Stovetop
661 recipes found
Tomato and Farro Salad With Arugula
This fresh, summery salad comes together quickly and holds well, making it perfect for a picnic at the beach or a backyard barbecue. Sun-dried tomatoes add a punch of concentrated, tangy tomato flavor alongside bright and sweet cherry tomatoes. Peppery arugula serves as the base here, but you could certainly substitute any other soft green or lettuce. The grain is just as adaptable: Try quinoa, pearled barley or smoky freekeh if farro isn’t available.
Mouhalabieh (Milk Pudding)
Mastic “tears,” as they’re called, are translucent fragments of tree resin that give off the scent of high, sweet pine. The fragrance is the flavor, suffusing this version of mouhalabieh, a delicate Arab milk pudding, from the French Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan's cookbook, "Bethlehem." Requirements are few: a pot of milk over flame; a whisking-in of sugar; mastic pounded down to a shimmery powder; cornstarch, for firming; and vigilance. As an early recipe in the 10th-century Baghdadi cookbook “Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens” warns: “You should never stop stirring.” Mr. Kattan suggests repeatedly tracing the number “8” with a spoon over the bottom of the pot, so the milk won’t scorch. When the mixture is near custard, pour it, still hot, into individual bowls. “It goes from liquid to quite solid in a few seconds,” he says. Let rest an hour at room temperature, then another two or more in the refrigerator, until it wobbles.
Pasta Primavera
This vegetarian pasta is a great way to use all of your fresh vegetables from the farmer’s market (or even the ones still hanging on in your fridge). The vegetables are cooked until they are just tender and still crisp, then coated in a delicate, lemony cream sauce and sprinkled with fresh Parmesan and herbs. Originally, this recipe was made with spaghetti, but a shorter pasta shape that’s the same size as the vegetable pieces provides a more enjoyable bite. “Primavera” means spring, but any vegetable from the spring and summer season is welcome in this dish. Feel free to add asparagus, cherry tomatoes, carrots and more — just note which vegetables cook faster than others and adjust as needed.
Nectarines in Lime Syrup
Fruit — whether a bowl of sweet berries or a wedge of watermelon — makes the best dessert, but stone fruits are a real treat, especially nectarines. Sliced and dressed in a lime syrup, served chilled as they are here, they’re a refreshing, sophisticated and shockingly simple end to a meal.
Summer Chowder With Cod and Clams
Based on East Coast white chowder, made with milk and potatoes, but more of a dinner stew than a soup. Lemon zest and slivers of serrano chile add spark to the mild creamy base. Prepare the chowder up to two hours in advance and reheat it gently just before serving, to avoid any last-minute rushing.
Honey Mustard Potato Salad
There exist entire worlds between a good potato salad and a bad one. The good ones have good potatoes that have been prioritized and not just boiled to death: perfectly steamed, not too wet on the inside or outside. This clever, lazy method — boiling the potatoes for half their cook time, draining them, then using the residual heat of the pot to steam the spuds until tender, like one does with, say, sushi rice — ensures perfectly creamy, pillowy potatoes, whose fluffy edges are excellent at soaking up a curried dressing, dyed golden with mustard, lightly inspired by those delicious honey-mustard pretzel pieces from the snack aisle. If your curry powder isn’t hot enough for you, then add a dash of cayenne pepper or your favorite fresh chile, finely chopped. Some like it sweet; if that’s you, add a pinch of sugar or another dribble of honey; taste and adjust as you go.
Angel Hair Pasta Salad
Light, bouncy angel hair makes for a surprisingly stellar pasta salad. Dressed in a simple mayonnaise and vinegar dressing, a rainbow confetti of raw vegetables shines in this chill, endlessly adaptable recipe. Salting the vegetables in advance, allowing them to sweat their excess moisture and then patting them dry, leads to crunchier, longer-lasting results. This salad keeps for up to 3 days in the refrigerator, covered; as it sits, the vegetables give off their flavor and fragrance to the blank-canvas pasta. Simply stir before serving to redistribute any dressing that has collected on the bottom of the bowl.
Buttermilk Ranch Fried Chicken
Great fried chicken at home is much easier than you might think. This version celebrates the tangy, herbaceous complexity of ranch seasoning, which is whisked into buttermilk to create an easy brine that ensures a flavorful, juicy end result. A whole chicken works best: Cutting it into parts takes a bit of practice but saves money and yields a good variety of pieces. (If looking for a shortcut, a mixture of thighs and drumsticks works well too.) After the chicken is brined, it’s dredged in flour seasoned with onion powder and garlic powder, echoing ranch seasoning, and supplemented with cornstarch, which yields a delightfully crispy exterior that holds up very well to chilling, for those among us who love cold fried chicken. Don’t be afraid to fry at home! This chicken fries in a large, deep Dutch oven — and it fries mostly covered, which helps reduce any mess. Maintain the right oil temperature and follow the visual cues to determine doneness, and you’ll be fine.
Pimento-Stuffed Eggs
You may know these as “deviled” eggs, but since they are often served at church functions, they’re sometimes referred to instead as “stuffed.” Here, they’re filled with a combination of their cooked yolks and some favorite ingredients in Louisiana cookery — from pimento peppers to paprika to cayenne — which add a pinch of heat to these savory bites. The relish adds just enough sweetness to balance out the pungent flavor from the Dijon mustard. Be sure to remove the shells from the eggs as soon as they are cool enough to handle so the peeling will be easier. The stuffed eggs can be prepared up to three days in advance, but they are best the day they’re made.
Panko-Crusted Pork Tenderloin With Tahini Slaw
Flavorful and quick-cooking pork tenderloin is a great choice for a weekday dinner. Here it’s paired with a nutty tahini and citrus slaw to cut through some of the breaded pork’s richness. In this recipe, the finely chopped parsley stems, which can take a bit more heat than the leaves, are added to the breading for color and freshness. Use pre-sliced red cabbage to cut down on the prep work, if you like. And, you can swap the pork out for chicken breast tenderloin or even your favorite white fish fillet.
Cold Noodles With Zucchini
Zucchini loves the kiss of heat but can easily turn to mush. Briefly salting and drying half-moons of zucchini before quickly stir-frying them, mostly on one side, maintains their texture while lending so much flavor. An impactful dressing of maple syrup, soy sauce and fish sauce — plus a pinch of concentrated savoriness in the form of garlic powder — seasons both stir-fry and noodle. Ice is the secret ingredient that helps to cool down the noodles for quick eating, as well as to melt down and open up the flavors of the dressing (as water is wont to do) while you eat. The final spritz of citrus is not optional: It finishes the dressing and makes this chill meal taste multidimensional. A tableside sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds, furikake or shichimi togarashi is welcome.
Creamy Coconut-Lime Rice With Peanuts
Coconut milk does double duty here in this light yet hearty rice dish that straddles the line between side salad and pilaf-like main. First the rice is simmered in creamy coconut milk, then the remaining milk is used to make a soothing dressing spiked with lime juice, peanut butter, toasted peanuts and garlic, with a little added heat from chile sauce. Fresh cherry tomatoes and chopped herbs turn it all into a rice salad that can be a flavorful side for grilled chicken or the base for fried eggs.
Extra-Green Pasta Salad
This vibrant green pasta salad gets its color from a combination of spinach and basil, but you can swap the spinach for arugula for a more peppery finish. (Some of us need a little bite in our lives!). The miso in the sauce does a lot of the heavy lifting, imparting a salty, almost Parmesan-like quality. You can eat the salad immediately or chilled for a summer picnic. If making it a day ahead, don’t add the basil garnish and cheese until you’re ready to serve.
Ground Turkey, Shiitake and Cashew Lettuce Cups
Salad and stir-fry in one, lettuce cups are a relaxed summer dinner that combine textures and temperatures to great effect. Cool, crunchy lettuce leaves smeared with hoisin sauce are all that are needed to contain this quick-cooking filling on a hot day, although steamed rice and a cold beer would make lovely accompaniments. The filling can be adapted easily by substituting ground pork for the turkey, firm tofu for the mushrooms, carrots or peas for the celery and peanuts or pine nuts for the cashews.
Radish, Cucumber and White Bean Farro Salad
This colorful grain salad gains punchy acidity from pepperoncini and lightly pickled vegetables. While the nutty farro is cooking, the soaking begins: Scallions, radishes, cucumber, parsley and white beans are tossed in a sherry-Dijon dressing spiked with a spoonful of pepperoncini pickling liquid. The beans add a creamy texture to the dish in lieu of cheese, though a crumbled feta or torn mozzarella would work nicely. Swap these ingredients as the season changes, adding corn kernels or snap peas, or play with the herbs, mixing in cilantro or mint, too.
Halloumi, Arugula and Tomato Sandwiches
In 2022, Jake Marsiglia and Costa Damaskos opened Baby Blues Luncheonette in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to honor the historic diners and luncheonettes that closed during the pandemic, while paying homage to Mr. Damaskos’s Greek roots. One of the best ways they’ve incorporated this history and culture into their menu is through their HLT sandwich, a play on the classic American BLT that replaces bacon with halloumi cheese, seared until golden and crisp. They replace BLT’s standard lettuce with an arugula salad seasoned with a bright Greek vinaigrette, and round out the sandwich with red onions, juicy heirloom tomatoes and a garlic-pepper mayonnaise.
Spicy Cumin Lamb Burgers
Many people go to Xi’an Famous Foods in New York City for their spicy hand-pulled noodles, but the sleeper hit is the cumin lamb burger. This recipe, adapted from “Xi’an Famous Foods: The Cuisine of Western China, From New York’s Favorite Noodle Shop” by Jason Wang and David Shi (Abrams Books, 2020), starts with homemade buns that rise and crisp on a griddle, resulting in a soft interior similar to a pita. (You can make the bread from scratch, or substitute a burger bun or even an English muffin.) The restaurant’s signature spicy cumin lamb with red onions and green longhorn peppers is stuffed inside the bread, resembling a steak sandwich as opposed to a burger. You’ll want to slice the lamb as thinly as possible (a short stint in the freezer helps firm it up), which increases the surface area to great effect: The meat cooks through quickly, browns effectively and easily absorbs a tongue-tingling dose of cumin and chile.
Weeknight Chicken Tagine
Making a tagine might not be the most labor-intensive task, but it can definitely be time-consuming. In this non-traditional recipe, you'll enjoy all the classic flavors of a m'qualli chicken tagine but in less than an hour. Made with preserved lemon and olives, this dish is perfect for satisfying your mid-week Moroccan food cravings. M’qualli tagine refers to one of the ways Moroccan tagines are traditionally seasoned, incorporating ground ginger, ground turmeric and garlic, resulting in a rich, dark yellow sauce. Don’t hesitate to adjust the consistency of your tagine by adding a couple tablespoons of water or stock if it’s too dry, or letting it simmer for a few extra minutes for a thicker sauce. Serve it with bread for a more traditional experience (such as flatbreads or crusty breads like a baguette), but rice or potatoes will also work.
Borani Banjan (Afghan-style Eggplant in Yogurt)
Traditionally in Afghan-style borani banjan, an appetizer or vegetable side, eggplant slices are soaked in salted water for 20 to 30 minutes, drained and dried, then simmered in a spiced tomato sauce before being served in layers of garlicky yogurt. This version significantly simplifies the preparation in the interest of time without compromising its appeal: varied flavors and textures from crispy, caramelized eggplant; creamy, garlicky yogurt; sweet and sour tomatoes; and juicy, bright pomegranate seeds. No soaking or simmering here, just quick pan-frying and layering for the same effect in about 30 minutes. Go back for seconds of a dish that tastes even better when it’s cold.
Stir-Fried Bitter Melon and Eggs
Bitter melon lives up to its name. The oblong gourd is renowned for its robust health benefits and even more profound bitterness. However, when enveloped in creamy scrambled eggs and seasoned with soy sauce and brown sugar, it creates a complexity of flavor that will grow on you. This quick stir-fry is a home-cooking favorite of Chutatip Suntaranon, who is known as Nok, the chef-owner of the Thai restaurant Kalaya in Philadelphia. The recipe can easily be halved to serve one or two.
Stir-Fried Chicken With Mushrooms and Snow Peas
This classic stir-fry recipe, adapted from “The Key to Chinese Cooking” by Irene Kuo, calls for velveting chicken breast, a process of marinating the meat in a mix of egg white, cornstarch, salt and Shaoxing wine, and then blanching it. The extra steps help ensure that the lean chicken stays very tender and silky, even when seared at very high heat. You can use this basic recipe as a template for any chicken stir-fry, varying the vegetables depending on the season and what’s available. Serve it piping hot, with rice on the side.
Sage and Walnut Pasta Nada
Earthy, elegant and possessed of a Zen-restraint, this is an ideal — perhaps the ideal — last-second, I-can’t-cope-with-the-stress recipe. It even works for dinner parties. Everyone will like it and have thirds. Serve with a salad and a baguette. Crack a few good chocolate bars into pieces on a plate for dessert. Keep an eye on the walnuts while you are roasting them in the oven. They go from golden to burnt in seconds. This meal is worthy of nearly any bottle of red wine.
Puttanesca Pasta Nada
“In normal life, ‘simplicity’ is synonymous with ‘easy to do,’” Bill Buford wrote in “Heat,” his 2006 book, “but when a chef uses the word, it means ‘take a lifetime to learn.’” That’s true much of the time. But if you take care, a dish as simple as pasta with finely chopped black olives and anchovies can have a chef-like impact with minimum learning and minimum fuss. This dish resets your taste buds. No fancy shopping needed.
Shrimp Pullao
When Madhur Jaffrey first published her cookbook, “An Invitation to Indian Cooking,” in 1973, Americans had a hard time finding Indian staples like garam masala and basmati rice in local supermarkets, and dishes like her fragrant shrimp pullao were considered special occasion fare. Much has changed, and these days pullaos are easy to throw together on any given weeknight, often straight from the pantry. This one is gently spiced, letting the delicate flavors of the rice and shrimp shine. Ms. Jaffrey suggests serving it with a yogurt-based vegetable dish. But even simpler, a little dollop of salted yogurt on the side adds a cool and creamy contrast.