Weeknight
3491 recipes found
Roasted Fish With Ginger, Scallions and Soy
This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen. Buy a few fillets of the white-fleshed fish you like best (I like fluke, myself), then put a sheet pan in a 425-degree oven and let it get hot. Make a sauce in a small bowl: a few tablespoons of soy sauce for each one of rice wine or sherry, and a heap of minced or grated ginger, and plenty of thinly sliced scallions. You could put some garlic in there, if you like, and a dash of hot chile oil or sesame oil. Salt and pepper the fish, then pull the hot sheet pan out of the oven and get some neutral oil on it. Add the fish to the hot pan carefully, put it in the oven and roast for a minute or so, then paint the sauce onto the fillets and cook for a minute or so longer, until the fish has just cooked through. Serve with rice and greens. And I bet it’d make a good sandwich? Sam Sifton features a no-recipe recipe every Wednesday in his What to Cook newsletter. Sign up to receive it. You can find more no-recipe recipes here.
Pasta With Fried Lemons and Chile Flakes
You probably already have a favorite pantry pasta dish that you habitually whip up when there’s nothing in the house for dinner. Next time, try this one instead. It has all the usual players – olive oil, Parmesan, flaky sea salt — along with fried lemons for brightness and chile flakes for heat. Don’t skip the step of blanching the lemon slices before frying. It may seem fussy, but it eliminates any bitterness in the lemon pith and takes only a few extra minutes. Then dry the lemon slices well before adding them to the hot oil; this helps them brown more deeply.
Crispy Lamb Meatballs With Chickpeas and Eggplant
This dish does not shy away from fat in the best way possible. From the lamb to the olive oil to the yogurt used as a sauce at the end, this is a one-skillet meal that feels worthy of a weekend spread. Since these meatballs aren’t made with binders like eggs or bread, they’re truly best made with a fatty meat like lamb. If you decide to use pork or beef instead, make sure it’s a mixture with a higher fat content or the meatballs could turn out dry. Since eggplant can really soak up oil when pan-frying, feel free to add more to the skillet as the slices cook.
Steak Tacos With Pineapple Salsa
This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen. Get some fresh tortillas and a pound of skirt steak, then make salsa from mostly fresh or canned pineapple, pickled jalapeños and a healthy couple shakes of chile powder, along with plenty of chopped cilantro. Shower the steaks with salt and pepper, and broil them for 2 to 3 minutes a side until they’re perfect and rare. Warm the tortillas. Grate some Cheddar. Rest the steak, slice it, and serve with the tortillas, cheese and that awesome salsa. Anyone want to watch a movie after dinner? We have time. Sam Sifton features a no-recipe recipe every Wednesday in his What to Cook newsletter. Sign up to receive it. You can find more no-recipe recipes here.
Chinese Roast Pork on Garlic Bread
Chinese roast pork on garlic bread is one of the great New York sandwiches, a taste of the highest peaks of Catskills cuisine: thinly sliced, Cantonese-style char siu married to Italian-American garlic bread beneath a veil of sweet-sticky duck sauce. It’s been around since the 1950s, a favorite of the summertime borscht belt crowd. You can make the sandwich with store-bought char siu if you like, but I prefer the homemade variety because I can make it with fancy pork from the farmers’ market. It’s also juicier and more flavorful. Then, layer the meat onto garlic bread, and add a drizzle of duck sauce – for that, I use leftover packets from Chinese takeout orders or make my own with apricot preserves cut through with vinegar. Some people add a slash of hot mustard; others fresh pickles, or coleslaw. “It’s the ultimate assimilation crossover food,” the food writer and erstwhile restaurant critic Arthur Schwartz told me. “That sandwich is a symbol of acculturation.”
Risotto With Smoked Mozzarella and Escarole
Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey brought this recipe to The Times in 1988, when a properly-made risotto was still a relatively new dish for the home cook. It would make a wonderful meatless main dish or as an accompaniment to roast chicken or grilled steak.
Harissa and Miso Spaghetti
In this recipe, harissa and miso turn spaghetti into a comforting meal reminiscent of carbonara. Together, these two condiments bring sweetness, a touch of heat and just enough umami to call for a second serving. The bread crumbs are optional but they are totally recommended; they can be prepared in advance and kept for two days in a sealed container.
Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein
This takeout classic is beloved for a reason: It’s mild, satisfying and dependable. The chewy noodles and tender beef make for a weeknight dinner that won’t send you back to the fridge, snooping for a snack before bedtime. What makes this version better than the one from your neighborhood spot? A few things: It’s fresher, hotter and arguably faster. In this version, smaller florets ensure that the beef and broccoli cook quickly, and are easily scooped up with chopsticks. The florets' size also lowers your chances of overcooking them before they're crisp and tender. To finish, add sesame oil, if you have it, but don’t sweat it if you don’t.
Steak With Ginger Butter Sauce
An astonishingly good recipe for steak with butter, ginger and soy that Mark Bittman picked up from the New York chef Jean Georges Vongerichten and gave to The Times a few years later. It’s simple and takes no time to make after work.
Julia Reed's Fried Chicken
Quick-Roasted Chicken With Tarragon
This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen. French elegance on the fly. Heat the oven to 425, or higher if your oven runs cool. Mix a few tablespoons of mayonnaise with a little Dijon mustard and a lot of chopped tarragon in a large bowl until everything’s incorporated to your liking. Salt and pepper some chicken thighs — I’d do bone-in, but boneless would also work — then add the thighs to the mustard mixture, tossing to coat the meat. Arrange the chicken on a greased sheet pan and cover each piece with a handful of bread crumbs, really pressing the crumbs in so they adhere. Slide that pan into the oven for a half-hour or so while you make some rice or boil off a few potatoes. You can make a salad, or steam some greens. Then check to see if the chicken has been cooked all the way through. Probably not. Another five or 10 minutes ought to do it. You’re looking for a nice crisp crust, golden brown, above the luscious meat. Sam Sifton features a no-recipe recipe every Wednesday in his What to Cook newsletter. Sign up to receive it. You can find more no-recipe recipes here.
Double Dip of Chocolate Pudding
Butterflied Chicken With Cracked Spices
Somewhere in “The Zuni Cafe Cookbook” is a recipe for a standing rib roast of pork with variations. I’m sure of that. I’m less sure, because I can’t find it online, that the book gives a variation that calls for rubbing the meat with fennel and coriander seeds, among other spices. I wanted to try some version of that on a chicken and came up with the idea of grafting those seasonings, as I remembered them, onto a classic Marcella Hazan recipe for chicken alla diavola. Hazan has you butterfly the chicken and rub it with cracked black pepper before grilling or broiling it. Just by faking and misremembering, I stumbled on a weeknight dinner that’s faster than roast chicken and fragrant with mysteriously harmonious spices. It may not be the devil’s chicken, but it could be the work of one of his minor demons.
Alfredo Sauce
Alfredo di Lelio, a Roman restaurateur, created this rich, silky sauce, which is meant to be tossed with fettuccine, but it can also be used in many other ways: Drizzle it over seared chicken breasts, simmered beans or roasted vegetables, or toss it with any number of ingredients. Classically made with heavy cream, butter and Parmesan, it is an easy sauce that can be whipped up in minutes using staples from the fridge. As a buttery, blank canvas, it also lends itself to a number of seasonings: Add some fresh tarragon, dried herbs or a pinch of turmeric or saffron, and it takes on a whole new personality.
Fried Eggs With Garlicky Green Rice
Fried eggs are a simple vegetarian staple. But set them on top of garlicky kale- and herb-flecked rice, and they form a deeply satisfying supper. This recipe is endlessly customizable: Go with what you have — reheated leftover rice works equally well as a fresh pot — or use any whole grain you have. The secret here is locking flavor into the grains by stirring in garlic herbs while the rice is warm. To finish, be generous with the lime — the acid brings all the flavors up a notch — and play around with your tolerance for garlic and heat. Lastly, don't be afraid to raid your fridge: Avocado or leftover beans would be right at home here, too.
Roasted Cauliflower With Sweet Chermoula and Yogurt
Chermoula is a common Moroccan marinade traditionally used to season dishes such as roasted vegetables and fish. This is a sweeter version of the sauce with extra lemon juice and honey to bring out the nuances of the herbs and spices. Serve this dish as a main with flatbread or as a side with roasted chicken or a grilled steak. Make a large batch of the sweet chermoula and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can use it to season roasted vegetables, cooked proteins and drizzle over salads or grain bowls.
Black Pepper Shrimp
This dish, adapted from Lucy Carvalho, the cookbook author Nik Sharma’s grandmother, owes its fragrance and fiery bite to a generous amount of crushed black peppercorns in a velvety gravy. Like many other Indian home cooks, Ms. Carvalho, who lived in the coastal city of Mumbai, took the Indo-Chinese dish black pepper chicken and substituted shrimp instead. Some versions of this dish call for curry leaves to be fried with the spices, or they might call for another protein in place of the shrimp, like tilapia, cod or catfish. Here, the peppercorns are infused in hot oil, then left to steep as the dish cooks. Fish sauce bolsters the savoriness, but can be left out. For an even stronger bump of heat, increase the amount of black pepper and toss in a sliced serrano. Serve it all over rice for a fast, satisfying dinner.
Roasted Chicken Thighs With Peanut Butter BBQ Sauce
Peanut butter is the surprise guest in this spicy-sweet barbecue sauce, which cooks up in just 10 minutes. This versatile sauce, which adds nutty richness and depth, keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge and also freezes well. You'll have quite a bit: This recipe yields 2 cups of sauce. It's great to have on hand, doing double-duty as a sauce or a fantastic marinade for chicken or baby back ribs. (If allergies are a concern, substitute in almond butter for the peanut butter.) Serve with sautéed green beans, roasted broccoli or coleslaw.
Italian Wedding Soup With Turkey Meatballs
Classic Italian wedding soup is beloved for its simplicity and satisfaction. This turkey version is lean, while meatballs stay moist by simmering in broth. Start with the most flavorful broth you can get your hands on (homemade is ideal, but store-bought works well too), then pack the meatballs with flavor (garlic and parsley) and staying power (egg, panko and cheese, to gently bind them together). Traditionalists may be tempted to add a small grated onion to the meat mixture, and sweat celery and carrots into the broth, but for a quick weeknight meal, you won’t miss them here. If speed is your game, roll the mixture into 12 large meatballs—or opt for 20 smaller ones if serving kids (mini meatballs will cook through even faster). Either way, finish with a healthy dose of olive oil, lemon, cheese and dill, or any fresh Italian herb you may have on hand.
Steak Salad With Fish Sauce and Mint
This salad, with Southeast Asian flair, takes mere minutes to make, even with cooking the beef. Its base is mesclun and a handful of flavorful, mild herbs, like parsley or mint. Because steak doesn't need any seasoning, cooking it takes only 10 minutes. You could substitute chicken, pork or shrimp. The vinaigrette that accompanies this salad is light but assertive, based not on olive oil but on a neutral-flavored oil like canola. I use relatively little oil, as its job is only to help the remaining dressing ingredients coat the greens. To this I add rice vinegar or lime juice, both of which are high in flavor but low in acidity. The vinaigrette is rounded off with mustard, shallots, and nam pla (Thai fish sauce) or soy sauce.
Cold Pork Rice Noodles With Cucumber and Peanuts
Sometimes you want dinner to be cold. For those evenings, there's this make-ahead pork and rice noodle dish, offering a robust infusion of zing from garlic, fish sauce and tons of fresh herbs plus plenty of flexibility. Add more peanuts and basil, or go heavy on the mint and lime. Use pork tonight, and ground turkey or chicken the next time; it’s your choice. This basic formula is easily adapted, and the components pack up easily for a work lunch or another night’s dinner. To make this vegetarian, substitute semi-firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, for the pork, and substitute a few tablespoons of soy sauce for the fish sauce.
Wine-Braised Chicken With Artichoke Hearts
Artichokes become weeknight friendly when they come from a can or a jar. Be sure to buy the unmarinated ones here. The gentle braise in rendered chicken fat and tangy white wine, mixed with onions and herbs, provides all the flavor the artichokes need.
Ricotta Dumplings With Buttered Peas and Asparagus
These dumplings are a way to get the satisfaction of making your own pasta without having to make your own pasta. This recipe doesn’t require you to drain the ricotta, but if you notice that yours is especially wet, you may want to add a tablespoon or two more of flour to make sure the dough stays together. It should be like a very wet biscuit dough (and not pourable or soupy). As for the vegetables, this dish is a truly excellent canvas for anything seasonal (asparagus and peas in the spring, cherry tomatoes in the summer, mushrooms in the fall, squash in the winter), so adjust as you like.
Classic Chicken Schnitzel With Smashed Cucumbers
If making chicken schnitzel sounds hard, perhaps it’s because you’ve never tried. The technique itself is so simple, effective and addictive that you might find yourself turning to it all the time. For the crispest crust, you'll want to keep the hot oil circling the schnitzel as it cooks, creating a little space between the crust and the chicken. As for the side, giving your cucumbers and green beans a good whack with the rolling pin opens them up and creates crevices that soak up the harissa and garlic. Be generous with the squeezes of lemon at the end. They'll bring the chicken and spiced cucumbers to their fullest flavor.