Recipes

Alexa Weibel · NYT Cooking

For a spectacular vegetable side at home, try this tried-and-true formula: A swoosh of sauce on a plate topped with a cooked vegetable and a confetti of finely chopped garnish. For this iteration, blend the base (a cloud of yogurt, tahini, citrus and garlic) and chop your garnish (a pretty pile of pistachios, dill and chives) while the carrots roast. Set on a platter, served hot or at room temperature, it’s a special side dish that can also hold its own as a vegetarian main, supplemented with chickpeas, quinoa, couscous or toasted bread.

Alexa Weibel · NYT Cooking

There are very few ingredients that can electrify a dish the way a spoonful of curry paste can. In this recipe, which is adapted from “Kiin: Recipes and Stories from Northern Thailand” (Penguin Canada, 2020) by Nuit Regular, store-bought red curry paste and lime leaves season sliced chicken and long beans in a salty-sweet dry curry. At her Toronto restaurant, Ms. Regular makes the curry paste from scratch, and in Thailand, you can purchase fresh curry paste by weight, but stateside, you’re more likely to find it in shelf-stable cans or jars. Salt and heat levels vary widely, so start with a little, then add more gradually, as desired. Citrusy, herbal Makrut lime leaves are essential to classic pad prik king (see Tip 2), but rest assured, this recipe is still delicious without them. Alexa Weibel

Alexa Weibel · NYT Cooking

There are plenty of crispy tofu recipes, but few truly deliver on the promise, since tofu has a tendency to steam because of its high moisture content. But time can do the trick in the oven, creating brittle edges and a chewy texture with little effort. Squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can from your block of tofu, grate it coarsely, season it fearlessly, then roast it until sizzling. The key step is to drizzle the tofu with a combination of olive oil and tomato paste toward the end of cooking, which crisps the edges and lends a deep umami flavor, so much so that this tofu could almost be mistaken for seasoned ground beef. A swipe of avocado mayo, loosened with lime juice and electrified with zest, adds richness and tang, and quite literally holds the tacos together. Choose your mayonnaise and tortillas wisely and the whole dish is vegan.

Alexa Weibel · NYT Cooking

A wildly popular novelty snack from Taco Bell, the Crunchwrap Supreme combines elements of a burrito with the tidier portability of a sandwich, in a stacked, layered and wrapped tortilla package. It delights for two practical reasons (low cost and convenience) and two culinary ones (crunch and cheesiness). An at-home version is a fun party trick — and it is endlessly customizable. Once you cook up the assertively spiced ground beef, the rest of this recipe is basically assembly: Start with the largest flour tortillas you can find, then layer on the meat (or crispy tofu, or refried beans), cloak it in queso, stack a tostada on top, pile on some chipotle sour cream, lettuce and pico de gallo, then fold and sear. Would you spend less buying just one at a Taco Bell? Yes, but your ratio of filling to tortilla will be paltry compared to this homemade version, which cheaply and happily feeds a crowd.

Alexa Weibel · NYT Cooking

A towering wedge salad is fun to look at, but the height and shape make it impractical for a couple reasons: Toppings tumble right off and dressings can’t permeate it properly. This recipe fixes all that by calling for thinly sliced wedges that are stacked on their sides. The toppings stay put, and the dressing can work its way into all the little nooks and crannies. This salad looks impressive, it tastes delicious and it’s actually quite no-fuss: You can make the dressing days ahead of time, and swap in whatever herbs, spices, seasonings you have and crave. The only tricky aspect is emulsifying your feta. The key is time: Scrape the sides as needed and keep blending. With some coaxing, it always gets there.

Alexa Weibel · NYT Cooking

Prized for its presentation, this fancy French potato dish dates back to the 1700s, when it was created — and given its aristocratic name — to help elevate the reputation of the humble tuber in France, where it had yet to be widely embraced by home cooks. It requires a little more effort than your typical potato side: You boil the potatoes, mix them with an extravagant amount of butter, cheese and eggs, pipe them onto parchment and bake until toasty. But it’s visually striking, and the results are too: Creamy potatoes enrobed in a delicate crust. Duchess potatoes are typically piped into dainty circles or baked in a casserole, but this version skews modern, with quirky squiggles inspired by the whipped ricotta crostini at Misi. Pipe them as you like, and cook them off as time permits; they can be prepared and refrigerated in advance, then baked off right before dinner.

Alexa Weibel · NYT Cooking

Luscious and glossy, this vegan broccoli rabe pasta makes the most of a restrained ingredient list and a classic technique of blending sautéed onions for a flavorful sauce, a versatile practice used in sunny Bangladeshi shrimp dopiaza and rich French soubise. Here, whizzing sautéed onions with miso and olive oil creates a silky sauce that adds umami — and a hint of sweetness — to the vegetable-packed pasta, which is really more greens than noodles. There’s plenty of texture in this dish, but if you’d like to fancy it up a bit, these nutritional yeast bread crumbs are a great addition, crisped in olive oil or butter. This recipe was created with vegans in mind, but it’s equally wonderful if you’re an omnivore who happens to be craving a delicious vegetable-heavy pasta on a weeknight.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

Layer cakes are formative for Southerners: They grace wedding tables, shiva gatherings, quinceañeras, baptisms and funerals. Because of this — and because layer cakes may be as close as some will ever get to a holy experience — they’re often called church cakes. This chocolate one is a perfectly moist and stacked rendition of a pudding cake, with just the right amount of richness from the frosting. This formula needs no alterations, but there’s no sense in breaking the tradition of Southern bakers, who personalize recipes as a point of pride. Add pulverized praline to the center, or cinnamon or instant-coffee granules to the batter. Don’t be afraid to make it your own. To make it a true church cake, serve it to those you hold in the highest regard, for celebrations or to simply indulge in the good glory of company.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

This is an elegant version of an easy Sunday cake – one that can be made early in the morning for eating a warm slice right out of the oven with coffee, and then letting it sit on the counter to enjoy it as a snack cake as the week rolls along. It magically gets better and better each day. It is adapted from Paul Bertolli’s Bitter Orange Cake recipe in his masterpiece, “Cooking by Hand,” which uses blood oranges. Here, a humble navel orange is used for its friendly sweetness. Rubbing some zest into the sugar, adding fennel and vanilla and flexing the charms of its main character ingredient (the orange), this beautifully simple cake becomes a bit deeper in its character. Playing around a bit with the flour, replacing some of the all-purpose with a toasted chestnut flour or by adding a little semolina, as this recipe calls for, makes for a delightful play on flavor, texture and crumb.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

To make pralines is to show a great deal of love and care for the recipient of these resplendent treats. This incredible tradition should be embraced: They are perfect to wrap in glassine bags and hand out one by one, or place in a tin by the dozen as gifts. They’re also perfect to eat standing up in your kitchen. A nod to the Louisiana gas station treats of yore, this version cuts through the sweetness with a bit of salt and vanilla paste. For Southerners, the pralines feel like a bit of a homecoming in their warm, sweet (with a bit of salty) nature.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

Savory and spicy pimento cheese is folded and baked into the most buttery pie dough around. Inspired by a beloved pimento cheese hand pie, this slab pie is made for a crowd and will become a fast favorite for parties. In the spirit of celebration, this dish is wholly about collaboration and combining one perfect recipe with another. Here, the pimento cheese recipe from chef Ashley Christensen is combined with my tried, tested and true pie dough to create something magical. This rich dough uses fraisage, a French technique that involves smearing butter with flour using the palm of your hand, creating a tender, flaky crust. Do not use a machine or a pastry cutter, as your hands are essential to helping you discern the temperature and feel of the dough.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

The friendliest dishes are oftentimes accused of being fussy or complicated. Soufflé has this reputation even though it’s nearly rustic in its ingredients. There are three components to consider when making any good soufflé: flavor, structure and heavenly levity. That airiness is typically what intimidates, but remember that, no matter how close to the heavens you might aspire, even a slightly flat soufflé is a delicious soufflé, and you’ll only get closer next time. The flavor of these vanilla citrus soufflés is both delicate and bright, and while they are light, they provide quite a satisfying bite. The black pepper brings a nice surprise dimension to the vanilla and grapefruit. Rooted in Appalachian traditions, black pepper in dessert is quite special and adds to the mystique dessert.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

Is there anything more evocative of childhood than chocolate pudding? When dressed up with a salty pecan crust and a fluffy cream cheese layer, that nostalgic lunchbox treat becomes the kind of dessert that is an absolute pleasure to eat and to share. It is great for a crowd, it is fun and easy in its presentation and it is absolutely delicious. Originally made with store-bought whipped cream and chocolate pudding mix, this dessert (sometimes called delight or four-layer delight) deserves to be resurrected from scratch, using freshly whipped cream, rich dark chocolate and toasty nuts, for a new generation to enjoy.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

Lemon bars, with their buttery shortbread crust and their tart-as-you-like curd, have become one of the great American desserts ubiquitous to the 20th century cookery canon. These have a little twist with a rich pecan short crust, making them just a bit more well-rounded, the toasty nuttiness serving as a counterbalance to the tart lemon zing. While there are some official notations of its origins in print — most notably in the Chicago Tribune in 1962 — it remains one of those desserts that has seemingly lived in the hearts of modern Americans for as long as we can remember. As a friendly harbinger of spring and a favorite for every summertime cookout or picnic or backyard hang, these bright bites are a great option to make ahead; chilling them overnight makes them easy to cut and sugar right before you plan to serve or carry them to your festivities. For all these reasons and more, lemon bars will likely keep their rightful place as a great American standard for many years to come.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

Summer is a soft, or strong, hue of pink in the South, depending on who is making the strawberry cake. When strawberries come alive, anywhere from early March down in Louisiana to as late as June as far up as East Tennessee, Southerners take to their strawberry cakes for as many celebrations as they can. Often referred to as church cakes in the South, layer cakes reign supreme. And strawberry layer cakes take the cake as the most sought-after style for many bakers. This recipe, with a soft and moist but sturdy crumb, uses store-bought preserves, but if you can roast your own high season strawberries, it is recommended you do so. The frosting is light and ethereal. And the color? That is all up to you and how heavy you pour the red food coloring. No matter the shade of pink you aspire to, you’ll get a regal and splendid cake worthy of any high celebration or common weekday luncheon.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

The beauty of a tres leches cake is that it is perennial in its appeal. Cold, light and yet still decadent in the summer, comforting and familiar in the colder months, it is a cake for all occasions and seasons. Don’t be afraid to engage in a little experimentation and play. Adding rum or other seasonings or spices is perfectly acceptable. But don’t skimp on the refrigeration and soaking time. You’ll be glad when your cake is optimally chilled and moist to the core.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

The category of chess pie is expansive. By definition, a chess pie is any sweet custard pie made up of eggs, butter and sugar, with something to set it, like flour or cornmeal. This runs the gamut from transparent pie to pies that even include nuts like Kentucky Derby pie. These “sugar pies,” with their basic ingredients, might otherwise fall flat without a bit of finesse. This version, beautifully balanced with buttermilk and a touch of lemon and vanilla to cut the characteristic sweetness, elevates the minimalism in an elegant and well-rounded way. It’s chess pie in its highest form. Some tips for success: Cooling your buttermilk chess pie for several hours is just as important as baking until set with the right jiggle. Baking it in a frozen, homemade pie shell helps create a crust that is both crisp on the bottom and soft against the filling.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

Every culture has some kind of basic flatbread. The recipe for this one, originating in New Mexico in the early 20th century, is quick, simple and rustic. You can roll the tortillas out to a thinness or thickness of your preference. For this purpose, keeping them a bit thicker and eating them hot off the comal, with soft salted butter and honey, is a great joy. You can also roll them thinner for tacos, keeping them warm in towels or tortilla warmers until you are ready to use them.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

There is nothing easier than a seasonal clafoutis. It can be whipped up and baked well before any dinner party, or baked while you host and served warmed with some crème anglaise or ice cream. The true beauty of a clafoutis? Its abundant versatility: Serve it for a humble, only slightly precious breakfast, cold or at room temperature, with coffee. Or serve it with your finest silver for an elegant dessert, with a sidecar of Armagnac. Traditionally done with cherries (pits and all!), it can be made with just about any fruit. But, it is at its finest with sturdy, in-season peaches or plums.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

Any baking household should have an approachable brioche recipe on hand for all occasions, one that proofs overnight and lends itself to freezing prior to its final rise. A good brioche is soft yet structurally sound enough to be eaten fresh and warm, right out of the oven, or to stay tender even after being toasted a few days later. It will have a developed enough flavor to eat on its own, for savory applications, or to be used as a base for many other stunning sweet breakfast, snack or dessert items, from cinnamon rolls to baba au rhum. With its dough’s ability to be frozen and whipped out with only a final proofing (a rest and a rise to double) needed (see Tip), brioche can be your freezer’s MVP, ready to impress guests or simply to treat yourself.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

Fashioned after a traditional French gâteau Breton, the gâteau Basque and even (and maybe especially) the galette des rois — all cakes made of sweet or quick puff dough doubled up and filled with fruit or cream or nuts — this inspired version, uniquely Louisianan and lovingly called gâteau nana, takes inspiration from each. Filled with a pecan cream, this beautiful, simple yet rustic cake was adapted from one developed by Melissa Martin, who was inspired by Nancy Brewer’s version at The Kitchen Shop in Grand Coteau, La. Melissa M. Martin touches upon recipe inspiration in “Bayou” (Artisan, 2024): “Nostalgia drives those of us chasing a specific flavor. Nancy and I both believe in these little things that are so important to a season and a community and how to bake them into dough for celebration.” Lisa Donovan

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

Even as New Mexico’s official state cookie and an important Christmas tradition in Hispanic and Latin American cultures, biscochitos might not seem to have anything outlandish or fancy about them, at a glance — that is, until you take a bite. Full of dynamic flavor and a delicate texture that is so pleasant to eat, over and over again (they’re hard to resist), these anise-studded, orange-and-vanilla-scented bites are perfect to package as a gift, to leave out for guests to snack on or to serve alongside cajeta ice cream or a rich butterscotch pudding as part of an important holiday meal. You might also try them alongside your favorite celebration drink, like rompope, ponche or a simple hot chocolate.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

Fresh produce and deep flavor abound in this vegetarian pozole. This easy and efficiently made soup has all the winning qualities of a salsa verde, and is made in a similar style but includes hearty hominy and an abundance of greens to create a warm, homey and delicious meal. You can use chicken broth or stock if you like, or keep it vegetarian and play around with a homemade caldo de maíz (corn broth) or a richer homemade stock using charred and roasted vegetables instead of fresh. As with many tried and true Mexican soups, this dish is really rounded out by its accouterments. Top it well, eat it slow and let the flavors unfold as you go.

Lisa Donovan · NYT Cooking

This grown-up chocolate pudding, which uses dark chocolate and a luxurious custard base rooted in European techniques, is served in small individual portions and nods to childhood indulgence. Perfect for a dinner party, you can prepare this the morning or day before your guests are to arrive, chill it and you’ll have a perfectly set dessert just waiting to be garnished and served. (Crème fraîche is a perfect accompaniment.)