A fantastic street food, usually served on a stick. But at home there’s no need for that.
Succotash
This winning combination takes advantage of two of the best frozen foods: corn and lima beans. When you have both handy, this dish comes together in no time.
Tofu Sandwich with Cucumber and Hoisin Mayo
I’m crazy about cucumber sandwiches: not the dainty English teatime fare, although those are good too, but big-flavored ones, like those with goat cheese, hummus, and, yes, tofu.
Oven-Baked Ratatouille
The French classic stew is simple, no matter where you cook it. Combine vegetables, herbs, and olive oil, and soften them on the stove or in the oven. That’s it. Longish, slow cooking and lots of good olive oil are important.
Have a robust serving with bread for a light repast or roast a chicken, grill a skirt steak, or pan-sear a piece of fish and it’s a hearty meal.
Baja-Style Fish Tacos with Grilled Slaw and Chipotle Mayo
Traditionally the fish for Baja-style tacos is batter-fried, but cooking the fillets on the grill makes more sense. It’s much quicker and a lot less messy. And grilling the cabbage before turning it into slaw adds another layer of smokiness. To retain heat for cooking the fish, keep the lid of the grill down while you put together the slaw and chipotle mayonnaise.
Simplest and Best Shrimp Dish
Excuse the superlatives; this spin on a Spanish tapa is my favorite, and everyone I serve it to loves it. The shrimp juices infuse the oil, and the sum is beyond delicious. It’s good with bread, over rice, tossed with pasta, or stuffed into tacos.
Other seafood you can use: similar-sized scallops (or larger, though they’ll take longer to cook).
Eggplant, La Tavernetta Style
Inspiration from a restaurant in Naples, run by the Vittozzi family.
Corn and Farro Salad with Tomatoes, Feta, and Mint
After a fan raved about Mark’s raw corn salad, I posted the recipe in the original recipe in the thread. Now here’s how to spin the super easy — and somewhat shocking — crowd-pleaser into lunch or dinner. My latest version includes some farro; its pleasant earthiness and chew offer heft in a salad of sweet corn, mint, and tomatoes. You could also use rice, bulgur, quinoa, or steel-cut oats. Just make sure the grains — or pasta for that matter — aren’t straight out of the fridge, which exacerbates the starch and makes for unpleasant eating. If you don’t have anything already cooked, start a pot going first thing, then toss the corn salad with the warm grain for a room temperature feast. (Or chill it all down for a few minutes in the freezer before serving.) Other ideas for bulking: crisp salad greens, black beans or chickpeas, grilled chicken, or cooked shrimp.
Vegannaise
A few tips: Cider vinegar lends a more mayonnaise-like flavor; lemon juice is brighter. For a slightly golden tint, add a pinch of turmeric. And don’t skimp on the blending time; your reward will be a creamy consistency.
Caesar Salad
The essentials in a real Caesar salad are garlic, egg — which here I like to coddle just a bit for texture—lemon juice, anchovies, and real parmesan cheese. Of course, you can easily make this vegetarian by skipping the anchovies and Worcestershire; or take it in the opposite direction by adding chopped cooked chicken, steak, or shrimp.
Broccoli Rabe With Sausage And Grapes
With the meat, this becomes a main course, a simple Italian classic, and one of my favorites. Without the grapes and thinned with a little water or stock, it makes an amazing pasta sauce.
Other vegetables you can use: broccoli, broccolini, gai lan, turnip or mustard greens, asparagus, kale, collards. Substitute chopped apple for the grapes if you like.
Beans and Tomatoes
Totally rustic, especially if you leave the fresh tomatoes in big chunks. You can serve these beans alongside roast or grilled meat, chicken, or fish; or, for an easy dinner, spoon over rice or thickly sliced bread, or toss with pasta or grains. We used cannellini beans here, but you can also any other white beans that you find: the bigger the better.
Cheese Quesadillas
The key to successful quesadillas is to resist overfilling them. Too much cheese makes them ooze all over the place; too many other ingredients and the cheese can’t hold the two tortillas together. That said, few hot dishes make better — or easier — use of little bits of leftovers. Here’s a base recipe that’s delicious as is, but ready for your add-ins.
Creamy Pasta with Chickpea Crumble
Instead of eggs, my vegan take on carbonara features aquafaba — the water left behind after draining cooked or canned chickpeas — which is usually thrown out.
Toasted Edamame with Cherry Tomatoes
The interior of edamame veers more toward the gritty part of the bean texture spectrum, which makes them perfect for toasting — almost like nuts. Another good option is frozen green fava beans. They’re usually easier to find than they used to be, but for some reason, I came up short in three places last week. I also used chopped fresh oregano and sage leaves instead of the parsley. Further proof this recipe is totally adaptable. Serve over thick bread slices or rice or toss with pasta or torn salad greens.
Lemon-Rosemary Cauliflower Steaks With Manchego
These were all the rage a few summers ago and I still love them. One tip: The larger and tighter the cauliflower, the better they slice into steaks. The simple seasonings here make the steaks easy to serve with your favorite sides and build a satisfying meal.
Eric Ripert’s Merluza and Green Lentil Stew with Orange Emulsion
In May 2020, with World Central Kitchen and City Harvest, we worked together and Le Bernardin was doing 400 meals a day that were going to doctors and nurses that were staying in our neighborhood in hotels. They were here from out of state, to support the New York doctors that were either too tired, or sick by the virus. And then at one point all those doctors and nurses left, went back to their states, and we cooked for shelters. So we were cooking five days a week, 400 meals for shelters, from May to December.” – Eric Ripert
Smashed Carrots With Curry Oil
Smashing baked carrots cracks open crevices, ideal for soaking up a super easy curry oil. This is so easy, but it’s sooo good. – Carla Hall
Carla Hall’s Pickled Cucumber Salad
On our road trip for this book, chef Joe Randall took us to Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room, a Savannah institution. You’re seated and served family-style, with a spread of at least twenty classic Southern dishes. The one I kept returning to looked the humblest. It was a little bowl of cucumber slices. But each slice packed a pickle-y refreshing crunch from the two-step technique of salting the cucumber before marinating it. I re-created it here and added chile and dill. This is exactly what you need in a parade of rich dishes. — Carla Hall
Homemade Red Lentil Seitan
You won’t believe how easy it is to make at home; the dough comes together almost instantly and is so astonishingly fun to work. And you’ll have control over additions and flavorings, which is important for anyone who has tried it and remains non-plussed.