The pork tenderloin, hummus bowls, and chicken Florentine are all genuine thirty-minute dinners — fast enough for a weeknight. The chowder takes closer to an hour, but most of that is hands-off simmering. The Roman-style pizza is the project: two and a half hours of dough rising, shaping, and roasting. Save it for a weekend afternoon when the kids want to get their hands in something.
This Week's Recipes
- Harissa-Honey Pork Tenderloin
- Hummus Bowls With Merguez-Spiced Tempeh
- Chicken Florentine
- Roman Style Pizza with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
- Shrimp and Corn Chowder
1. Harissa-Honey Pork Tenderloin
Pork tenderloin is one of those cuts that rewards a good glaze and not much else. This one gets a harissa-honey rub that caramelizes hard in a hot skillet and finishes in the oven: sticky, charred at the edges, a little smoky. Thirty-five minutes from counter to plate, and most of that is the oven doing the work.
At step 1, before rubbing the harissa-honey mixture onto the pork, set aside a portion of tenderloin and coat it with just honey. Same searing, same roasting, same golden crust, just none of the heat. Make sure the pork reaches 145°F internally before pulling it, and let it rest a few minutes before slicing.
The adult portions get the full treatment: harissa and honey building a spicy-sweet crust with real char on the edges. Finish with a yogurt sauce or a simple citrus salad and you've got a dinner that feels like more work than it actually was.
The Split: Adults get a charred harissa-honey crust; kids get a sweet honey-only glaze.
Serves: 2-3 | Time: 35m | NYT Cooking →
2. Hummus Bowls With Merguez-Spiced Tempeh
This one is a harder sell for most kids. Tempeh, hummus, and a North African spice profile aren't exactly the path of least resistance. But the approach here is sound: get the tempeh genuinely crispy, keep the kid spices gentle, and lean on hummus as a familiar dipping base. Kids who are into crunchy textures and dipping things have a real shot at this.
At step 2, once the tempeh is golden and crisp, pull the kid portion out before adding the full merguez spice blend. Season their batch with just cumin and a little smoked paprika, enough to be interesting without burning. Serve their tempeh alongside hummus for dipping with pita wedges and cucumber slices. Note that hummus contains both chickpeas and tahini, which are common allergens — worth flagging for anyone who needs to know. For kids under four, cut the cucumber lengthwise first, then into pieces no bigger than a centimeter.
The adult bowls get the full merguez treatment: cayenne, fennel seeds, and the rest of the spice blend stirred through the crispy tempeh, spooned over silky hummus, and finished with shaved fennel and red onion. It comes together in about thirty minutes and eats like a much more involved meal.
The Split: Adults get crispy merguez-spiced tempeh over hummus; kids get mild tempeh bites with hummus for dipping.
Serves: 4 | Time: 30 minutes | Epicurious →
3. Chicken Florentine
Golden chicken breasts in a buttery cream sauce. Straightforward comfort food that doesn't need selling. The chicken gets a light Parmesan crust, sears until deeply golden, and the sauce comes together right in the same skillet. Thirty minutes, one pan, and the kind of dinner where everyone cleans their plate.
Step 4 is where the sauce comes together and where you split. Wine and broth go in first to deglaze, then the cream and cream cheese melt into a thick, smooth sauce. That's the moment to ladle kid portions out, before the baby spinach gets folded in. Serve those portions with bread for dipping. Make sure the chicken hits 165°F internally, and keep in mind the sauce has dairy from both the cream cheese and the Parmesan.
After pulling the kid bowls, stir the spinach into the sauce until it wilts, then return the chicken to the pan to finish cooking through. The adult plates get the full Florentine treatment: that rich, savory sauce pooling around the chicken is the whole point.
The Split: Adults get white-wine cream sauce with wilted spinach; kids get a simple buttery cream sauce for dipping.
Serves: 4 | Time: 30m | NYT Cooking →
4. Roman Style Pizza with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
This is the weekend project, and it earns its time. The dough is a straightforward mix that rises for a couple of hours, and the cherry tomatoes slow-roast until they collapse into something jammy and concentrated. Two and a half hours total, but the actual hands-on work is pretty short; most of it is just waiting while the dough and tomatoes do their thing.
At step 3, once the dough is divided and shaped into rectangles, hand off a portion to the kids. They roll their own mini pizzas and pick their own toppings — cheese, tomatoes, whatever they're into that day. For young children, cut the roasted cherry tomatoes into quarters so no piece is bigger than a centimeter. Keep kids away from the oven itself — at these temperatures, that's strictly an adult zone. The dough contains gluten, worth noting for anyone with sensitivities.
The adult pizzas go thin and crispy in the Roman style: roasted tomatoes, mozzarella, Parmesan, and fresh basil on a crackly crust. The contrast between blistered cheese and sweet, concentrated tomatoes is what makes this worth clearing an afternoon for.
The Split: Adults get thin, crispy Roman pizza with roasted tomatoes; kids get personal mini pizzas topped their way.
Serves: 4-6 | Time: 2h 30m | Epicurious →
5. Shrimp and Corn Chowder
A creamy chowder built on corn and shrimp: naturally sweet, rich, and the kind of bowl that feels like it took all afternoon even though it didn't. The corn does most of the flavor work, with bacon adding a smoky backbone underneath. It takes close to an hour, but the simmering is mostly unattended. This is a shellfish-forward dish, so flag the shrimp clearly for anyone with shellfish allergies — it's a top allergen and there's no working around it here.
At step 4, ladle out the kid bowls while the chowder is still in its mild, sweet, creamy state, before the hot sauce and extra pepper go in. Crumble the bacon into small pieces for their bowls. Make sure the shrimp is fully cooked (opaque and curled) before serving, and let the soup cool down enough that it's not scalding before handing it over. The chowder also contains dairy from the cream.
The adult bowls get the finishing touches: hot sauce, scallion greens, a hit of Worcestershire, and as much black pepper as you like. That sweet corn base can handle a lot on top, and the contrast between the creamy soup and the sharp, spicy finish is what makes this more than just another chowder.
The Split: Adults get chowder with hot sauce and Worcestershire; kids get the sweet, creamy base with crumbled bacon.
Serves: 4 | Time: 1h | NYT Cooking →
Start with the chicken Florentine. Thirty minutes, one skillet, and a buttery cream sauce over golden chicken is about as close to a guaranteed clean-plate dinner as you'll find.
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