This week has a little bit of everything: a 15-minute cod that practically cooks itself, a chicken breast elevated by nothing more than butter and herbs, and a chili that fills the house with warmth while you do other things. The bierocks are a weekend project — dough, filling, shaping — but the payoff is golden stuffed buns your kids helped build. And the banh mi rounds things out with a sandwich assembly line that lets everyone customize.
This Week's Recipes
- Butter-Basted Chicken Breasts
- Farro and Bean Chili
- Bierocks (Savory Beef-and-Cabbage Filled Buns)
- Cod With Brown Butter and Pine Nuts
- Banh Mi Sandwich
1. Butter-Basted Chicken Breasts
Pounded thin so they cook evenly, these chicken breasts get a hard sear and then a butter baste that builds a golden crust in minutes. The whole thing takes about 25 minutes and uses one skillet. Hard to ask for more from a Tuesday-night chicken.
At step 3, when the butter, garlic, and herbs go into the skillet, let kids choose their own herb — rosemary or thyme — for their portion. With a little supervision, they can spoon the foaming butter over their chicken piece right in the pan. It's a small act of ownership that makes the meal theirs. Serve their portion sliced, with the flavored butter on the side for dipping.
The adult version gets the full treatment: garlic, thyme, and rosemary all working together in the baste, with the pan drippings spooned over at the end. Better than a weeknight chicken breast has any right to be.
The Split: Adults get garlic-herb butter baste with pan drippings; kids get their own herb choice and dipping butter.
Serves: 3-4 | Time: 25m | NYT Cooking →
2. Farro and Bean Chili
A hearty, one-pot chili built on farro and beans instead of meat. The farro gives it a chewy, almost meaty texture, and an hour of simmering pulls everything together into something genuinely filling. Good vegetarian weeknight food — you won't miss the meat.
Use half the chili powder when you build the base at step 1. After the farro simmers tender, ladle out the kid portions before you add the remaining spice and vinegar for the adult bowls. Top theirs with shredded cheese, sour cream, and soft crackers or bread cubes for a taco-bowl vibe. If your kids are under five, skip the corn chips — they're a choking hazard at that age. Soft tortilla strips or bread work just as well.
The adult bowls get the full dose of chili powder, a hit of vinegar to brighten everything, and cilantro stirred through. Finish with pickled jalapeños and hot sauce if you want to push it further. This one reheats well, so make the full pot.
The Split: Adults get bold chili with vinegar and hot sauce; kids get a milder taco-bowl with cheese and sour cream.
Serves: 4-6 | Time: 1h | NYT Cooking →
3. Bierocks (Savory Beef-and-Cabbage Filled Buns)
Golden, pillowy buns stuffed with savory beef and cabbage — a Midwestern classic somewhere between a hand pie and a small meat bun. They take a couple of hours from start to finish, between the dough rising and the filling cooling, but most of that time is just waiting. This is a weekend project, and a good one.
At step 7, when you roll out the dough rounds and start filling, set up two stations. Reserve some filling with less cabbage and a sprinkle of mild cheddar for kid buns. Let them place their own filling and try to pinch the dough closed — lopsided shapes are half the fun. Serve theirs with ketchup or mild yellow mustard for dipping.
The adult bierocks get the full savory treatment: caramelized cabbage, onion, paprika, and garlic powder packed into every bun. Spicy mustard on the side. They come out of the oven deep golden brown and are best eaten slightly cooled, when the filling has set just enough to hold together when you bite in.
The Split: Adults get the full cabbage-paprika filling with spicy mustard; kids get beef-and-cheese buns they shaped themselves.
Serves: 8 | Time: 145m | Serious Eats →
4. Cod With Brown Butter and Pine Nuts
Fifteen minutes, start to finish. The cod bakes on a sheet pan while you brown butter in a small skillet alongside it. Pine nuts toast in the butter until golden, and then the sauce comes together with sumac, parsley, and lemon. Fastest recipe this week by a wide margin, and one of the best.
At step 4, once the pine nuts are golden in the brown butter, spoon out a portion for the kids before you add the sumac and the second hit of lemon. Their cod gets a gentle lemon-butter drizzle with toasted pine nuts — simple and nutty. For children under five, pine nuts are a choking hazard; crush them finely, swap in sunflower seeds, or leave them out entirely and let the butter do the work. A side of rice or buttered noodles rounds out their plate.
The adult portions get the full sauce: brown butter, toasted pine nuts, sumac, parsley, and enough lemon to wake everything up. Spoon it generously — that sauce is the whole point.
The Split: Adults get sumac-lemon brown butter with pine nuts; kids get plain lemon-butter with mild toppings.
Serves: 4 | Time: 15m | NYT Cooking →
5. Banh Mi Sandwich
This one's a harder sell for most kids — pickled vegetables, ginger, lime zest, and crusty bread aren't typically in the wheelhouse. But the assembly-line format helps more than you'd expect. When everyone builds their own sandwich, even reluctant eaters usually find a combination that works for them.
Before you make the marinade, set aside a few tofu slices for kid sandwiches. Season those with just a splash of tamari and sear them plain at step 5. Let kids build on soft bread (skip the crusty baguette for younger ones — it can break into hard pieces) with cucumber cut into small, manageable pieces, fresh shredded carrots, and a thin spread of mayo. The tamari is high in sodium, so go light on the kid portion or rinse the tofu briefly before searing. If they're feeling bold, introduce one pickled element and see what happens.
The adult version is the real deal: deeply caramelized tofu from that tamari-ginger-lime marinade, layered with spicy mayo, pickled daikon and carrots, jalapeño, and cilantro on a crusty baguette. Bright, crunchy, everything a banh mi should be.
The Split: Adults get the full marinated tofu banh mi; kids get mild tofu on soft bread with fresh veggies.
Serves: 4 | Time: 40m | Love and Lemons →
Start with the cod. Fifteen minutes, one pan of brown butter, and dinner's done. If the bierocks catch your eye, save them for a weekend afternoon when little hands need something to do.
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