Weeknight
3434 recipes found

Seared Steak
For "grilling" a steak indoors, a cast iron pan really can't be beat. Cast iron can withstand super high heat, and it distributes that heat evenly, meaning you get a perfect brown crust that seals in the meat's juices. You don't need much in the way of seasoning; just a generous sprinkle of salt and freshly ground black pepper. A standard cast iron pan works great for this, or if you like the look of grill marks, get your hands on a ridged cast-iron grill pan.

Red-Fried Fish

Garganelli Pasta With Fava Beans

Lamb Meatballs with Mint

Chicken with Shallots And Madeira

Stir-Fried Shrimp With Snow Peas and Ginger
In 2005, Julia Moskin wrote an excellent article about woks, the best sort for American kitchens (a 14-inch heavy-gauge carbon-steel wok with a flat bottom) and how to season it. This recipe, adapted from Grace Young's book, "The Breath of a Wok," ran alongside it. It is simple, fresh and fast. It cooks in under 5 minutes, so start your pot of rice as you clean the shrimp and chop the ginger, garlic and scallions.

Turkish Bride Soup

Chocolate Cherry Mousse
This is a not-very-sweet, very grown up chocolate mousse, and it is quite easy to make. If you prefer the idea of a chocolate orange mousse, substitute Cointreau. Rum works well, too. Or you could use coffee in place of the alcohol. In any case, eating it is an example of living well.

Vietnamese Stir-Fried Vegetables With Chicken Or Shrimp

Jerusalem Artichoke Purée

Sausage and Cabbage
This recipe is an adaptation of one created by Tamasin Day-Lewis, the Stevie Nicks of British cookery. A casserole recipe that she credits to the British food writer Jane Grigson has just four ingredients — sausage, cabbage, butter and pepper — but after two and a half hours in the oven, it emerges mysterious and succulent.

Pan-Roasted Zucchini With Cilantro-Mint Gremolata

Tuscan Farro Soup
Simple yet amazing. This healthy soup, a kind of minestrone with farro, is ubiquitous in Lucca, a city in Tuscany. The farro is traditional, but you could use spelt or barley with good results.

Salmon Sandwiches

Butternut Squash Stock And Soup

Browned And Braised Fish In Tomato Sauce

The Floradora

Peas With Garam Masala

Duck Marinated In Red Wine And Orange

Scallops With Jerusalem Artichoke Purée And Honey-Sage Jus

Chris Gesualdi’s Sloppy Joes
Some foods are memory triggers, meals that send you back to long-forgotten moments in your life. The sloppy Joe sandwich is one such time machine. This version is an adaptation of one developed by Chris Gesualdi, the chef at TriBakery in Manhattan. It's a tribute to the one his mother, Rose, used to make for him as a child, and it is perfect: a sweet and spicy hill of thick sautéed ground beef spilling out of a toasted homemade kaiser roll. He tops his with melted cheddar, and that can't be a bad thing. All in all, it is a terrific antidote to adulthood.

Aunt Nora's Mock Lobster

Basic Corn Chowder
This is chowder at its simplest: corn, onion, potatoes and milk, with a couple of chopped tomatoes and a handful of parsley to add flavor and color. Starting with bacon and finishing with cream makes a richer version of the dish. But you could easily expand its borders by adding curry powder and ginger, sour cream and cilantro. Or when the potato is replaced by rice and the cream with coconut milk, Southeast Asian seasonings can be added to make a chowder that has little in common with the original, save for its intense corn flavor.

Spicy Grilled Shrimp
This Mark Bittman recipe from 1999 is big on flavor, but not too much effort. The hardest part is preparing the grill. It calls for just a few spices — garlic, lemon, paprika and cayenne — to yield an intense flavor. Feel free to adjust the cayenne to taste, and pay close attention to your paprika: For best results, make sure it’s fresh. If it doesn’t taste vibrant and smoky, it’s time to buy more.