Main Course
8665 recipes found
Slow Cooker Chipotle-Honey Chicken Tacos
These may be the easiest tacos you ever make, but you’d never know it. The recipe hinges on just two ingredients: canned chipotles and honey, which slowly caramelize together for a glossy and incredibly tasty sauce. You may hesitate because there's so little liquid in the slow cooker with the chicken, but don't worry. That's how it's supposed to be. It allows the sauce to get a little sticky, which is exactly what you want. (Get the pressure cooker version of this recipe here.)
Roasted Tomato Tart With Ricotta and Pesto
Save those wider-than-tall, about-to-burst tomatoes for slicing and showering with flaky sea salt. For this recipe, you want smaller, sturdier varieties like kumato, Campari or petite heirlooms. Brushing the uncooked puff pastry with crème fraîche adds a subtle tanginess that you won’t necessarily notice, but the tomatoes will taste better for it. You might be tempted to skip salting your tomatoes, but don’t: It helps prevent a soggy crust while intensifying the flavor of your tomatoes. This tart is best enjoyed straight out of the oven, at its flaky prime, but it’s also great at room temperature, or even cold, devoured directly from the fridge.
Crispy Baked Chicken
For pull-apart tender chicken with crisp, deeply spiced skin, rub it with a spicy-sweet mix and roast it low and slow while you’re doing something else. Because this chicken is cooked at a moderately low temperature, the spices will bloom but not burn, and the chicken fat will render slowly and completely (which means you don’t need any oil). The smoky rub in this recipe will turn the chicken skin into what tastes like a barbecue potato chip, but you can use other spice blends, too, like garam masala or Montreal steak seasoning. Just be sure your mix includes sugar for browning and salt for accentuating flavors. Whole chicken legs (with the thigh and drumstick attached) provide a more generous portion of juicy meat and skin that shatters, but a mix of drumsticks and bone-in thighs work, too.
Microwave-Steamed Eggs
The reward for this delightful steamed egg dish, smooth and savory, will seem much too high for the effort. Reminiscent of Chinese zheng shui dan, Japanese chawanmushi and Korean gyeran jjim, this streamlined recipe cooks entirely in the microwave. The key to that perfect, soft-set wibble-wobble texture (think silken tofu) is using your microwave at around 500 watts — or half its power on a 1,000-watt machine. This lower heat lets the eggs and broth steam together gently until they cohere into something ethereal, existing somewhere between liquid and solid. More slurpable than chewable, it tastes fantastic as a light starter or breakfast on its own, or for lunch or dinner alongside steamed rice and other dishes to complete the spread.
Grilled Shrimp With Spicy Slaw
Lightly charred, citrusy grilled shrimp are the star of this quick slaw made from a pile of thinly sliced, crunchy green cabbage tossed with a sweet-tart citrus dressing. Cilantro adds bright flavor, and this dish has a bit of spice in the form of fresh jalapeños. They range quite a bit in their heat level, so start with a small amount and add more as you see fit. (You can also add julienned mango to tame the heat, if you like.) Feel free to substitute any quick-cooking protein for the shrimp; grilled chicken thighs or slabs of grilled tofu would work wonderfully. The cabbage will soften as it sits, so serve soon after it has been dressed to maximize its crunch.
Sheet-Pan Paprika Chicken With Tomatoes and Parmesan
This deeply savory, weeknight-friendly sheet-pan chicken is worth buying a new jar of sweet paprika for, especially if you can’t remember when you got the one in your spice drawer (for those Fourth of July deviled eggs several summers ago?).The fresher the spices, the more intensely flavorful the dish. This one is as pretty as it is complex, with a mix of colorful cherry tomatoes and peppers that soften and absorb all the chicken juices as they roast. Serve it with something to catch the saucy tomatoes: Crusty bread, polenta or couscous all work well.
Liang Ban Qie Zi (Eggplant With Garlic, Ginger and Scallions)
The Shanghainese dish of seasoned and steamed eggplant is typically served cold, but this version can also be eaten warm or at room temperature. Steaming eggplant is a revelation — it brings out the vegetable’s gentle, earthy flavor and creates an astonishingly silky, light texture that soaks up sauces efficiently. Here, the eggplant is topped with an aromatic mix of garlic, ginger and scallions, which release their intoxicating fragrance when hot oil is poured over. Regular globe eggplant is fine, and long Japanese or Chinese eggplant works just as well (use the same weight). A steamer insert, bamboo steamer or stainless steel trivet is a smart investment that makes steaming in a wide, deep skillet simple, but you can also use stainless steel cookie cutters or balls of aluminum foil. Use tamari in place of soy sauce for an easy gluten-free substitution.
Vegan Caesar Salad With Crisp Chickpeas
There are many ways to mimic the rich, creamy texture of emulsified, egg-based Caesar dressing: Tofu, vegan mayonnaise, aquafaba whipped with oil, the list goes on. Blended raw cashews prove themselves the best base in this version, which is fortified with garlic, mustard, miso paste and caper brine to achieve the tangy-salty-punchy balance found in the real deal. Crisp chickpeas and hand-torn croutons add a crunchiness that plays well with the velvety dressing.
Basil and Tomato Fried Rice
Summer’s dynamic duo of tomato and basil make a surprising appearance in this aromatic fried rice. The tomatoes cook down slightly and become sweeter, coating the rice in their vibrant, sun-kissed juices, while basil adds a peppery perfume. This recipe is very adaptable, so make it your own. Use any tomato variety you like. Add more or less basil, or use Thai or holy basil in its place for even bolder flavors. If you want more heat, leave the seeds in the chiles. Finally, for a fresh element, serve with cucumber slices and a lime wedge on the side.
Sheet-Pan Roasted Salmon Niçoise Salad
Here, the classic French salad becomes an elegant dinner, with mustard-glazed salmon in place of tuna, roasted vegetables and jammy eggs served over a jumble of salad greens tossed with a red-wine vinaigrette. Roasting the vegetables, rather than serving some steamed and some raw as you would for a traditional Niçoise, gives this dish great texture and a delicious contrast of temperatures. The vegetables and salmon are roasted on a single sheet pan, making this an elevated take on the one-dish dinner — fit for company and easy enough for a weeknight.
Sheet-Pan Chicken With Apple, Fennel and Onion
Chicken thighs are roasted with classic fall ingredients for a quick, flavorful sheet-pan supper. The toasted fennel seeds subtly amplify the anise flavor of the roasted fennel and play nicely with the apples and onions. Look for an apple on the tart side as it will naturally sweeten as it cooks in the oven. If you want to use bone-in chicken breasts you can, just make sure to cut the cooking time by a few minutes so they don’t dry out. Serve with a bright, bitter green salad flecked with blue cheese and toasted walnuts.
Tomato-Butter Pasta
When you have ripe, perfect tomatoes that you want to enjoy without much fuss, this is the pasta to make. (If your tomatoes are tasteless, your pasta will be too, so don’t try this with the off-season grocery store variety.) It’s inspired by pan con tomate, in which grated tomato and its juices are spooned onto garlic toasts. Here, with vigorous stirring, grated tomato and cold butter form a glossy, light, pretty-in-pink sauce that tastes of sweet, just-cooked tomato. The red-pepper flakes, garlic, basil and Parmesan bring out the flavor of the tomato, and while there are plenty of other ways to embellish further, you don’t need to: This is lazy, easy summer cooking at its best. (P.S. Leftovers make a great room-temperature pasta salad.) To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Spicy Turkey Stir-Fry With Crisp Garlic and Ginger
This quick-cooking stir-fry is packed with umami from fish sauce and soy sauce, and heat from both red-pepper flakes and fresh chile. Pungent and herbal, it’s a terrific weeknight dish that’s fast but never bland. The key here is to let the turkey get deeply brown, so don’t move it around in the pan too much. Serve it over rice for a substantial meal, or a bed of crisp lettuce if you want something lighter.
Nasi Goreng Ayam (Indonesian Chicken Fried Rice)
Nasi goreng, which translates to “fried rice,” is one of Indonesia's best-known dishes, and it’s prepared in numerous ways around the world. Like many other fried rice recipes, this version, from the chef Lara Lee’s “Coconut & Sambal,” blends crunchy vegetables with piquant rice, but the addition of ginger and white pepper offer spice and aroma, while kecap manis, a velvety sauce, adds a slightly sweet balance to the dish. Don’t skimp on the fried egg or the fried shallots; both add essential crunch and texture. This is an ideal for a dinner for two.
Crispy Mushroom Tacos
This simple recipe calls for pan-searing meaty oyster mushrooms so they become as perfectly crispy and golden as chicharrón. Paired with fresh pico de gallo, these mushrooms feel satisfying with their natural umami savoriness. This quick dish tastes like juicy carniceria tacos that balance the richness of fried meat with the acidic punch of salsa. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Creamy Corn Pasta With Basil
There’s no cream in this wonderfully summery pasta dish, just a luscious sauce made from puréed fresh corn and sweet sautéed scallions, along with Parmesan for depth and red chile flakes for a contrasting bite. Be sure to add the lemon juice and fresh herbs at the end; the rich pasta really benefits from their bright, fresh flavors. And while this is best made at the height of corn season, it’s still quite good even with out-of-season supermarket ears, or with frozen corn.
Palmitos Aguachile Verde (Chile-Lime Hearts of Palm)
If you love acid and heat, this is the dish for you. Aguachile, which is a Sinaloa-style ceviche, is made here with serrano chiles and an abundance of lime juice. That combination works perfectly with delicate palmitos, hearts of palm, that have a just-right balance in texture between creaminess and firmness. Pick up the nori sheets in the snack aisle to add just a bit of saltiness that replicates the briny ocean flavors of seafood-based aguachiles. Serve in a bowl with a generous side of tostadas or tortilla chips — and don’t forget the micheladas. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Grilled Summer Vegetables With Tahini Dressing
Start up the grill for a crowd-pleasing platter of vegetables from the garden or farm stand. Take care to keep the fire medium-hot, so you can cook the vegetables without letting them become scorched or blackened. A bit of char is nice, of course, but don’t try for perfect grill marks. Remove vegetables from the grill when they are just done. They’re topped with a garlicky, lemony tahini dressing that serves as a perfect accompaniment.
Caramelized Plantains With Beans, Scallions and Lemon
Bright and earthy flavors complement each another in this easy dish in which cooked beans are tossed with lemon zest, olive oil and cayenne, and roasted sweet plantains are coated in a brown sugar, ginger and lemon glaze. Go with ripe plantains for this recipe, yellow and spotted with large black dots. You’ll need your oven's broiler setting to help caramelize the sugary coating on the plantains, and to char the scallion garnish. This dish is the perfect breakfast topped with a jammy egg, a quick lunch over a bed of fresh greens, or a satisfying side to roast chicken.
Gado-Gado
Gado-gado is a beloved dish across Indonesia. Each region has a different spin: In Jakarta, it is a “double-carb” dish, featuring both potato and lontong (rice cakes). In West Java, it is known as lotek atah or karedok and served with raw vegetables. At the heart of any gado-gado is the spicy peanut sauce: Some versions call for tamarind, lime, terasi (shrimp paste) or coconut milk. Others use peanut butter instead of freshly pounded peanuts. This particular recipe is inspired by a home-cooked gado-gado eaten in Bali, where the rich, aromatic sauce was powered by shallots and garlic. Its sweetness comes from kecap manis, the thick, caramelly soy sauce foundational in Indonesian cooking, but, if you can’t find kecap manis, make your own (see Tip) or use sweet soy sauce.
Tomato and Peach Salad With Whipped Goat Cheese
Whizzed in the food processor with some heavy cream and lemon zest, earthy goat cheese becomes rich and creamy, the perfect complement to juicy peaches and tomatoes. Fresh purslane, if you can find it, provides a slight crunch to the salad, but mâche or watercress would also work well. You could also tear up some basil, parsley or other tender herbs you have lying around and toss those in just before serving. Colorful, fresh and easy, this salad works as a starter, a side or a summery supper, piled on top of grilled bread.
One-Pot Rice and Beans
Not only is rice with beans adored the world over (see: gallo pinto, khichdi, hoppin’ John and Caribbean rice and peas), it even has its own Wikipedia page. This deeply flavored rendition is inspired by these comforting traditions and a desire to wash as few dishes as possible: The rice cooks with the beans and the starchy liquid they’re canned in. As the two ingredients cook together, the beans disperse and glom onto the rice. For an extra kick, sauté chopped jalapeño with the onions, or add 1/4 cup salsa with the stock.
Baked Tofu With Peanut Sauce and Coconut-Lime Rice
A spicy, fragrant peanut sauce reminiscent of the groundnut stews that are popular across West Africa anchors this recipe. Any protein would be lucky to be doused and marinated in it, but tofu soaks up the peanut sauce’s flavors and chars up nicely upon roasting. The tofu’s neutral flavor allows the other flavors in the dish to break through. Red miso and fish sauce provide umami, honey lends a subtle sweetness and the lime zest in the coconut rice brightens it all. Finished with pickled peppers and fresh sliced scallions, this dish comes together to make an exciting but quick weeknight dinner.
Superiority Burger’s Crispy Fried Tofu Sandwich
Ranging from silken and creamy to firm and chewy, tofu comes in many forms and is prized around the world for its versatility. In this recipe, which is adapted from the “Superiority Burger Cookbook” (W.W. Norton & Company, 2018) by chef Brooks Headley, extra-firm tofu is pressed, marinated, breaded and fried, to make the “tofu-fried tofu” sandwich at Superiority Burger, his popular vegetarian restaurant in New York City. To achieve a dense tofu patty with plenty of flavor and bite, Mr. Headley starts with extra-firm tofu, presses out any excess liquid, then marinates it in a spicy pickle juice brine. It’s then double-battered and deep-fried until crisp. This sandwich is best enjoyed on a sunlit stoop in the East Village, just steps outside Superiority Burger, but it’s also achievable in any home kitchen.