Plan Ahead
9 recipes found
Vegan Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Inspired by the vegan, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that Lee Farrington makes at LB. Kitchen in Portland, Maine, these one-bowl delights are chewy at their centers, crisp at the edges and full of raisins and sweet spice. The batter is very sticky and needs to be frozen before baking so they don’t spread too much, but a couple of hours will do it. Feel free to substitute hazelnut flour for the almond flour for a deep, toasty flavor.
Slow Cooker Senate Bean Soup
This ultrasimple bean soup has been on the menu at the U.S. Senate Dining Room and served to senators and their staff for more than 100 years. Even as politics have changed, this soup has remained basically the same: navy beans simmered to creamy tenderness with ham hocks, butter and onion. Fittingly, there is no consensus on where exactly the soup came from: Some say it dates back to the early 20th century, when Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho passed a resolution making it a menu staple. This slow-cooker version has updated the classic slightly, with the addition of carrots and smoked paprika. If you’d like more vegetables (how modern!), stir in about 8 ounces of chopped kale before serving. As a nod to Idaho, this version contains a single russet potato, which gets mashed at the end of cooking and thickens the soup beautifully.
Slow Cooker Chicken and Creamed Corn
This easy stew has all the gentle pleasures of creamed chicken and creamed corn along with the zip of maque choux, a Cajun sauté of corn and peppers that is often enriched with cream. This slow-cooker recipe combines the best of both dishes for a rich braise, good on its own or served over buttered toast or biscuits. Because it is not as thick as a roux-thickened version, this dish feels right for corn season. It’s lightly creamy and full of sweet corn flavor thanks to the cobs, which cook alongside the other ingredients. There is no need for liquid; the chicken and vegetables give up theirs, making this essentially self-saucing. Add the reserved corn kernels just before serving so that they retain their sweet pop.
Carlota de Limón (Lime Icebox Cake)
Carlota de limón is an iconic Mexican icebox cake that transforms just four ingredients into something greater than the sum of its parts. This refreshing dessert combines tart lime juice with creamy condensed milk between crisp cookie layers that become moist as the cake chills. Synonymous with asadas (cookouts) and family gatherings, it is traditionally served directly from the dish in which it’s assembled, making it a great portable dessert to bring to your next potluck. Maria cookies are a staple in Latino grocery stores and bodegas and are increasingly available at any supermarket. Vanilla wafers (like Nilla) work as a substitute, though they absorb less liquid at first than the Maria cookies do, resulting in a more textured, but still delicious, bite.
White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies
In this chewy, tender cookie, from the Brooklyn-based baker Autumn Moultrie, the raspberry flavor is neon-bright, thanks to the smart use of freeze-dried raspberries to balance the creamy, often overly sweet white chocolate. A higher ratio of raspberry to white chocolate (which is to say, not too much white chocolate) provides just the right seesawing of tartness to sweetness, fruitiness to creaminess, the joyful interplay that makes these two ingredients play so nicely together. At her bakery Dolly’s Coffee Shop, which Ms. Moultrie runs with her business partner, Brian Villanueva, Ms. Moultrie makes the cookies as big as your face. Home bakers can adjust the size according to their preferences; the bake time will stay the same.
Kale Caesar Pasta Salad
Caesar salad meets pasta salad in this comfort food mash-up. Crisp and sturdy kale leaves hold their own alongside al dente pasta when tossed in a thick and creamy Caesar-inspired, mayonnaise-based dressing. Crunchy, lemony breadcrumbs and salty Parmesan shavings are added just before serving, for extra texture and flavor. Served cold, this recipe is perfect for make-ahead entertaining or meal prep. For those looking for extra protein, cooked chicken or crispy chickpeas are welcome additions. Of course, feel free to swap in romaine lettuce and croutons, if preferred.
Apple and Plum Croustade (Croustade aux Pommes et Prunes)
Rustic is best when you are trying to make the most of your high-season fruit. Rolling up your sleeves and getting down to what suits the fruit — like a simple crust around lightly sweetened fruit — seems to be the call of the season for bakers who don’t want to mess with a good thing. This croustade is that dish, the one that keeps things easy. A classic French double layer pie, croustade is worth heating up your kitchen on a hot summer’s day and does not disappoint in its beautiful simplicity. The flaky crust holds the sweet-tart fruit and balances it perfectly with its sparkling sugar topping. You might also want to embrace the croustade’s rustic nature and simply serve it with a dollop of crème fraîche, but lightly sweetened whipped cream, crème anglaise or a scoop of speckled vanilla bean ice cream are also perfect additions. This French classic is a hit at any table, bien sûr.
Sheet-Pan Socca (Savory Chickpea Pancake)
Crispy on the outside and creamy at their core, socca are thin, olive-oil-rich chickpea pancakes. In Provence they’re often made on wide, flat copper skillets, but a screamingly hot sheet pan works extremely well, too — and makes an extra-large chickpea cake that can serve as a light dinner or an easy appetizer. Socca are usually not topped with anything more than black pepper; they are delicate and can’t support more than minimalist additions. However, a light scattering of toppings — like anchovies, pecorino and scallions here — makes socca qualify as a simple and delicious meal. A handful of chopped olives added before baking would also work, as would a garnish of torn slivers of prosciutto, draped on top just before serving.
Grilled Honey-Mustard Chicken Thighs
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are a great choice for grilling any night of the week: They take well to marinades, cook quickly and develop a nice crispy exterior without drying out. This crowd-pleasing recipe, inspired by classic honey-mustard sauce, starts with a simple but flavorful Dijon mustard marinade. Since marinades high in sugar can burn when chicken is grilled over high heat, this recipe calls to brush the chicken with a rich, sweet and savory three-ingredient glaze (honey, Worcestershire sauce and more mustard) as soon as it comes off the grill. For a little kick, add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce to the glaze, and be sure to pass any leftover glaze around the table for dipping. Serve with grilled vegetables and a crowd-pleasing picnic side, such as pasta salad or potato salad.