Recipes & Food

Might be one of the best cakes in the world. Or is it technically a pudding?

Easy to assemble but far from basic, this cucumber salad delivers a riot of flavors and textures with snappy cucumbers, velvety peanut sauce, crunchy cilantro-peanut topping and zingy chile oil The details make all the difference: First, salting the cucumbers mutes the fruit’s subtly bitter notes while heightening flavor Next, the simple peanut sauce adds richness to the cool cucumbers

This colorful and satisfying one-pot dish is a variation on classic arroz rojo and makes it a complete meal by adding juicy chicken thighs Caramelized tomato paste and fresh tomato give the rice its signature reddish hue; the dish is studded with sweet golden corn and black beans for pops of vibrant color, flavor and texture Tossing cubed boneless, skinless chicken pieces with fragrant oregano and cumin before cooking adds another dimension of flavor

This comforting ground-chicken dish is layered with typical Desi spices: cumin, chile powder and garam masala Finished with tender baby spinach, it has all the makings of a satisfying one-pot meal In most keema (or ground-meat) curries from the Indian subcontinent, onions and meat are sautéed separately in two steps, but this recipe calls for cooking them together, along with ginger and garlic, a shortcut that saves time without sacrificing flavor

If you don’t cook tofu often (or even if you do), this unfussy tofu dish is for you: There’s no flour-dredging or shallow-frying, and no marinating at all As long as you pat the tofu dry (a bit fussy, but not by much), the vegetable oil’s high smoke point will yield crisp edges, while the sesame oil imparts flavor, putting you well on your way to making tofu taste great What’s more, a ginger-and-garlic-laced soy sauce coats noodles and tofu alike, giving you chopstick after chopstick of toothsome pleasure

Cacio e pepe is a traditional Italian pasta made with pecorino, Parmesan, black pepper and a little pasta cooking water These cobs borrow the flavors of the traditional dish, but the cheese sauce is not thinned with water, so it’s very rich and creamy Serve the cacio e pepe corn with grilled steak or fish and a green salad with acidic dressing

Chimichurri is lively, with loads of parsley and oregano; bracing, with garlic, crushed red pepper and red wine vinegar; and rich, from buttery olive oil — all attributes that do wonders for meatballs Add a generous amount of the Argentinian sauce to the ground-beef mixture, then roll and sear the meatballs until crispy and browned (You can also broil for 7 to 10 minutes.) Serve as an appetizer, with more chimichurri alongside for dipping, or make the meatballs into a meal with couscous, broccoli, roasted peppers or a kale salad dressed with the chimichurri.

Soba, Japanese buckwheat noodles, are ideal for salads because they taste particularly great when served cold Crunchy vegetables are highlighted here, adding lots of crisp, fresh texture Substitute with any raw vegetables you have on hand, such as cabbage, carrot, fennel, asparagus, broccoli or cauliflower

Keeping pesto on hand (store-bought or homemade and frozen) is one of the greatest kitchen time-savers, since stirring just a spoonful into a dish can add so much herby, garlicky flavor Here, pesto builds on a pan of orzo loaded with zucchini and onions that have been sautéed together until golden brown Cooking the orzo in vegetable or chicken stock bolsters the pasta’s flavor as the broth reduces into a silky sauce

Try something new for your tailgating: make a smoked meatloaf and score big! Using ThermaQ will ensure a perfect end result.

A sandal that’s just asking to go swimming

All the usual suspects found in a vegetarian bean chili appear in this salad — canned beans, tomato, bell pepper, red onion and spices — but there’s no cooking-with-heat required The tomatoes are salted to tenderize and coax out their sweet, umami juices Cumin, coriander, smoked paprika and dried oregano inject smoky earthiness and complexity

One great joy of bulgogi, marinated grilled beef that translates to “fire meat,” is that you can prepare it in advance and, when you’re ready to eat, have dinner on the table in under 10 minutes This stovetop chicken variation, dak bulgogi, provides the same workday convenience and savory-sweet flavors, thanks to soju, an alcohol which tenderizes the meat, and maple syrup, which caramelizes beautifully without burning Apple juice extends those ingredients and allows room for the subtle umami — known in Korean as gamchil mat — from garlic, ginger and scallions to gently season the chicken

To make a halved sweet potato into a more substantial side, load it with black beans and sharp Cheddar, then send it back into the oven until the cheese melts and sizzles Pair it with something a bit lighter, like fish tacos or a green salad, or build it into its own meal by adding sliced avocado, torn cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, or even a fried egg.

This cleverly named dish, which gets its moniker from the spiky grains of rice that protrude from the meatballs, became popular during the Great Depression, when rice was often added to expensive ground meat as a way to “stretch” it It’s still a useful budget tip — or an easy way to eat a little less meat — and you might find you like these lighter meatballs even better than the traditional sort Some recipes call for uncooked rice, but using cooked rice ensures that you won’t end up with crunchy grains in an otherwise tender meatball

These rice bowls are both a comfort and a thrill to eat They star chickpeas sizzled in chile crisp, a Chinese condiment made of oil, chiles and a variety of textural and umami-packed ingredients, such as fried shallots and garlic, sesame seeds, and preserved black beans You could snack on the electrifyingly tingly chickpeas solo, or make them into a meal with rice and a juicy mixture of tomatoes, celery, cilantro and soy sauce

Pickling celery for just fifteen minutes is a game changer: The acid tames its grassy notes, brings out savoriness and transforms its texture from simply crunchy to crisp-tender Here, celery is quickly pickled with red onion to create a sweet-and-sour foundation for this hearty cannellini bean salad The cumin seeds are optional, but they add a deeply earthy and aromatic edge to the pickles; feel free to substitute or experiment with other whole spices such as caraway, coriander, fennel or star anise

This colorful grain salad gains punchy acidity from pepperoncini and lightly pickled vegetables While the nutty farro is cooking, the soaking begins: Scallions, radishes, cucumber, parsley and white beans are tossed in a sherry-Dijon dressing spiked with a spoonful of pepperoncini pickling liquid The beans add a creamy texture to the dish in lieu of cheese, though a crumbled feta or torn mozzarella would work nicely

This hearty vegetarian mash-up of burritos and seven-layer dip is a crowd favorite for good reason: It’s easy, it’s fast and it encourages diners to gather around the table and fill their tortillas however they wish Canned refried beans seasoned with a dash of cayenne are heated through on the stovetop, then topped with a generous sprinkling of cheese Before serving, lots of cool, crunchy toppings like avocado, grated Cotija cheese, snap peas, radishes and romaine lettuce are piled on top

Throw together this exciting tangle of soba noodles, grilled mushrooms and tofu, raw vegetables and maple-miso dressing for your next picnic or warm-weather dinner Hitting mushrooms and tofu with a little heat accentuates the nutty quality of the soba, while snap peas, serrano chile and herbs give this plant-based salad a juicy crunch Lime juice, miso and maple work double duty as the salad’s dressing and the tofu’s marinade, which chars once it hits the grill

Originally printed on the Rice Krispies box in the 1960s, Scotcheroos are Rice Krispies treats minus the marshmallow but with gobs of peanut butter, chocolate and butterscotch chips Use either natural, unsweetened peanut butter or the more conventional stuff Either will work just fine, with the natural version tasting a tad less sweet

What’s better than a pan full of freshly made, just-gooey-enough Rice Krispies treats A core memory for many, it continues to be a fan favorite, whether a packaged gas station treat or a high-end bakery grab like this one Perfectly balanced with an additional layer of texture from the pistachio and halvah, this recipe comes from Shilpa and Miro Uskokovic, the supertalented pastry chef duo that opened Hani’s Bakery + Café in New York’s East Village in 2024

Yakisoba is a Japanese stir-fried noodle dish with a rich Worcestershire-flavored sauce This veggie-packed version combines carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms and kale for a fun mix of textures and flavors The key in this dish is to sauté the yakisoba noodles first, creating a dryer, firmer noodle that won’t fall apart in the sauce

Atole is often thought of as a sweet, drinkable corn-based beverage, but in parts of Mexico, it also refers to this hearty, savory porridge made with masa harina and hominy This version, inspired by the traditional atole de grano, is thick, creamy and deeply comforting — perfect for showcasing the variety of textures and flavors that different forms of corn can bring Here, sweet corn kernels and chewy hominy add dimension to the velvety base, while a topping of roasted chicken and caramelized poblanos brings savory depth

Frijoles refritos are a satiny purée of well-fried beans that are cooked with fat and their liquid In Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisines, they’re usually made with pinto or black beans and lard, but they don’t have to be This recipe uses canned white beans because their extra-starchy liquid expedites cooking time, and ample olive oil and browned onions guarantee deeply flavored beans

Scampi are tiny, lobster-like crustaceans with pale pink shells (also called langoustines) Italian cooks in the United States swapped shrimp for scampi, but kept both names Thus the dish was born, along with inevitable variations

Every family has its own way of making chickpea fatteh, but the layers of toasted pita, chickpeas and yogurt sauce always deliver a contrast of creamy and crunchy, warm and cool, sharp and earthy This version, adapted from Sawsan Daana, the Palestinian chef of Matbakhi restaurant in Kuwait City, includes a layer of hummus in addition to the whole chickpeas, as is typical in Amman as well as Jerusalem, where she was born Lebanese and Syrian versions skip the hummus and lean more heavily on tahini in the yogurt sauce (see Tip)

Pulling from the greatest hits of chicken salads, with crunchy walnuts, crisp apples, sweet raisins and a spiced mayo-yogurt dressing, this best-of-all-worlds sandwich subs out the chicken for cauliflower The aggressively roasted cauliflower serves as a sponge, soaking up all the flavors of the dressing while adding layers of bitterness and earthiness This salad only gets better as it sits, allowing the flavors to meld and the cauliflower to soak up even more dressing

This recipe for watermelon chaat, a savory fruit salad dressed in toasted cumin and dried mango powder, comes from Malika Ameen, a cookbook author whose Pakistani-American family in Chicago makes infinite variations on fruit chaat in the summer You could swap out the watermelon for a mix of what's in season, whether it's stone fruit, berries or cubed apple and pear It's an ideal dish to break the fast during Ramadan, full of flavor and hydrating, and quick to put together.

This light, summery Minimalist recipe for shrimp salad, from 1998, still carries a lot of heft Lightly sweet shrimp is enhanced by cayenne, paprika, garlic and a bit of lemon juice A bed of arugula and mint adds freshness to cut through the heat