The salmon is the speedster this week — thirteen minutes, air fryer, done. The meatballs and stir-fry both land around half an hour, and the carrots need forty-five minutes of mostly hands-off roasting. The chicken paprikash is the slow one: an hour of searing, building sauce, and letting the oven finish everything over egg noodles. Spread the week across whatever energy you have each night.
This Week's Recipes
- Mojo Meatballs
- Peppery Beef and Shishito Stir-Fry
- Roasted Carrots With Whipped Tahini
- Chicken Paprikash
- Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Salmon
1. Mojo Meatballs
Pork meatballs spiked with cilantro, cumin, and a little chile, roasted at 500 degrees alongside charring onion wedges. The mojo sauce — citrus, garlic, more chile, blended smooth — goes over rice with plantain chips scattered on top. Thirty minutes, one sheet pan for the protein and veg, and the sauce comes together in a blender while the oven does its work.
At step 6, when it's time to build bowls, let kids assemble their own. Rice, meatballs, plantain chips — they pick what goes on the plate. Serve the mojo sauce in a small dish on the side so they control the heat, since the chile woven into the meatballs already brings mild warmth. For little ones under five, cut each meatball in half or quarters — they're two-inch balls and too large to serve whole. If the plantain chips are hard and crispy, break them into smaller pieces before handing them over. Make sure the meatballs hit 160 degrees internally.
The adult bowls get the full treatment: meatballs over rice with charred onions and a generous pour of that citrusy mojo sauce right over the top.
The Split: Adults get meatballs drenched in mojo sauce; kids get build-your-own bowls with sauce on the side.
Serves: 4 | Time: 30m | Epicurious →
2. Peppery Beef and Shishito Stir-Fry
Cornstarch-coated steak strips get a hard sear in a very hot wok, then blistered shishito peppers go in. It's a fast weeknight stir-fry built on char, soy, and a serious amount of black pepper, and the whole thing is over rice in about twenty-five minutes.
At step 5, before the garlic, ginger, and black pepper go into the wok, pull out kid portions of steak and a few mild shishitos. Toss their share with just a tiny pinch of pepper and a drizzle of soy sauce — they still get the seared flavor without the full pepper blast. Use low-sodium soy sauce or cut the amount in half for small kids, since the sodium adds up fast. Keep an eye on the shishitos too: most are mild, but the occasional one brings real heat, so taste-test before plating for little ones.
The adult version gets everything back in the wok for the full peppery finish — vinegar, soy sauce, and a glossy cornstarch sauce that clings to every strip. Serve it over rice.
The Split: Adults get the full peppery, glossy stir-fry; kids get seared steak and mild shishitos before the pepper hits.
Serves: 4 | Time: 25m | NYT Cooking →
3. Roasted Carrots With Whipped Tahini
This one's a harder sell for kids — roasted carrots with tahini and pistachios isn't what most children reach for first. But the approach here is solid: swap the curry powder for a pinch of cinnamon on their portion before roasting, and replace the tahini cream with something familiar. The carrots roast at 425 until browned and soft, which pulls out enough natural sweetness to do most of the work.
At step 4, when you're blending the tahini cream with garlic and orange juice, make a kid-friendly dip instead: plain yogurt with a drizzle of honey and a small squeeze of orange. Spread it on their plate the same way you'd swoosh the tahini. For babies under twelve months, use maple syrup or agave instead of honey. Make sure the roasted carrots are soft enough to mash easily with a fork — they should break apart without resistance. Mince the pistachios into a fine powder rather than leaving them in chunks, since larger pieces are a choking risk for young children.
The adult plate is the full version: curry-roasted carrots over garlicky whipped tahini, finished with the pistachio-herb topping and a final squeeze of orange.
The Split: Adults get curry carrots over garlicky tahini cream; kids get cinnamon carrots with a honey-yogurt dip.
Serves: 4-6 | Time: 45m | NYT Cooking →
4. Chicken Paprikash
Golden-seared chicken thighs braised in a paprika-tomato sauce and served over buttered egg noodles. This is comfort food that earns its hour — searing builds a good crust, the onion-garlic-paprika base layers flavor into the sauce, and the oven finishes everything while you boil the noodles. Kids tend to love it: it's mild, saucy, and lands on a pile of buttery noodles.
At step 3, before the pan goes into the oven, ladle out a cup of the lighter sauce for kid portions. Their chicken can finish in a separate small dish with this gentler version of the braise. If you're using bone-in thighs, debone them completely before plating for children — bones in braised chicken are easy to miss and a real choking hazard. Make sure the chicken hits 165 degrees internal, and let the sauce cool a bit before serving to small kids.
The adult plate gets the full oven treatment: the sauce thickens and concentrates around the chicken, then a generous stir of sour cream goes in at the end. Ladle it all over a tangle of buttered egg noodles.
The Split: Adults get rich paprikash finished with sour cream; kids get golden chicken with a milder, lighter sauce.
Serves: 4-6 | Time: 1h | NYT Cooking →
5. Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Salmon
Salmon cut into cubes, tossed in spices and oil, and air fried at 400 degrees for eight minutes. The outside goes golden and a little crispy while the inside stays buttery and flaky. Thirteen minutes total, and most of that is the cooking — the prep is almost nothing.
At step 3, when you're tossing salmon cubes in the spice blend, set aside kid portions in a separate bowl. Let them mix their own cubes with olive oil, a pinch of salt, garlic powder, and mild paprika — they season it themselves and it goes into the air fryer alongside the adult batch. Before any of this, run your fingers over each fillet and pull out every pin bone with tweezers. For kids under five, cut the cubes smaller — half-inch to three-quarter-inch pieces — or flake the cooked salmon into bite-sized bits before serving. Make sure the salmon reaches 145 degrees inside.
The adult cubes get the full spice blend and come out of the air fryer golden, crispy-edged, and ready to eat straight from the basket.
The Split: Adults get salmon with the full spice blend; kids get cubes they seasoned themselves with mild spices.
Serves: 4 | Time: 13m | Pinch of Yum →
Start with the salmon. Thirteen minutes from cutting board to plate, and kids who season their own cubes tend to eat them without a fight.
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