Main Course
8665 recipes found
Sabudana Khichdi (Maharashtrian Tapioca Pilaf)
Sabudana khichdi, which loosely translates to “tapioca mixture,” is a delightfully chewy Maharashtrian pilaf studded with the crunch of toasted peanuts, creamy bits of potato, and the occasional cumin seed. A hit of sweetness is balanced with salt, lemon and the alternating flames of ginger and green chile, and then everything is showered with a generous amount of chopped cilantro. The result is seductive in both texture and flavor. The key to this simple dish is to thoroughly soak the sabudana, or medium-sized tapioca pearls, until you can easily smash one between your thumb and forefinger. Then, use a microwave to cook the sabudana, stopping to check for doneness in 15-second increments. As soon as the pearls are translucent and chewy, they’re done.
Grilled Fish With Salsa Verde
This parsley sauce, made with capers and garlic, is a perfect complement to mild-tasting cod. You could use other fish, or try the sauce on grilled meat, chicken or vegetables. No grill? Broil the fish instead: Put it on a sheet pan, position the oven rack about 4 inches or so below the broiler and heat it to high. Cook the fish for just a few minutes; there's no need to flip it, and it will cook fast.
Chicken Steam Roast
Traditionally served at wedding banquets in Pakistan, the chicken steam roast has found its way into Punjab’s street food scene, and the recipe is replicated by home cooks all across the country. Marinated chicken legs steam slowly in their own juices in a deep pot with a little bit of fat. A tawa or thin metal griddle (a metal comal would also work) is used to temper heat from the stove so it can be applied evenly and for longer. Steam accumulating in the closed pot raises its temperature high enough to cook the chicken through. Patience and faith are key ingredients in this recipe. Resist checking on the chicken periodically and have some faith in the cooking process; you’ll ultimately be rewarded. The result: tender, flavorful, falling-off-the-bone chicken legs.
Shrimp Creole
Much like gumbo, this shrimp and tomato stew starts with a roux that thickens and adds a distinct flavor (though many takes on shrimp Creole skip the roux altogether). Next, the “holy trinity” of Creole cooking — onion, celery and bell pepper — is simmered in the roux. You’ll want to stir the bottom of the pot constantly to prevent the roux from sticking and burning, and make sure to keep a close eye: A burned roux can’t be saved. Creole cuisine relishes improvisation, so feel free to add other veggies or a different protein, or omit the hot sauce and add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in its place. This spicy stew is traditionally served over steamed white rice, but is also delicious served over brown rice or other whole grains, like quinoa.
Linguine With Melted Onions and Cream
This surprisingly elegant pasta dish is also seriously easy. All you need are pantry ingredients and some patience for slowly cooking down the onions until they turn into a fragrant purée. Add a squeeze of tomato paste and a slosh of heavy cream, taste and done. This recipe comes from a book by two excellent home cooks: “The Good Food: A Cookbook of Soups, Pastas and Stews” by Julie Strand and Daniel Halpern, first published in 1985 and reissued in 2018.
Lobster Mac and Cheese
This recipe for lobster mac and cheese, a variation on a classic plain recipe that Julia Moskin published in The Times, is a rich and shockingly flavorful addition to any feast, and requires only a single lobster to serve six or eight. Or try serving it as a main course for a weeknight dinner.
Pasta With Tomatoes, Greens and Ricotta
A ragout is the perfect vehicle for sturdy greens, which stand up to gentle simmering and sweeten as they cook. I usually take a simple Mediterranean approach and simmer the greens with olive oil, tomatoes, onions and garlic. The result is a savory ragout that begs to be tossed with pasta.
Bolognese Sauce
After the death in 2013 of Marcella Hazan, the cookbook author who changed the way Americans cook Italian food, The Times asked readers which of her recipes had become staples in their kitchens. Many people answered with one word: “Bolognese.” Ms. Hazan had a few recipes for the classic sauce, and they are all outstanding. This one appeared in her book “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking,” and one reader called it “the gold standard.” Try it and see for yourself.
Blond Puttanesca (Linguine With Tuna, Arugula and Capers)
Garlic, anchovies, capers and tuna come together in this briny, tomato-less take on the classic pasta puttanesca. The sauce is prepared while the pasta cooks, so you can get dinner on the table in no time. If you want to go the extra mile, roughly chopped green pitted olives would be a nice addition, as would topping the dish with toasted panko bread crumbs tossed with lemon zest. Go ahead, drink that glass of falanghina while you’re cooking.
Spicy Tahini Meatballs With Pita, Cucumber and Avocado
This sheet-pan dinner incorporates elements of koftas, fattoush and shepherd’s salad, but what ties it all together is a tahini sauce made feisty with hot sauce. Some spicy tahini sauce goes into the chicken meatballs, so they stay moist as they roast alongside torn pita, then more sauce gets drizzled over the entire dish, where its fire and creaminess is a welcome contrast to the mixture of cucumbers, avocados, mint, lime and toasted pita. Feel free to adapt the salad based on what you have; other crunchy vegetables, like snap peas or fennel, would be great, as would some chickpeas or briny feta or capers.
Pasta Marinara With 40 Cloves of Garlic
This vegan sauce may use the same ingredients as a light marinara, but it’s hearty like a meat ragù. The richness is created by both the sheer volume of the garlic — 40 cloves — and the way it’s handled. Smash the cloves to peel them easily (or buy peeled cloves), then braise them in oil so their stiff edges give way to a softer, gentler side and their sweet juices infuse the oil. Braised garlic is lovely with roasted chicken, incorporated into mashed potatoes, blended into salad dressing or in a curry. It also goes naturally with canned tomatoes that have been warmed just long enough to wake up their flavor. Think of this recipe as akin to a braised meat ragù, except the browned, slouchy main ingredient isn’t meat, but, thrillingly, garlic.
Dry-Brined Turkey With Sheet-Pan Gravy
For those who want to let the side dishes do the talking, this is the bird for you. Delightfully simple, it’s dry-brined (meaning highly seasoned) with only salt, pepper, some thyme and a little brown sugar, which helps with that golden-brown skin. It’s roasted on a sheet pan, and cut-up onions, garlic, lemon and herbs are scattered in and around the turkey to cook at the same time. They’re excellent served alongside the turkey, and are instrumental in flavoring the sheet-pan gravy.
Salmon
Here's one of the easiest ways to entertain: broil or grill a large salmon fillet, then adorn it with lemon wedges and rosemary sprigs. This recipe marinates the rich salmon in lemon juice, soy sauce and herbs. Serve it with a sharply flavored potato salad (like this one, with red Bliss potatoes and watercress in a yogurt-horseradish dressing) and a large bowl of greens.
Ashure Cereal
According to legend, when his Ark made landfall, Noah’s family threw whatever was left in the larder into a pot and transformed it into ashure, a celebratory pudding of grains, nuts, seeds and dried fruits. The cereal is eaten throughout the Middle East, but especially in Turkey, where the dish somehow transcends typical religious tensions and holds significance for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. But according to Sarit Packer, co-chef of London’s Honey & Co. restaurant, “It’s actually quite disgusting.” Ashure is essentially a porridge, so when it cools down, it gets stiff and gloopy, like cold oatmeal. Guided by her memory of the sugary, crisp grain cereals she tasted when she first visited the United States as a child, Ms. Packer tweaked the recipe. She made a honey syrup spiked with all of the classic ashure flavorings, including cinnamon, cardamom and a spice called mahaleb (available at your local Middle Eastern grocery store or online). She drizzled the syrup over a mixture of puffed wheat, nuts and seeds, and baked the whole thing into a gloriously crisp mass. Her version looks like cross between granola and Cracker Jack, with dark, shiny brown clusters of puffed wheat, almonds, pecans and seeds. It’s somehow simultaneously light and rich, sweet and savory, crisp and full of air. Serve it as Ms. Packer does, over yogurt with fresh berries or pomegranate seeds, eat it as her parents do, drowned in a bowl of milk, or just sneak some out of the bag anytime you want a crunchy snack.
Blackberry-Stuffed French Toast
Whenever you have a little extra time to simmer berries into a simple compote, do — then try stuffing it into hearty French toasts and dusting them with confectioners’ sugar. They’ll almost remind you of a jelly doughnut, even more so if you use brioche hamburger buns as your bread of choice. (But regular white sandwich bread, challah or any other enriched bread works, too.) You can adjust the sugar in the berries, depending on how sweet they are, and, if you prefer a smoother compote, press the cooked fruit through a mesh sieve once cooled to remove any seeds.
Creamy Farro With Crispy Mushrooms and Sour Cream
Similar in texture to a risotto (without the constant stirring), this creamy, saucy farro is about half the work, with almost no technique required. While the porridgelike texture is a delight all on its own, the meaty, golden brown mushrooms and frizzled leeks are the real reason you are here. Using plenty of olive oil to make sure the mushrooms crisp and brown without sticking will be the secret to success in that department.
Pasta With Tuna, Capers and Scallions
There are about a gazillion ways to cook pasta using other pantry staples — things like garlic, bread crumbs, pecorino, capers, olives and especially, canned fish. This recipe, pasta with tuna, anchovies and capers, showered with lots of green herbs and scallions, is one of my family’s household favorites. I like it with a long, thin, twirlable pasta — spaghetti, linguine or bucatini — but you can use whatever pasta you have on hand. Even macaroni works just fine and might even persuade your finicky kid to eat this dish (though, so far, mine abstains).
Cincinnati Chili Con Carne
This recipe for Cincy’s classic chili is an adaptation of one found in the International Chili Society’s “Official Chili Cookbook” by Martina and William Neely. In this version, unsweetened chocolate adds depth, and a splash of vinegar lends a pleasant tang that cuts through the richness. Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey brought it to The Times in 1981, and we’ve updated it here to include the traditional “five-way” serving suggestion: over cooked spaghetti sprinkled with grated Cheddar, kidney beans and diced white onion.
Cheesy Cauliflower Toasts
Trust Ina Garten to take two big food trends — cauliflower and toast — and combine them into something completely fresh. This recipe, adapted from her 2018 cookbook, “Cook Like a Pro,” is a bit like an open-face grilled cheese sandwich with a nutty layer of roasted cauliflower, and spiked with nutmeg and paprika. We made it vegetarian by leaving out the prosciutto, and also lightened up on the cheese. It makes a vegetarian dinner with soup and salad, or a good snack with drinks.
Frijoles de la Olla
There is nothing that feels more like comfort food than a fresh batch of brothy, tender pinto beans topped with cilantro, jalapeños and avocado, and served with warm tortillas. It’s so simple, yet so filling and delicious. Frijoles de la olla are beans cooked in a pot, and here, that pot is an electric pressure cooker, which makes preparation quicker and even more hands-off. Seasonings like dried chiles, garlic and dried mushrooms take the broth’s flavor to another level. For a spicier version, toss in some chiles de árbol, too. You can swap in dried black or flor de junio beans for an equally delicious and rich broth. Any leftovers would be great in enfrijoladas or chili.
Pasta With Andouille Sausage, Beans and Greens
Highly seasoned andouille sausage makes this pasta extra-zippy, while white beans and collard greens give it a rustic flair. They are not ingredients typically used in pasta, but this dish may become part of your regular rotation once you try it. This one-dish dinner is perfect for cold, cozy nights when you want something hearty to stick to your bones, but it will satisfy any time. Swirling in lemon juice and olive oil just before serving adds freshness and ties all of the flavors together.
Miso-Butter Pasta With Butternut Squash
A true love match, miso and butter create a simple yet deeply flavorful pasta that hits all the right notes: sweet, salty and savory. Smashed garlic cloves roast with the squash to gently flavor it, then become silky-soft treasures you’ll discover while eating. Finishing the dish with lime cuts through the richness of the butter, but you can use lemon, too. Try using other vegetables like eggplant, pumpkin or carrots to make this dish your own. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Salmon Roasted in Butter
This simple fish dish is best made with wild salmon, but it works equally well with the farmed sort. It's astonishingly easy. In a hot oven, melt butter in a skillet until it sizzles, add the salmon, flip, remove the skin, then allow to roast a few minutes more. You'll have an elegant fish dinner in about 15 minutes. Don't be afraid to play with herb and fat combinations: parsley, chervil or dill work well with butter; thyme, basil or marjoram with olive oil; or peanut oil with cilantro or mint.
Provençal Salmon With Fennel, Rosemary and Orange Zest
In 1998, Mark Bittman and Katy Sparks, then chef of Quilty's in Manhattan, developed this easy recipe for salmon encrusted with fennel seeds, rosemary and orange zest. It's a simple though sophisticated twist on weeknight salmon. A couple things to keep in mind when making this dish: Make sure you use fillets of equal size. Buy skinned salmon fillet from the thick (that is, not the tail) end of the fish then cut across the fillet to make the four pieces. Also, allow the fish to sit for a while after coating to encourage the fragrant seasonings to permeate the flesh of the fish.