Weeknight Meals

No chopping required for this weeknight dinner. Just blend spinach, kale, basil, and garlic with feta, cream cheese, and olive oil to make a fresh, rich sauce that wraps itself around pasta.

Rice cakes are available sliced, marble-shaped, and in batons. There are dried versions, but the refrigerated version is widely available and easier to work with. You can use any combination of vegetables and seasonings here, so feel free to experiment with flavors.

Make fast roast chicken by using a rarely used part of the oven: the floor. The intense heat under your skillet from the oven’s floor quickly cooks the chicken and allows its skin to become remarkably crispy.

The liberal spoonful of Chakalaka (spicy vegetable relish) makes these extra special. If you don’t have a jar of it in your fridge, you can use any type of relish or chutney.

This recipe lets mushrooms shine, turning them crispy and meaty—almost like carnitas. Top with a creamy, savory peanut butter and serrano salsa.

Peanut butter tames the heat in this mild puréed salsa with serrano chiles and onions. Spoon it over mushroom tacos or use it as a dip for chips.

Melty, cheesy, crunchy, spicy: These sandwiches, a street food favorite in India, check all the boxes.

This cucumber salad is a staple dish in my household. I am not sure why it is so satisfying, but I’m inclined to think it’s its simplicity.

Miso gives this take on the classic Roman pecorino-and-pepper pasta an extra savory, satisfying bite. You can make your own fresh noodles at home, or use store-bought.

In chef Matty Matheson’s riff on the Nashville hot fish sandwich, crispy golden fish fillets get smothered in a smoky chile butter and layered with onions, pickles, and cheese.

Pizza meets eggs in purgatory in this one-skillet stovetop meal which is punchy from tomatoes, creamy from starchy orzo and melty mozzarella, and ready in under an hour.

Cooking cabbage wedges until very tender is one of the easiest, most delicious things we can think of. If the spiced tomato broth has reduced to the point where the pan starts getting dry and dark before the cabbage is ready, just add a splash of water to loosen it and keep going.

In this recipe, every single grain of rice gets coated in egg yolk and fries up perfectly distinct and chewy. Think of this method as a canvas for mixing in different ingredients and flavors—just don't skip the furikake.

This super-flexible, all-purpose salad turns cabbage into luscious tangles of crisp leaves generously coated in a rich and bright dressing.

You’ll find Korean rice cakes in all kinds of shapes and sizes—from long cylinders to thin, oblong rounds. While their flavor does not change according to shape, textures do. Thin rice cakes work well for this stir-fry, as they quickly absorb flavors and soften into crispy, chewy coins.

These potatoes are like little starch balloons that pop when you bite into them. Serve them as a side, or add an aioli or creamy dressing to make them a snacky starter.

The secret to these stewy baked eggs is a can of lentil soup. Any basic variety of lentil soup will work—you'll dress it up with the earthy spices and caramelized onions.

This isn’t your average Caesar salad. Here, the chicken gets smothered in Caesar dressing then roasts until the garlic, anchovies, and mustard become deeply caramelized and flavorful.

This one-skillet dinner gets deep oniony flavor from lots of leeks cooked down to jammy tenderness.

Traditionally, enfrijoladas are made by dipping stale tortillas into leftover frijoles from the night before. They are also great topped with a fried egg, or with roasted vegetables instead of chorizo to make this a plant-based breakfast.