Main Course
8665 recipes found
Spicy Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli Rabe
This dish uses one of my favorite techniques for cooking just about anything quickly: high-heat roasting. All you do is spread seasoned protein and vegetables out on one rimmed baking sheet and roast everything at the same time. Here I’ve paired shrimp with broccoli rabe, which cook in about 10 minutes flat.
Smoked Salmon Chowder
There is a recipe for lox chowder in Mark Russ Federman’s charming memoir of his family's appetizing business on the Lower East Side of Manhattan: “Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes From the House That Herring Built.” I put a version of it into The Times in 2013. The soup tastes best made with the store's smoked salmon trimmings, which offer a lot of fatty, flavorful bits from up around the fish’s collar (and cheap, too!), but a number of test runs using supermarket smoked salmon offered evidence that the soup is still terrific when made outside the five boroughs of New York City, with a fantastic smokiness tempered by the sweet flavors of potato and leek.
Quick Tomato, White Bean and Kale Soup
A hearty bean soup does not always require hours on the stove. Using the canned variety cuts the cook time down drastically for this colorful recipe, which takes no more than an hour start to finish. You can save even more time by tackling some prep while starting to sauté the soup.
Pan-Cooked Celery With Tomatoes and Parsley
You can serve this as a side dish or as a topping for grains or pasta. It is adapted from a recipe in “Cooking From an Italian Garden,” by Paola Scaravelli and Jon Cohen.
Scotch Broth with Kale
Here is a fairly basic recipe for stew, a low-and-slow variety that calls for simmering lamb (though you could use beef) with barley and root vegetables, then adding some kale at the end so that it doesn’t entirely collapse. It’s a simple equation that takes in whatever ingredients you have on hand. Start with meat, sturdy root vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, rutabaga, parsnip, carrots) and grains (barley, wheat berries, farro), add water and simmer away. Then add kale, cabbage, spinach or chard. Dinner!
Lamb Curry With Basmati Rice
This wonderfully spiced dish is halfway completed before you start cooking. I’ve slowly begun to realize that my most successful lamb dishes were made from what was left over from a meal of lamb shanks. When braising season began, I cooked two sizable lamb shanks and, of course, enjoyed them. But I really got into it over the following couple of nights, when I wound up using them to create marvelous meals.
Makhani Dal (Butter Dal), Mogul-Style
Spaghetti Carbonara
This dish is a deli bacon-egg-and-cheese-on-a-roll that has been pasta-fied, fancified, fetishized and turned into an Italian tradition that, like many inviolate Italian traditions, is actually far less old than the Mayflower. Because America may have contributed to its creation, carbonara is Exhibit A in the back-and-forth between Italy and the United States when it comes to food. Remember: the main goal is creaminess.
Split Roast Turkey
Quiche With Herbs and Goat Cheese
This green quiche laden with herbs and with thin slices of fresh goat cheese baked on top has a Gallic rusticity. A proper quiche (also known as a tarte salée, or savory open pie) should have really good pastry and contain a soft, tender eggy custard. It should be light enough to serve as a first course, or in larger portions for a simple main course. It should be something to sing about.
Pasta Salad With Roasted Eggplant, Chile and Mint
This is a pasta salad, but it is not the mayonnaise-slicked, droopy-noodle kind found on salad bars. To bring out the soft meatiness of the eggplant, roast cubes of it until they collapse into a caramelized heap, and toss them with chopped raw tomatoes and a handful of salty capers. Then dress the vegetables and pasta in the pungent, spicy oil, which is rich with anchovies, browned garlic and chiles, a strong contrast to the sweetness of the tomatoes and eggplant.
Stir-Fried Chinese Broccoli and Chicken With Hoisin
The extra step to “velvet” the chicken is worth it for such tender, succulent chicken. I always look for sustainably raised chicken.
Lentil Stew
Cheesy Bacon Pasta
Stewed Beans
Pasta With Pesto
Pesto Pasta
Toasted walnuts (or pine nuts), a fistful of fresh basil, Parmesan, garlic and olive oil is all you need for a simple and practically perfect pesto that tastes like the best of summer.
White Bean, Summer Squash and Tomato Ragout
Serve this hearty ragout on its own or with pasta or whole grains.
Kerala Beef
A marinade of garlic, ginger and chili powder meet the strong flavors of tamarind concentrate, garam masala, coriander and turmeric in this spicy beef dish. Once the spices are toasted, the beef is quickly seared over high heat in a second skillet, then transferred to cook among them. Serve it topped with cilantro for bright bite to contrast the beef's earthiness and heat.
Egg Batter Pan-Fried Flounder With Green Garlic
For savory, moist, delicate flounder, it is difficult to beat this fast, easy method. Lightly coat the fillets in flour, then dip them in a mixture of beaten egg and milk. Slide them into a hot skillet filled with oil to a 1/4-inch depth and let them fry until golden, a mere two minutes or so per side, without jostling them around too much. Serve with a sauce of green garlic cooked in butter, with the juice of half a lemon providing a jaunty, bright finish. A sprinkling of chopped parsley makes for an elegant presentation, lifting an already elevated weeknight dish. Use fluke or sole in place of the flounder if you’d like, or scallions for the green garlic.
Frank de Carlo's Black Chickpea Soup
Splayed Roast Chicken With Caramelized Ramps
It may not seem possible to improve on roast chicken cooked in a very hot cast-iron skillet, an easy method that yields a moist, evenly cooked bird. (The thighs, which needs more cooking time, are pressed against the pan, which allows them to cook as quickly as the breast meat.) But here’s a recipe with a clever tweak on that method, one that’s easier than spatchcocking (or butterflying) the chicken, and that makes for a even faster-cooked, juicier bird. Preheat the skillet in a 500-degree oven for about 45 minutes, letting it get blisteringly hot. Meanwhile, take the chicken and snip the skin that connects the legs to the body, splaying the legs open until you feel the joints pop on both sides. Very carefully transfer the chicken to the pan, pressing the legs down into the surface. Ramps, garlic and capers tossed into the pan juices toward the end of the roasting time make for a bright, sweet and salty sauce. A cast-iron skillet is a must here, and if you don’t have one, it’s a worthwhile, and inexpensive, investment. (Watch the video of Melissa Clark making splayed roast chicken here.)
Italian Tomato Sauce
