Recipes

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

While this pasta is reminiscent of scampi, piccata and vongole, it delivers something more — a hard-to-pin-down complexity that comes from cooking the pasta not in water but in wine. Really! The pasta soaks up the wine’s layered flavors and piercing brightness, while the sharp alcohol evaporates away. Butter and anchovies round out the pasta to create a silky, savory sauce. Serve with seared chicken, shrimp or scallops, roasted mushrooms or a crunchy fennel or arugula salad.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

While salmon might not be a traditional choice for Korean lettuce wraps, it is a delicious and fast one. Start by coating cubed salmon in vinegar and ssamjang — the salty-sweet-spicy sauce that’s also dabbed on the final wraps — then broil the salmon: The direct heat of the broiler mimics the sizzle of Korean barbecue, and broiling skin-side-up ensures the fat renders, the skin crisps and the meat doesn’t dry out. Eat the cubed salmon in a lettuce leaf with rice and more ssamjang, plus any other condiments you like. Fresh cucumbers and radishes and spicy raw garlic and kimchi play well with the silky, rich fish.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

Adding frozen, chopped spinach to your meatballs to “stretch” the meat further isn’t just kind to your pocket book — it also makes for a better meatball. The spinach brings moisture to the mix of beef and pork, which leads to a more tender and juicy meatball. (You can also exclusively use pork or beef if you prefer.) The spinach also accentuates the minerality of the iron-rich ground beef, adding savoriness without heaviness. This recipe has you brown the meatballs in a pot so that you can build the sauce with the flavorful drippings. If you’d prefer to cook the meatballs in the oven, roast them on the upper rack at 425 degrees until no longer pink, 11 to 14 minutes, then broil until golden-brown on top, 2 to 4 minutes before adding to the sauce. Be sure to scrape any drippings from the sheet pan into the sauce as well.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

At the happy place where mac and cheese, tomato pasta and tomato soup with grilled cheese meet, you’ll find this dreamy weeknight pasta. It starts with sizzling tomato paste, as well as garlic and paprika, in butter, to deliver a wallop of caramelized tomato flavor. Then, add water and pasta; as the pasta cooks, its starch will thicken the surrounding liquid. When Cheddar melts into the pot, it creates a glossy, creamy sauce with tang from the tomato and the Cheddar. Use cheese you grated yourself — not store-bought shredded cheese — so that it doesn’t clump.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This sheet-pan meal delivers big flavor with little effort. Bone-in chicken thighs, cubed squash (buy pre-cubed if you like), red onion and a can of black beans are all coated with smoky-warm spices before roasting. (To use boneless thighs, see Tip.) The chicken and black beans crisp, the squash and onion sweeten and everything is deeply seasoned with chili powder, cumin and chicken drippings. Bring contrast to the meal by adding cooling, creamy, fresh and crispy toppings, such as sour cream, pepitas, cilantro, raw onion and lime. This is sheet-pan cooking at its finest.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This roasted sheet-pan take on bibimbap drapes golden squash, brussels sprouts and tofu in a gochujang-apple cider vinaigrette, then piles everything on top of nutty whole grains. Tossing the vegetables and tofu in the sauce, as opposed to spooning the sauce over bowls, ensures every nook soaks up the spicy tang. Thin slices of apple and shallot are in there too, for bites of crisp freshness. And while the recipe calls for pre-cubed butternut squash for ease, you can use any winter squash you have. Just cut it into ½-inch wedges or 1-inch cubes, and feel free to leave the peel on for another layer of texture.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

With its soft, gooey inside and toasted outside, this egg and cheese quesadilla is as satisfying to eat as it is fun to make. The trick is to use the barely set eggs and melted cheese to secure the fillings to the tortilla, so that when it’s time to flip, the whole quesadilla cleanly moves together. As the tortilla toasts, add another round of cheese and sprinkle some on the perimeter so it melts into a crisp, brown, lacy edge. If you’d like to add chopped vegetables like peppers, onions or kale, sauté them in the butter before adding the eggs.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

These crisp and zesty tofu nuggets happily recall drive-thru chicken nuggets and seaside fried fish. The torn tofu is first coated in hot sauce, which acts as glue for the flour, Old Bay seasoning and garlic powder. As the tofu roasts in the oven, Old Bay’s blend of paprika, celery seed, dried mustard and other spices meld with the hot sauce for a nugget that’s salty, tangy and spicy. Eat with a squeeze of lemon or dipped into tartar sauce, ketchup or barbecue sauce, maybe alongside sweet potato fries or coleslaw.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This one-pot pasta marries the vivid herbaceousness of pesto with the creaminess of Alfredo. Instead of heavy cream, however, this pasta’s silkiness comes from blending cottage cheese with plenty of Parmesan. You’ll want to use a high-speed blender or food processor to whirl the cheeses and greens into a smooth and glossy sauce, and if you have a scale, use it to make quick work of measuring the sauce’s ingredients.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

You probably already have a pantry full of protein-packed ingredients, so skip the protein powder and layer a variety of ingredients for a thick, creamy, just-sweet-enough shake. This recipe is flexible based on what you have, but the secret ingredient is a pinch of cinnamon, which marries the fruit, dairy and nuts or seeds into a combination that’s reminiscent of a fruit crisp. For a chocolatey shake, use frozen banana and 1 ½ teaspoons cocoa powder.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This lifesaver of a recipe calls for cooking dumplings and kale together in one skillet. First, brown frozen, not thawed dumplings, then sauté kale with garlic and ginger. Put the dumplings on top of the kale with a little water, cover the skillet and let the kale tenderize while the dumplings plump. Sauce simply with soy sauce and vinegar and garnish with any combination of sesame seeds, cilantro, scallions and chile crisp; for a bigger meal, serve over rice or another grain.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

Together, sardines and avocado make a rich pair. Here, the combination is balanced by rubbing a raw garlic clove on the warm toast and stirring together a vinaigrette right in the sardine tin using its seasoned oil. (You could also add capers, chives or everything bagel seasoning for more punch). Instead of slicing the avocado, scoop it out with a spoon, so that the vinaigrette can pool inside the little nooks instead of slipping off the toasts. Now’s also a great time to use smoked or seasoned sardines.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

Two simple tweaks can elevate the classic combination of fish and herb sauce to new, more dynamic heights. Start by broiling the salmon (or snapper or bass) skin-side up for crisp skin and delicate meat without flipping, splattering or stinking up the house. Then, promote the sauce to a side dish by stirring in a can of lentils. The legume’s earthiness balances the richness of the fish, while the fresh sauce enlivens the lentils. It’s a meal all on its own, but also excellent with a slice of crusty bread broiled until golden.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This simple pasta is for in-between seasons – it marries the richness of a wintry pasta with the verdant vibrance of spring. The combination of sausage and butter glosses everything in a silky sauce, while the asparagus, frozen peas, lemon and an entire cup of basil keep it springy. (There are more vegetables in there than sausage or pasta.) Feel free to use coarsely-chopped springtime alliums like leeks, spring onions or ramps instead of the shallot.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This no-cook, main-dish slaw is all about texture and toppings. The cabbage and shredded chicken is only the beginning. It also has a double dose of savory nuttiness from nori and peanuts, a creamy peanut-ginger dressing and refreshing scallions and cucumbers. It’s creamy, crunchy, salty and fresh all at once, satisfying bite after bite. For a vegan option, trade the chicken for a combination of shelled edamame, baked tofu, bean sprouts and cooked whole grains.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

This spectacular but simple side dish pairs golden, crisp-tender rounds of zucchini with salty, molten cheese, a garlicky red-wine vinaigrette and fresh herbs. Start by searing the zucchini in a skillet, then transfer it to a platter where it can soak up the punchy vinaigrette. Meanwhile, sear craggy pieces of halloumi in the same skillet. It’s added to the zucchini just before serving so the edges stay crunchy. Eat with whole grains, pita, hummus, grilled fish, chicken kebabs or other Mediterranean dishes.

Ali Slagle · NYT Cooking

In this 20-minute side dish inspired by gomaae, tender green beans are glossed in a lively, savory, nutty combination of miso, mustard and lemon juice. They can be eaten right away or refrigerated for up to two hours ahead. Add them to grain bowls, picnic spreads, or lunch or dinner plates alongside grilled chicken or salmon, seared tofu, or tuna salad.

Genevieve Ko · NYT Cooking

Tanya Sichynsky, a New York Times Cooking editor, tops salty, snappy grilled hot dogs with bright pico de gallo. Combining those two elements of fully loaded Mexican hot dogs makes these easy to cook for a crowd and tote to a cookout. You can prepare the pico de gallo early in the day and keep it in an airtight container until ready to pile onto the hot dogs, split to cradle the fresh filling. Be sure to keep the grill heat moderate. Too hot, and the hot dogs — and buns — will burn and dry out. Too cool, and they won’t take on a smoky char. Genevieve Ko

Tanya Sichynsky · NYT Cooking

The perfect campfire s’more is perfect because it’s a reflection of you: Maybe you reach for dark chocolate rather than stick to milky bars or swap in cookies or saltines for the graham crackers. But there are a few best practices, including tool and setup tips from the camp-cooking experts Megan McDuffie, Michael van Vliet and Kena Peay that ensure the marshmallow roasts to gooey, charred excellence and the chocolate surrenders to the heat of the marshmallow, melting but not liquifying. While delicious s’mores can be achieved indoors with a microwave, broiler, gas stovetop or even a candle with some fight in it, a campfire or fire pit imparts a nostalgic woodsy smokiness. Add-ons like jam, peanut butter, chile flakes or fresh berries are fun to try out. What’s nonnegotiable is that you enjoy s’mores with friends, fellow campers, grandchildren or whomever you love.

Tanya Sichynsky · NYT Cooking

Generously burnished and with a velvety, custardy interior, this rustic, crustless cheesecake from the Basque region of northern Spain is the platonic ideal of a low-effort, high-reward dessert. The caramelized exterior evokes a toasty marshmallow, but the cake itself is not too sweet. Marti Buckley adapted this recipe from La Viña, a small bar in San Sebastián, for her cookbook, “Basque Country” (Artisan, 2018). This statement cake is achieved using only five primary ingredients. It’s baked at a higher temperature than a classic New York cheesecake and in the hot oven, the cheesecake dramatically inflates into a soufflé-like puff before sinking into itself, creating a cradle for fresh fruit, should you wish to serve it with some. But Basque cheesecake is perfect on its own, at its arguable prime the day after it’s made, enjoyed at room temperature. Tanya Sichynsky

Tanya Sichynsky · NYT Cooking

Like a ginger ale at 30,000 feet, this zippy pie might just be the thing to settle your stomach after a Thanksgiving feast. It’s the result of trying to combine two tofu-based desserts — Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s vegan pumpkin cheesecake and Andrea Nguyen’s dòuhuā — to create something fresh and distinctive for the holiday table. Ample salt in both the crust and the filling helps this vegan dessert avoid saccharine territory. Starchy and mild Japanese sweet potato provides plenty of structure in the egg-free custard without competing with the assertive fresh ginger or the warming depth of maple, but a sweet potato pie this is not. It’s a treat for real ginger lovers, so if you’re on the fence, feel free to adjust the quantity of grated ginger (and maple extract while you’re at it, see Tip) to your preference. The beauty of a vegan pie is that you can taste and adjust the filling as you prepare it.

Emily Weinstein · NYT Cooking

Emily Weinstein · NYT Cooking

Emily Weinstein

Emily Weinstein · NYT Cooking

This is an ideal soup for roasted stock, if you're able to make some. Other beans you can use in this recipe: split peas, black-eyed peas, pinto or any pink bean, or black beans. Emily Weinstein