Weeknight
3493 recipes found
Smashed Potatoes With Tapenade
Roasted Mushroom and Halloumi Grain Bowl
Like chickpeas and tofu, halloumi cheese is a sturdy vegetarian protein that browns and crisps when roasted in the oven. Its salty, chewy character is just one of the exciting bits about this grain bowl. Other highlights include crisp mushrooms, which roast alongside the halloumi; dollops of olive-studded yogurt; and whatever bright and crunchy herbs and vegetables you like or need to use up. To easily enjoy the full range of textures in each bite, instead of simply piling each element on top of the grains, layer them as if you are building nachos. It’s a small tweak, but one that makes for an even more satisfying bowl of grains.
Baked Artichoke Pasta With Creamy Goat Cheese
This cheese-filled pasta bake gets its sweet and crunchy topping from a layer of canned fried onions and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Canned artichokes give it a savory depth, while a combination of goat cheese, cream cheese and mozzarella make it wonderfully gooey. Make sure to use plain — not marinated — artichokes, which will be too sharp and acidic here. You’re looking for a mellow richness in this comforting casserole.
Chicken With Freekeh
Gulf Shrimp in Exotic Spice
Spring Cleaning Ribollita
This weeknight ribollita highlights the bounty of spring and is a great way to use up all of those leftover vegetables and day-old bread. The soup is highly customizable, so use whatever you have on hand in the fridge and pantry: Kale or spinach can sub in for the Swiss chard; sweet corn can step in for peas; and white beans can take the place of butter beans. In this Italian classic, bread dissolves into the soup, thickening it for a heartier texture. Leftover soup can be turned into a pasta meal with the addition of orzo or any short pasta.
Grilled or Pan-Fried Marinated Tofu
This is one of my favorite ways to eat tofu. Keep some marinating in the refrigerator, then grill or pan-fry at will.
Baked Alfredo Pasta With Broccoli Rabe and Lemon
One of the great things about baked pastas is that you can get two different textures in one dish. Take the typical pasta Alfredo that's prepared in a skillet: It’s delightfully creamy and lush, but the same, bite after bite. But add a green vegetable to that Alfredo pasta, pile it into a dish, top it with melty cheese and a crunchy bread crumbs, then bake it, and you get a vegetarian dinner that's got it all. If broccoli rabe isn't your thing, you can substitute cut asparagus or broccoli florets.
Chole (Tangy Chickpeas With Tomatoes and Black Tea)
Chana masala, or chickpeas with spiced tomato gravy, has regional variations all over India; chole is a related, but specifically Punjabi, dish from northern India. It’s ubiquitous at snack shops and often served alongside bhatura, a puffed fried bread. While chole is traditionally made with dried chickpeas, canned chickpeas streamline cooking on a weeknight. Chole has numerous versions, but it is characterized by a rich, tangy flavor from black tea and amchur powder, which is made from green mango.
Lentil Soup With Chipotles
Chipotles in adobo add a wonderful smoky-spicy element to this lentil soup. Lentils combine well with smoky flavors — that’s why they’re so often cooked with sausage or bacon.
Chickpea Orzo Salad With Harissa-Roasted Eggplant
Where a typical potluck pasta salad is creamy and mayonnaise-rich, this one is vegetable-forward, crunchy and spicy. The heat comes from harissa, a North African paste typically made with red and hot peppers, and spices like coriander, caraway and cumin, which is used to marinate the vegetables and to dress the salad. Offset some of the intensity with mild mozzarella cheese, deeply toasted walnuts and salty bright-green olives, and no one will miss your great aunt’s bowties.
Masoor Dal (Spiced Red Lentils)
What I have come to understand is that how food looks as you prepare it can make as much difference to the cook as it does, on the plate, to the person who gets to eat it. When the skies are drab and life feels a little gray, I am absurdly cheered by the fresh brightness of a vibrantly orange dal, a red lentil stew spiced with turmeric, chili and ginger, and colored with sweet potatoes and tomatoes. Just seeing that mixture in the pan lifts my spirits. It helps that a dal is simple to make: a bit of chopping and the stew all but cooks itself. And it can be made in advance and then reheated, always a bonus. This dal makes a wonderful, exuberant partner to broiled salmon, but I love it without meat, too, when I partner it with my “bright rice.”
Portobello Mushroom Cheeseburgers
Large portobello mushrooms are perfect burger material, just the right size for a meaty and satisfying meal. I like them best with Gruyère cheese on top.
Beef and Broccoli
Here is a streamlined, powerfully flavorful recipe for a delivery-food standby: velvety wok-fried beef in a oyster-soy sauce, served in a forest of green. ‘‘It’s diaspora food,’’ the chef Jonathan Wu told me, describing the cooking of Chinese immigrants to the United States and a dish that is almost unknown in China but beloved in America. The recipe is a version of the one Wu’s mother made for dinner when he was growing up outside Hartford, Conn., with a little chile-garlic paste added for zip and, thanks to the Brooklyn chef Dale Talde, a pat of butter swirled into the sauce at the end. This provides a plush gloss that is far better than the traditional cornstarch slurry. It is midweek family cooking at its best.
Stuffed Shells Filled With Spinach and Ricotta
These are comforting and easy to put together. You can make them ahead and heat them in the oven when you’re ready for dinner.
Spiced Chickpea Stew With Coconut and Turmeric
Spiced chickpeas are crisped in olive oil, then simmered in a garlicky coconut milk for an insanely creamy, basically-good-for-you stew that evokes stews found in South India and parts of the Caribbean. While the chickpeas alone would be good as a side dish, they are further simmered with stock, bolstered with dark, leafy greens of your choosing and finished with a handful of fresh mint. When shopping, be sure to avoid low-fat coconut milk, coconut milk meant for drinking or cream of coconut: All are very different and would not be suitable here.
French Lentils With Garlic and Thyme
This is a classic French way to cook lentils, and it’s very easy. Aromatics are sautéed and then simmered with French lentils, also known as Le Puy lentils, for 20 to 25 minutes. It is an easy side dish (shown here with cod baked with prosciutto), redolent of a Provencal feast.
Classic Leeks Vinaigrette
For leeks vinaigrette, look for smallish leeks, which are more tender and more closely resemble asparagus spears, for the French call this dish “asperges du pauvre,” the poor man’s asparagus. This is important; a crunchy leek is unpleasant. Drain the leeks and hold at room temperature for up to several hours, but do not refrigerate or they’ll lose their delicate texture. To serve, simply smear the leeks with vinaigrette; I make a thick, sharp rather mustardy one to complement the sweetness of the leeks. Then garnish as you wish. I like capers, hard-cooked egg, olives and cornichons.
Lentil Minestrone With Greens
A number of greens work well in this hearty Italian dish. Chard and turnip greens are growing in my garden, so those are ones I’m using now, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use kale, either.
Mushroom Burgers With Almonds and Spinach
These delicious vegetarian patties have a great texture because of the almonds and bulgur. Like other vegetarian patties, they can be a little tricky to turn when you brown them. If they break apart, just patch them together.
Cauliflower “Mac” and Cheese
Somewhere between macaroni and cheese, British cauliflower cheese and a cauliflower gratin is this burbling dish of tangy, creamy cauliflower. Cauliflower florets cut into noodle-size pieces step in for macaroni in this pasta-less macaroni and cheese; they’re roasted and draped in a mixture of melty Cheddar, heavy cream, garlic and cayenne. You could also add mustard, thyme or rosemary, or even caramelized onions, and swap out the Cheddar for Gruyère or another cheese. As the cauliflower cooks in the cream mixture, the cream thickens slightly and the cauliflower continues to brown. Serve it with a bright, crisp salad to offset the richness.
Spiced Roasted Cauliflower With Feta and Garlic
Cauliflower undergoes a few stages of cooking in this recipe, and, for a deep brown and ridiculous flavor, it’s important to see it through all of them. It will be cooked through about halfway through roasting, but to transform it from pale and tender to crisp and golden brown, it must continue roasting at very high heat. Make sure to keep the smaller bits that fall away as you prepare and slice the cauliflower. They'll get the most golden and crunchy, almost like little cauliflower bread crumbs.
Spicy Corn and Coconut Soup
A good corn soup is creamy and naturally sweet; an even better corn soup is spicy, refreshing and addictive. In this recipe, it’s the combination of shallots, garlic, ginger, chiles and coconut milk, rather than heavy cream or butter, that makes the soup at once cooling and rich. It’s a dinner in a bowl (and a vegan one at that), but it would surely welcome a side of steamed rice or salad of leafy greens. To serve, add garnishes that are any combination of spicy (extra fresh chile or store-bought chile oil), crunchy (toasted coconut, chopped peanuts or cashews, fried shallots) or fresh (torn cilantro, chopped scallions), and it’ll be even more dynamic.
White Beans au Vin
This recipe uses canned white beans in place of chicken for a quick and totally vegetarian riff on classic coq au vin. Mushrooms, red wine, Cognac and a splash of balsamic vinegar stirred in just before serving help this dish develop an impressive depth of flavor in just a short time. The quality of your vegetable broth makes a big difference here; use an organic or other good-quality brand for best results.