Recipes

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

Perfect for kids and adults alike, this fried rice comes together with the help of a can of tuna and some fresh broccoli, along with a few pantry staples, such as onion, garlic, rice, soy sauce and sesame oil. Despite the easy availability of its ingredients and the simplicity of the recipe, it's flavorful enough to impress company. While tuna is the heart of this fried rice recipe, the broccoli could easily be interchanged with other vegetables such as bok choy, kale or brussels sprouts. The chile-garlic sauce adds the slightest hint of heat, but can also be left out or served on the side, to accommodate any eaters with an aversion to spice. Save this recipe for those nights when you crave takeout-style fried rice but don’t want to spend takeout money.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

Nestled in a toasted bun, slathered with cream cheese and piled high with cooked onions and other toppings like sauerkraut and jalapeños, the split and seared Seattle dog is part of the city’s culinary identity. But, like so many regional dishes, the Seattle dog has evolved: Created in 1988 by Hadley Long, a street vendor in Pioneer Square during grunge’s heyday, the combination of hot dog and cream cheese was originally tucked into a toasted bialy bagel stick. By the early ’90s, other vendors followed suit, and the street food evolved to include butterflied hot dogs and toasted hot dog buns, becoming common at late-night hot dog carts outside of local music venues and sports arenas. While Mr. Long has since left the city, he has kept up with the evolution of his creation and maintains that while you can add whatever toppings you’d prefer, a true Seattle dog requires three essential ingredients: a bialy stick, cream cheese and a hot dog.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

Colorful and complex, this spicy glazed salmon with mango-cucumber salad packs a ton of flavors and textures into a quick weeknight meal. While the salmon roasts in the oven, you chop up a refreshing salad of crunchy cucumber, sweet ripe mango and creamy avocado. Side by side, both components make a bright, breezy meal, but you can also serve with white rice if you’re craving a more filling dinner. The spicy-sweet salmon sauce is built from pantry ingredients (soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, garlic and chile-garlic sauce) and readily adapts to your preferred sweetness and spice levels. While the salmon can be eaten the next day, the mango-cucumber salad is best eaten right away, when it’s at its best and brightest.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

Made with pantry staples but dressed up with peaches and cardamom, this Dutch baby makes for a large-format weekend brunch dish that can easily feed the whole family but feels fancy. The recipe takes advantage of the abundance of juicy summer peaches, which simmer gently in a foolproof caramel sauce that uses little more than butter, brown sugar, cardamom and the liquid released from the peaches. A dollop of whipped cream ups the luxury factor. While the peaches can be prepared up to three days in advance and refrigerated, the pancake is best eaten right away, crisp at the edges and fluffy to the core.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

This zucchini bread is not flashy, but its simple goodness will have you making it again and again. Moisture is an essential for a good zucchini bread, and while grated zucchini typically provides it, this recipe gets some additional help from olive oil and buttermilk. The incorporation of cardamom and orange zest will make your home smell like the most fragrant of bakeries. Maple syrup also adds a subtle sweetness and balances the earthiness of the whole-wheat flour. This zucchini bread is lovely as written, but you can also incorporate mashed bananas, fresh berries, chopped chocolate or your favorite nut.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

Laced with a simple mixture of soy sauce and chile-garlic sauce, this mushroom and cabbage rice bowl comes together quickly, with minimal effort and time. While cremini mushrooms are the easy choice for this rice bowl, shiitakes or other mushrooms work just as well. The silky, soy-flavored mushrooms pair well with the caramelized cabbage. Spoon steaming white rice into a bowl and add piles of this flavorful mushroom and cabbage mixture. Top with meaty, salty sardines in rich olive oil, if you’d like, and serve with additional chile-garlic sauce for extra heat, or opt out of the sardines entirely and keep it vegan.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

This white bean shakshuka is heartier than the traditional version and takes advantage of two readily available pantry foods: white beans and jarred marinara sauce. While the beans stretch this meal and give it more protein, the marinara makes it a saucy dish that begs for a thick slice of sourdough on the side. This dish is perfect for any meal and can be eaten at any time of day. If bread isn’t your thing, then feel free to pair it with white rice, which works equally well with the saucy beans and jammy eggs for a filling dinner. For a lighter option, you can enjoy the shakshuka on its own with a side salad.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

Simple to prepare but worthy of a celebration, this French toast starts with a base of buttery croissants and is studded with juicy blueberries. Cut into bite-size pieces, the flaky pastries are soaked in a rich custard and assembled in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; the casserole can be prepared and baked in the same morning or assembled ahead of time and baked the next day. Sweetened with maple syrup and spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and hints of vanilla, this is a perfect dish for a special occasion or to simply feed a brunch crowd. Frozen blueberries add sweet and tart flavors to this dish, but you can easily swap in other frozen or fresh fruit such as raspberries, strawberries or bananas.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

While coconut chicken curry can be found throughout many parts of East Africa, South Asia and beyond, this recipe is a uniquely Somali take on the dish. At the heart of this curry is xawaash, the warming, cumin-forward spice mix that can be found in many Somali dishes. Chicken thighs are cooked in spiced coconut milk until they are juicy and tender, and a kiss of heat is woven throughout this curry alongside the warming spices of the xawaash. Soft chunks of potato give this curry a little more body than malaay qumbe, a coconut fish curry that is also eaten in parts of Somalia. Serve the digaag qumbe with white rice or serve it atop soor (corn grits). You can also opt to soak up the gravy with muufo, a traditional corn flatbread. The digaag qumbe can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 3 or 4 days, if you don’t consume it all in one sitting.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

These crispy tofu, rice and cheesy bean burritos come together quickly for a satisfying weeknight meal. The tofu, which is pressed to expel excess moisture, is a little spicy thanks to the addition of crushed red pepper, but you can increase or decrease the heat level as you like, depending on your audience, or simply serve the burritos with a bottle of your favorite hot sauce, to customize bite by bite. Rice and beans provide heft, and avocado and spicy mayo round out the fillings beautifully before they’re all rolled together into a flour tortilla. While the other fillings can be stored in the fridge, the tofu is best enjoyed shortly after it comes off the skillet, when its edges are at their crispiest. A large flour tortilla is the ideal vehicle for these burritos, but the filling also works well as burrito bowls; double the rice if skipping the tortillas.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

These rice bowls apply the flavor of classic gyros to tender, buttery salmon. The bowl is piled with a spiced roasted onion and tomato mixture and a simple cucumber salad; a lemony, dill and feta–flavored yogurt and mayonnaise sauce completes the dish. Rice is the base for these bowls, but you could opt out of it entirely and nestle the toppings in pita bread, serve them over a bed of salad greens, or enjoy with a side of Greek-style lemon potatoes.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

In this simple and flavorful sheet-pan meal, barramundi (or another firm, white fish) is rubbed with a marinade made with berbere, a traditional Ethiopian and Eritrean spice mix with fenugreek and chile at its core. (As spice blends can vary, do make sure to adjust the amount of berbere in this recipe to your desired spice levels.) Herby Parmesan potatoes and garlicky broccoli florets are all roasted alongside, effortlessly rounding out this delicious weeknight dinner.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

These tender and juicy meatballs come together quickly for a simple and satisfying weeknight meal. Cilantro gives the meatballs a bright lift, while a chile-garlic sauce glaze offers sweet-salty heat. You can assemble these meatballs ahead of time and freeze them until they’re ready to be cooked and eaten, or bake them off the same day and serve with rice and a refreshing cucumber salad, sautéed green beans or another vegetable side.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

The Horn of Africa is the birthplace of coffee, and this part of the world has a strong coffee culture. Somali qaxwo (pronounced qah-wo) is ground coffee blended with ginger, cinnamon and sometimes cardamom. The ancient Greeks called Somalia “Regio Cinnamafore” (the Land of Cinnamon), and the aromatic cinnamon in Somali qaxwo is a revelation, as is the ginger. Qaxwo is lovely anytime, but it really shines in the afternoon during casariyo, the afternoon meal break. Qaxwo is often paired with doolsho, cookies and xalwo (a very sweet and gelatinous cardamon-scented dessert). Make coffee as directed here, or brew it from brands like Banadir One, which have the spices already blended in.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

This umami-forward dish is a favorite in many Somali homes due to its ability to stretch and feed an entire household cheaply and quickly using basic pantry ingredients. It is also consumed by some Somali women during the traditional forty-day postpartum period. The scramble is deeply comforting, with a hint of sweetness from the cooked red onions — and is a great source of protein thanks to the salty tuna and eggs. If you like, serve it with canjeero or crusty French bread and a hot cup of shaah (spiced tea) or qaxwo.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

This thin sourdough pancake (pronounced ahn-je-ro) is one of the most recognizable Somali foods. Also known as laxoox or canjeelo depending on the region, canjeero is typically mixed at night — the distinctive slapping sounds of canjeero batter being beaten is a core childhood memory for many. After it’s mixed, the batter is left to ferment overnight and then cooked the following morning. It’s properly made if the pancake has little air bubbles called indho (eyes) and a spiral pattern achieved by adding the batter to the pan in a circular motion from the center to the edges. This version uses wheat and corn flours, although sorghum is also common. The longer you ferment the batter, the tangier the flavor.

Ifrah F. Ahmed · NYT Cooking

Canned chickpeas and tuna are at the core of this hearty salad that is perfect for when you need a low-effort yet delicious lunch. This pantry-friendly salad also features refreshing cucumber paired with aromatic dill and ground za’atar, and is rounded out with bright notes of lemon and briny Kalamata olives. Choose your own adventure and decide whether to eat this salad on its own, with crackers, in a wrap, or with a thick slice of grilled bread on the side. While this salad can be eaten year-round, there’s something about it that feels reminiscent of snacking in the sun on a hot summer’s day. If preparing this salad in advance, store in an airtight container in the fridge and add the salt and liquids just before serving for the brightest results.

Harold McGee · NYT Cooking

Gelatin filtration is a way to make sparklingly clear liquids that are intensely flavored with … well, whatever you like: meats, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, breads, any and all combinations of ingredients. This is just flavor in fluid form, which you can use in the same way you might use a soup or sauce. Harold McGee

Harold McGee · NYT Cooking

A well-seasoned cast-iron pan is ideal for making this easy, comforting side dish. Make sure the potatoes are sliced thin, and dry them well before assembling the dish. This will ensure full crispiness.

Harold McGee · NYT Cooking

Harold McGee · NYT Cooking

Harold McGee · NYT Cooking

Harold McGee

Harold McGee · NYT Cooking

Harold McGee

Harold McGee · NYT Cooking

Whole grains tend to absorb more water and produce weaker gluten networks, and I found that kneading, as the recipe directs, gave a lighter, loftier loaf. Harold McGee