Main Course
8665 recipes found
French Lasagne
Nigella Lawson's recipe for savory baked croissant pudding, which goes by the name of French lasagne in her house, uses up stale croissants by having the cook split and stuff them with ham and cheese, sprinkle more cheese over the top and douse them in eggs beaten with garlic-infused milk. Your croissants need not be stale to achieve wonderfully eggy, cheesy results, but if they are fresh, consider leaving them on the counter to dry out first, or even toasting them briefly in the oven.
Breakfast Udon
This bowl of udon is inspired by the delicate noodle dishes often served as the first meal of the day in Japan. A light, savory broth of dashi, soy sauce and mirin provides a gentle kickstart to your morning. Dashi, a simple seaweed-based stock, is foundational to many Japanese dishes, bolstering the umami flavors of the ingredients and providing balance to the overall dish. If you have 10 minutes and a piece of dried kombu in your pantry, make a quick kombu dashi (see Tip), but in a pinch, a lightly seasoned vegetable stock works, too. The jammy seven-minute egg and wilted spinach are enough to make this dish feel substantial, though you could also add slices of pan-fried tofu, tempura vegetable, seaweed or other hearty toppings to transform this into a complete weeknight dinner.
Marion Cunningham’s Lemon Pancakes
These spectacular pancakes, adapted from a Marion Cunningham recipe, are made with cottage cheese, lemon peel and beaten egg whites, which makes them puff up like a soufflé. You have to whip the egg whites using an electric mixer, so this is definitely a weekend or holiday affair, but goodness, are they ever worth it. Serve with blueberries or raspberries and a dollop of plain yogurt.
Bacon, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
Falling somewhere between a frittata and a tortilla española, this breakfast casserole has everything you love about a classic bacon, egg and cheese sandwich: smoky bacon, perfectly set eggs, sharp Cheddar and, if you want (and you definitely do), tangy hot sauce. Thinly sliced potatoes are added for structure and heft, and cooking them will be the most time-consuming part of this whole dish. The great news is that it’s as delicious (if not more so) the next day, rewarmed or not. If you like, you can bake the casserole the night before and refrigerate, covered, when cool. To reheat, cover with foil and place in a 325-degree oven until warmed through, 25 to 30 minutes.
Greek Scrambled Eggs
For a fresh and bright variation on your morning eggs, try strapatsatha, a simple Greek dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. It's as simple as can be: The best, freshest tomatoes you can find are grated on a box grater and reduced a bit, then scrambled with eggs, a little olive oil and garlic. A handful of tangy feta crumbles finishes it off.
Kimchi Omelet With Sriracha Syrup
The ingredient list is short and the cooking method quick and unfussy — so much so that this kimchi omelet doesn’t seem like a restaurant recipe at all. But then you bite in. There is a delicate balance of flavors — sweet, salty, spicy — and textures — soft, crunchy, sticky — that only a skilled chef could so precisely devise. That the ingredients are not expensive and the technique not daunting only makes it more appealing. The premise is simple: you sauté chopped store-bought kimchi in a pan, then add beaten eggs. What elevates this from your standard brunch is the sriracha syrup, made from simmered rice vinegar and sugar spiked with thick red hot sriracha chili sauce (or any other hot sauce). Combined with the kimchi, there’s just enough heat to make your tongue tingle but not burn. For that you can add more sriracha on the side if you like. Or serve it with more kimchi. It makes a hearty breakfast, an unusual lunch or a light dinner. And a simple one, too.
Green Chilaquiles With Eggs
This comforting Mexican dish is made with fried tortillas and salsa. Frying tortillas is easy, but you can use store-bought chips if you’d like; just be sure that they are thick, the type sold in bags at Mexican groceries or tortillerías.
Cornmeal Pancakes With Vanilla and Pine Nuts
Date Smoothie With Brown Rice and Almond Milk
This is inspired by Bryant Terry’s recipe for date-sweetened almond milk, which I came across in his wonderful cookbook “Afro-Vegan.” You could use commercial almond milk, but it will taste much richer if you make your own. Blanch and skin almonds (it goes quickly), soak overnight, blend and strain. The smoothie is a simple one, subtly sweetened by the dates, and mildly nutty. If you want to introduce another flavor into the mix add a half banana. I liked it both ways but I think I prefer the simpler version, so I have made the banana optional.
Sausage Gravy
It may not win any beauty contests, but white sausage gravy is glorious stuff. Ladled over a homemade biscuit, it is classic Southern breakfast fare that will sustain you well past lunchtime.
Classic Diner Breakfast
The beauty of a diner breakfast is that it’s different for everybody, but many consider this the most classic incarnation: eggs, bacon (or sausage) and crisp, salty hash browns. The trick to good hash browns at home: use a very hot, well-seasoned skillet or griddle, since potatoes have a tendency to stick if using stainless steel. Do not worry or fuss over trying to make them too perfect; good hash browns should always look a little unruly — it’s part of their charm. Here, the eggs here are prepared sunnyside up, but over easy, scrambled or poached would be great, too.
Dutch Baby With Bacon and Runny Camembert
Most Dutch babies are sweet and often fruity. Not this one, which is topped with runny Camembert cheese and studded with bacon. It’s savory, golden and perfect for a hardy brunch or light dinner. A word of caution: It deflates quickly, so be sure to serve it as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Ham-and-Cheese Brioche Pudding
Bread pudding, an old-fashioned frugal dessert, usually contains day-old bread, milk, eggs and a bit of fruit, fresh or dried, baked in a sweet custard. This savory version, made with ham and cheese, employs tender buttery brioche. It is easier to make than a quiche, but has a similar delicacy, perfect for lunch or a light supper.
Laurent Tourondel's Favorite Granola
This recipe came to The Times from the chef Laurent Tourondel. The focus is on texture: rolled oats, corn flakes, steel-cut oats and sliced almonds combine for a hefty crunch, while honey, vanilla, cinnamon and orange zest give it a golden warmth. The granola comes together quickly and will bake in 20 minutes or less. Store in an airtight container for a week, but you’ll probably run out before then.
The Original Waldorf Salad
"Millions who never visited the Waldorf owe him a debt," The New York Times wrote in 1950, upon Oscar Tschirky's death. Mr. Tschirky, a Swiss immigrant who became known as "Oscar of the Waldorf," is credited with creating this piece of Americana in 1893, a timeless dish whose popularity has spread far past the Waldorf's exclusive doors and into home kitchens. Over time, variations would include blue cheese, raisins and chopped walnuts, which can be added here alongside the celery and apples. But the original is an exercise in simplicity: four ingredients that have lived on for over a century.
Spanish French Toast
There is French toast, and then there are torrijas, the Spanish version. The origins of both are undoubtedly the same: yet another way to make good use of bread that’s no longer fresh. Though torrijas, like French toast, can be served at breakfast, they can also be a knockout dessert.
Greens Frittata With Mozzarella and Prosciutto
This savory frittata will take about 15 minutes, including the cooking time, putting weeknight dinner on the fast track. Add ribbons of raw greens to beaten eggs, then proceed to make the frittata, flipping it like a big pancake. The greens are cooked in the process, and the flavor is phenomenal.
Herb-and-Olive Frittata
In this recipe, herbs are the focus, but to use herbs on a grand scale, it helps to know which ones work in that role and which ones don’t. Parsley, obviously, works in abundance: it’s clean-tasting, pleasantly grassy and almost never overwhelming. You can add literally a bunch (bunches!) of it to salad, soup, eggs, pasta, grains or beans. The same is largely true of basil, and you can use other mild herbs — chervil, chives, cilantro, dill, shiso — by at least the handful. (Mint is also useful but will easily take over a dish if you add too much of it.) I put most other herbs — epazote, lavender, marjoram and oregano, rosemary, sage, tarragon and thyme — in the category of strong herbs, which must be used more sparingly than mild herbs. You usually don’t want to use more than a tablespoon or so of strong herbs in a dish. This frittata uses generous amounts of both parsley and basil and lesser amounts of dill, mint, rosemary or thyme.
Beet Greens Frittata
The New York City Greenmarket Web site has a handy table that shows what’s available during each month of the year. It tells me, for example, that fresh beets are available from June through November, but that you can count on the greens only through September. Use whatever color beet you choose for this recipes. The red ones will be higher in anthocyanins, the pigment-based phytonutrients that are believed to have strong antioxidant properties. But yellow and pink beets have a lot going for them nutritionally as well. All beets are rich in folates, potassium and the B-complex vitamins niacin, pantothenic acid and pyridoxine. This is one of the most versatile dishes you can make with beet greens. Cut the frittata into wedges and serve as a main dish or into smaller diamonds and serve as an hors d’oeuvre. It packs well in a lunchbox, too.
Chicken With Salsa Verde
Though there are a lot of ingredients in this recipe, it's a straightforward chicken saute-and-sauce combination. Brown the chicken -- dark meat is preferable -- then lightly brown the seeds, then soften the vegetables. The tomatillos, if canned, provide enough liquid; if you're using fresh tomatillos you might need to add a little water or stock, but not much. The chicken simmers in the sauce, and lime juice completes the picture. This is traditionally served with a host of garnishes, which I see as optional but fulfilling.
Egg-in-a-Hole
Unsalted butter, a thick slice of really good white or whole wheat country bread, and a sunflower-yellow, pastured egg is all you need for this utterly perfect meal.
Chicken Matzo Ball Stew
Matzo balls spiced with ginger and nutmeg transform this hearty, earthy stew into a nourishing one-pot dinner, reminiscent of chicken and dumplings but much lighter and simpler to make. The process of chilling the broth and skimming the fat is the only part requiring much attention, but it also means that this meal can be made almost entirely ahead of time. You can use the skimmed fat to add more flavor to the matzo balls, but if you don’t have the time, just use olive oil instead, or buy some schmaltz. If you have leftover Thanksgiving turkey, you can also use it here in place of the chicken, and skip Step 1. Just add enough stock so that the stew is the consistency you like.
Antoni Porowski’s French Omelet With Cheese and Chives
There’s nothing quite like a classic omelet. On Netflix’s “Queer Eye,” Antoni Porowski, the food-focused member of the Fab 5, teaches the people he helps make over how to nourish themselves in an accessible way. This simple but sophisticated recipe, adapted from his cookbook, “Antoni in the Kitchen,” follows in that vein. It requires few ingredients and a dextrous hand: You’ll want to consider your ingredients carefully, and take care to not overmix the eggs. Keep it simple, or add mix-ins. Serve it alone, or pair it, as he suggests, with a favorite salad.
Crème Brûlée French Toast
With a crackling, caramelized brown sugar topping, these custardy slices of French toast resemble crème brûlée. Start them soaking the night before, then pop them in the oven in the morning for one of the most decadent brunches imaginable. Even better, you can bake a pan of bacon at the same time. Just keep your eye on it; depending upon its thickness, the bacon might be done a few minutes sooner than the French toast. Then serve the French toast with more of the pan syrup spooned on top. But skip the maple syrup, which would be overkill.