, larger peppers or varied herbs. The choices are entirely yours. Spinners, flour dumplings that you roll into ropes between your hands, are essential to making this a full-fledged meal, adding texture and body to the stew.
Seven Vegetable Couscous
Seven-vegetable couscous is a well-known offering at Sephardic Jewish New Year celebrations, but since it's a bountiful, colorful tribute to the harvest, it makes a great meat-free main dish for Thanksgiving as well. Despite the long ingredient list, it's as easy as can be to make.
Pot Roast
At Spoon and Stable, his Minneapolis restaurant, Gavin Kaysen cooks a version of his grandmother Dorothy’s pot roast using paleron (or flat iron roast), the shoulder cut of beef commonly used in pot au feu, as well as housemade sugo finto, a vegetarian version of meat sauce made with puréed tomatoes and minced carrot, celery, onions and herbs. This recipe uses a chuck roast and tomato paste, both easier to find and still delicious.
Giant Couscous Cake With Roasted Pepper Sauce
This savory cake is very versatile in that you could substitute the couscous with other cooked grains, or make use of whatever herbs, cheeses or spices you have on hand. The options to make this cake your own are endless; leftover cooked barley or maftoul, Parmesan and Gruyère, dill or tarragon, toasted cumin or fennel seeds would all work well. Serve with a big green salad for a complete meal.
Salmon and Couscous Salad With Cucumber-Feta Dressing
The dressing in this 30-minute recipe is inspired by green goddess dressing and mast-o khiar, a Persian side dish of cucumbers and yogurt. Here, thick yogurt is combined with fresh herbs, tangy feta and crunchy Persian cucumbers. If you have trouble finding Persian cucumbers, they can be swapped for similarly sweet-skinned English cucumbers or peeled regular cucumbers. Flaking the salmon into the salad evenly distributes it and is a nice alternative to serving a fillet for dinner. Leftover salad can be enjoyed cold for lunch the next day, freshened up with a squeeze of lime juice and more fresh herbs.
Summer Vegetable Couscous With Spicy Pesto
Hearty but not heavy, this stew uses lots of summer vegetables available from the farmers' market. It’s a little complicated to put together, but both the vegetable stew and the couscous can be made in advance, even a day ahead, without suffering. (And if you are short on time, you can skip Step 1 — cooking the dried chickpeas — and use 2 cups canned chickpeas instead.) In season, look for other varieties of sweet peppers besides conventional bell peppers, and colorful tomatoes and onions as well. Even though the directions on most packaged couscous claim it can be cooked in less than 10 minutes, taking the time to steam it further makes it lighter and more digestible.
Merguez and Lamb Couscous
Couscous With Chickpeas, Spinach and Mint
Spinach and chickpeas are a popular combination throughout the Mediterranean. This is one of my favorite couscous tagines. You can also use sturdier greens like chard. If you do use chard, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes rather than the 5 minutes required for spinach.
Savory Butternut Squash Pie
This is a substantial main-course vegetable pie. Use butternut or any other hard squash variety. The pie may be baked up to several hours in advance and reheated to serve. This allows flavors to meld and makes cutting the pie easier.
Three-Bean Soup
Inspired by some beautiful heirloom cannellini beans I had in my pantry, I decided to combine them with the favas that are just about to disappear from markets and the green beans that will be around into the fall. I cook the favas and green beans separately and stir them into the soup a few minutes before serving so they’ll retain their bright green color.
Couscous With Tomatoes, Kale and Chickpeas
The topping for this couscous isn’t too much more complicated than making a tomato sauce with blanched kale and chickpeas added. Reconstitute the couscous, then start the topping. By the time the topping is done the couscous will be ready to steam in the microwave.
The Best Roast Beef for Sandwiches
The best cut of roast beef for sandwiches isn’t necessarily the same as what you’d want hot from the oven. A hot roast demands plenty of marbling so that the rich fat can melt and baste the meat with its goodness. Roast beef sandwiches work better made from a leaner cut, preferably one with a mineral, earthy taste and a nice chew. A top loin roast is ideal. It’s got plenty of brawny flavor, and all of the fat is on the surface, which you can easily trim off after the meat is cooked. Here, the beef is roasted low and slow to ensure rare, juicy meat. This said, if you want a more economical cut, use bottom, top or eye round here instead. Just adjust the roasting time if the cut is larger or smaller. As long as you pull the meat out of the oven when it reaches between 125 and 130 degrees, you’ll get nicely rare meat. More sandwich recipes.