Weeknight Meals

One of my favorite crops from my husband’s farm are his fall carrots. I prefer the fall carrots because as the weather gets colder the vegetable sugars concentrate, yielding the sweetest carrots of the year. We use lots of carrots in this recipe, so that it’s more about the carrots than anything else. For the best flavor, serve it cold the day after you make it. You can substitute chickpeas for the black-eyed peas, if you prefer to use another type of bean.

This easy slurry method takes polenta into weekday fare. And this recipe shows how to make a deeply flavored mushroom sauce with the simple addition of dried porcini. Both techniques are in my go-to repertoire.

Probably the biggest, most versatile recipe I've ever written and it's become a model for my master-recipe formula. Here six basic components are completely transformed with simple substitutions into 18 totally different dishes.

Deconstructed with fresh tomatoes and by quickly hand-pounding chicken into cutlets then broiling, this becomes a fresh, modern alternative to a time-consuming classic.

This pasta is a complete revelation. The sauce is magically made from the pasta water and tomatoes as the pasta cooks—all in one pan.

Seven ingredients and one skillet lead the way to home cooking that's as good as anything you'll eat in restaurants.

Zucchini ribbons take the place of pasta in this naturally gluten-free vegetarian casserole.

Change up your typical pasta casserole with these fun vegetarian lasagna rollups—they’re like individually portioned mini lasagnas. The pasta tends to soak up a lot of the liquid while it cooks, so you’ll want to reserve about a half jar of marinara sauce to add at the end for a properly saucy dish.

The beauty of oven omelets and frittatas is that they need no crust (unlike a quiche). Fortunately, the slow cooker does this job well—the eggs stay moist and tender thanks to the steady, low temperature. Be ready to serve and eat the frittata as soon as it is done cooking; for the best texture and flavor, do not let it stand on keep warm. The frittata needs maximum surface area to cook, so it works best in a large oval slow cooker. Serve with fried potatoes, or fruit salad and ciabatta toast.

Move over boxed mac and cheese; this version is just as simple and a whole lot tastier.

My Tater Tot hotdish has the body of a chicken pot pie, a dish that I loved growing up, long before I knew the existence of Tater Tot hotdish. But a close examination reveals that the only real differences are the subbing of chicken for ground beef and the use of a homemade cream of chicken soup instead of mushroom soup. I don’t think this will offend a hotdish purist.

Use butternut squash two ways in this autumnal dinner: shaved into a Southeast Asian–inspired salad and roasted with pork until caramelized and tender.

Rasam, as prepared in most homes in Southern India, uses either tamarind or tomatoes as the base. It is a piquant broth poured over steaming hot rice. In our home—both in Kerala and America—rasam was a staple part of everyday meals. One night when I was a teenager, I was out to dinner with my brother Tom in New York City’s Little Italy and ate mussels cooked in a light tomato broth very reminiscent of rasam. I couldn’t wait to get home, buy fresh mussels, and cook them in rasam. This dish has made its rounds in my kitchens for close to three decades now. Make sure to have some fresh crusty bread to soak up the tomato-mussel broth.

Kohlrabi has a muted flavor and crunchy texture similar to a broccoli stem, which is something to keep in mind for this pickles recipe.

This bean recipe is purposely brothy; if you have leftovers, reheat and smash them—they're great on toast with an egg. Also, if you have any leftover meat, throw it in during the last few minutes of cooking for an even heartier flavor, just as we did.

Unstuffed wonton wrappers take the place of traditional dumplings in this simple and weeknight-friendly vegetarian soup.

Add ready-peeled shrimp to tomato sauce spiked with fennel and chiles for a fast and flavorful weeknight dinner.

Elevating the humble onion: Roasting them in their skins retains their natural sugars, and they get meltingly soft without disintegrating.

This roasted butternut squash recipe is perfect for a dinner party—serving on a large platter encourages second helpings and all the half portions, tastes, and just-one-more bites that follow.

Get all the garlicky, herby flavors of classic Italian Porchetta in a roast chicken.