Party
422 recipes found
Persimmon Salad With Glazed Walnuts and Feta
Here, firm Fuyu persimmons are used in a most satisfying seasonal salad that’s fairly easy to put together. First, you mix up a simple vinaigrette that gets a touch of sweetness from balsamic vinegar (a drop or two of honey wouldn’t be out of place). Then, it’s all tossed with chicories, like radicchio, curly endive or escarole, and homemade glazed walnuts and the result really feels like and looks like fall. Similar salads sometimes add blue cheese, but feta suits this one beautifully. And, if you can’t get persimmons, use pears.
Plum-Cardamom Upside-Down Cake
Turn this easy to make (and easy to love) cake right-side up, and it’s a rustic beauty, generously made with any kind of pear. It keeps well and actually improves the longer it sits. So don’t give big servings. Have a reasonable sliver at the table after dinner and save a nice fat slice for breakfast.
Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken With Squash
This showstopping chicken isn’t weeknight fare, but it turns chicken thighs into something totally special. It features lemon two ways, with a fair amount of lemon juice in the marinade, and thin slices of lemon in the roasting pan as well. Garlic, leeks and rosemary also ensure robust flavor. Then, simply roasted rings of delicata squash, skin and all, lay on top, but if you can’t find it, substitute cubes of another hard squash, like butternut. And, if you’re short on time, you can always prepare it in advance — at least a few hours ahead of serving — and reheat for 15 to 12 minutes in a 400-degree oven.
Charred Broccoli With Anchovy Vinaigrette
Adapted from my cookbook “Let’s Party” (Union Square & Co., 2025), this recipe is a celebration of charring food to extreme crispiness, embracing the briny flavor of anchovies and eating giant chunks of cheese. Peeling the tough outer layer from the broccoli allows you to cut extra-long florets that reach about halfway down the stem; deeply charring them gives them an almost smoky flavor. Cutting the Parmesan into large chunks instead of grating it gives the dish bulky, textural bites. A bold anchovy vinaigrette gives everything a bright and briny coating.
Roast Squash With Crispy Chickpeas and Feta
When it comes to squash recipes, butternut tends to get most of the attention. This recipe, adapted from my cookbook “Let’s Party” (Union Square & Co., 2025), is an unabashed celebration of the lesser-used members of the squash family: delicata, acorn and kabocha. When roasted, all three have a dense and creamy texture, with stunning orange flesh that looks gorgeous stacked on a platter. Roasted chickpeas add a crispy crunch, and a mixture of lightly pickled shallots, cooling mint and salty feta will make you see squash in a whole new light.
Dan Dan Noodle Salad
Turns out, dan dan noodles work well as a salad, in this recipe adapted from my cookbook “Linger: Salads, Sweets and Stories to Savor” (Knopf, 2025), as the signature punchy sauce made with sesame paste and chile oil transforms nicely into an assertive dressing. Curly and chewy ramen noodles cling perfectly to the sauce, but you could really use any noodle you like, including instant noodles, udon or thick rice noodles. Adapt this salad throughout the year by adding seasonal vegetables such as mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, snow peas, spinach or green beans.
Lazy Sugo
You might skim this recipe and think it looks anything but lazy. But compared to the way Samin Nosrat has always made Bolognese, this sugo is a piece of cake. This recipe, adapted from my cookbook, “Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share With People You Love” (Random House, 2025), there’s no soffritto to chop and fry, no endless browning of the meat and no deglazing. You just get everything into the pot with minimum hassle and simmer it until it’s tender, occasionally giving it a stir. The only real effort involves taking the cooked meat off the bone and shredding it, but even that’s a small price to pay for three glorious quarts of rich, meaty sauce.
Miso-Labneh Onion Dip
A few small tweaks to the classic sour cream and onion number yield this truly exceptional dip, adapted from my cookbook, “Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share With People You Love” (Random House, 2025). A little miso paste and vinegar take caramelized onions — already rich in character — to a whole new level. The salt, sweetness, umami and acid balance out the onions’ earthiness and dark caramel notes. Labneh offers a welcome tangy counterpoint to the robustly flavorful onion mixture without sacrificing creaminess. And though it’s best served with potato chips, this dip also works beautifully as a sandwich spread or alongside steak, roast chicken and roasted vegetables.
One-Pot Chicken With Pearl Couscous and Preserved Lemon
Nigella Lawson has mastered the art of creating recipes that balance comfort and appeal — especially when chicken is involved. This recipe, adapted from my cookbook, “Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share With People You Love” (Random House, 2025), is a play on her essential one-pot chicken with orzo. It’s a do-it-all dish that’ll make you feel both satisfied and cared for, whether you prefer dark or white meat; the sweetness of Medjool dates or the funk, salt and acid of preserved lemon; an abundance of braising juices or the playful chewiness of pearl couscous.
Roasted Chicken With Vinegared Grapes
This elegant, company-worthy roasted chicken is seasoned with nutmeg and herbs and served with grapes that have been prepared two ways. Some have been roasted with red onions alongside the chicken, caramelizing at the edges. The rest are briefly pickled in vinegar, providing a sweet-tart contrast to the buttery sauce and crisp chicken skin. Leaving the grapes in small bunches for roasting not only makes a lovely presentation, it also keeps them from rolling off the pan and people’s plates for serving: pretty and practical.
Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Simple but satisfying, these little snack cakes check all the boxes: They have a buttery, vanilla-scented crumb and the perfect amount of chocolate. They look like dessert, but could also make a sweet, transportable breakfast. They are perfect as they are, but if you’d like to dress these cupcakes up for a party, you can dust them with powdered sugar or frost them with some chocolate buttercream.
Sea Bass With Garlic Chips and Salsa Macha
When I visited Veracruz, Mexico, a number of years ago, there was a wonderful seaside restaurant where the specialty was a whole fried fish topped liberally with lightly fried garlic chips, called huachinango (red snapper) al mojo de ajo. (“Al mojo de ajo” can also refer to more complex garlic sauces.) Here, a version of that preparation is employed for fish fillets. First, garlic slices are gently fried in oil until golden, and then the fish is fried in the same oil. The fish is then drizzled with salsa macha, which isn’t traditional but nicely complementary, and tucked into warm tortillas, making for wonderful tacos.
Flan de Coco (Coconut Flan)
Flan, a type of caramel custard and a traditional homemade sweet, is beloved all over Latin America and can be eaten any time of day. And best of all, it’s quite simple to make: The only tricky part is preparing the caramel that coats the bottom of the pan. These days, most recipes call for sweetened condensed cow’s milk, but mine skips the dairy altogether, using two kinds of coconut milk instead.
Avocado-Black Bean Tostadas
Great for a snack or served as an appetizer with drinks, tostadas can be dainty, made with small tortillas and a dab of savory mashed beans and queso fresco, or they can be hefty, like an over-stuffed sandwich. Though you can buy tostada shells in packages, homemade ones are more delicious, and making them is as simple as rubbing tortillas with oil and crisping them in the oven. The better the tortilla, the better the tostada shell. This recipe calls for canned refried beans, seasoned to taste, but by all means use homemade if you are able. Avocados that are ripe but still firm, dressed with lime juice and salt, are key. If you wish, make the pickled vegetables a day in advance.
Cocoa Krispies Treats
Cherry Tomato Spritz
Bright and bubbly, this tomato-infused take on the spritz combines muddled yellow cherry tomatoes with tequila, vermouth and lime. The resulting color is a sunny hue (though if you can find only red or orange cherry tomatoes, feel free to switch them in). For tequila, opt for a blanco over a reposado or aged variety to make the drink more herbal and light. Finally, while the recipe is written without garnish, you can always thread a few cherry tomatoes on a skewer and adorn the glass before serving.
Green Tomato Martini
This pale green, gin-forward martini variation gets both its color and lightly earthy, vegetal flavor from tomato water made exclusively with green tomatoes. If you’re looking to tint your drink another color, feel free to swap in yellow or red tomatoes when making the tomato water, which takes very little effort but does take time. Save leftover tomato water in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days and use in other rounds of martinis, combine with a light beer and a little hot sauce over ice, or use in place of water in lemonade.
Sherry-Tomato Cobbler
Muddled fresh tomatoes and sweet-savory tomato simple syrup create layers of flavor in this summery take on a classic sherry cobbler, and a dry, nutty amontillado sherry adds even more complexity. To make the crushed ice at home, simply add standard ice cubes to a bag, wrap in a towel and crush with a rolling pin.
Madhur Jaffrey’s Goan Shrimp Curry
Madhur Jaffrey has published several iterations of this recipe in her cookbooks. This version, from her MasterClass course, is a full-flavored but very easy to prepare curry, perfect for a novice cook. The coconut milk-based sauce may be prepared in advance and the shrimp added just before serving.
Tomato and Cucumber Salad
This adaptation of a Madhur Jaffrey recipe is lovely in its simplicity. Yellow or gold cherry tomatoes are especially summery here, but any color of tomato will work — as will large ones, sliced or wedged if you wish. But try, if you can, to find the curry leaves at an Indian grocery. They add a subtle fragrance.
Gelo di Melone (Sicilian Watermelon Pudding)
Adapted from a recipe by Fabrizia Lanza, this is a traditional Sicilian recipe for a refreshing chilled watermelon dessert, probably originally derived from an Arabic sweet. As there are similar Indian and Persian watermelon confections, it seems a natural finish to this meal. In Sicily, it is typically perfumed with jasmine blossoms. A drop or two of fragrant rose water would be a welcome addition.
Tomato-Pepper Salad With Tapenade
This is perfect Provençal summer fare, with all the sweet flavors of the season. The tapenade, a pungent combination of olives, garlic, capers and anchovy, can be prepared by hand or in a food processor and can serve as a base to a bright salad of tomatoes and peppers. And it’s an ideal condiment for keep on hand, to pair with bright salads or serve over warm garlic toast.
Pesto Pasta With Corn and Green Beans
Fresh summer green beans are the best, and, if you can get them in your own vegetable garden, all the better. They’re most tender when picked on the small side, so aim for that in the garden and at the farm stand. Here, they combine with sweet corn kernels and a basil pesto for a luscious summer pasta that also happens to be nut-free, just parsley, basil, garlic, Parmesan, pecorino and olive oil.
No-Bake Peaches and Cream Cake
Like tiramisù, this simple-to-assemble dessert uses store-bought Italian ladyfingers available at many supermarkets. Made with fresh peaches and brandy, it’s a creamy, boozy, fruity delight that’s a perfect end to a summer meal. It’s also easily made without ever turning on the oven, just waiting in the fridge until ready to serve. If desired, sprinkle with toasted chopped almonds or pistachios just before serving.