I often feel shy and awkward at parties, so I’m grateful that my job makes such an easy conversation starter. Tell people you work at New York Times Cooking and they’ll immediately ask you for recipe recommendations, cooking tips and what Melissa Clark is like in person. (In that order: Start with our Weeknight 100; a bench scraper will be your best friend; an angel among us.)
They’ll also volunteer their favorite NYT Cooking recipe, which always brings me joy. I had someone corner me at a party to tell me how much he adores Hetty Lui McKinnon’s sheet-pan pierogi with brussels sprouts and kimchi. I’m pretty sure he used the words “brilliant” and “life-changing,” or at least those were the sentiments conveyed by his wide eyes and upheld hands.
So today’s weeknight quintet is a gathering of recipes that have been enthusiastically recommended to me by other NYT Cooking cookers, with two that I always trot out for that “Any favorites?” question. Enjoy!
1. Sheet-Pan Pierogi With Brussels Sprouts and Kimchi
This sheet-pan dinner is a sure win in under an hour, with your oven doing most of the heavy lifting. Roasting pierogi yields a crisp, golden skin with a soft, pillowy interior but, if you don’t have pierogi, you could use gnocchi in their place. (No pre-cooking required!) Cooking kimchi at high heat may feel like a surprising move, but it becomes sticky and caramelized, imparting lots of flavor and texture to the final dish. Finally, a dill sour cream adds a fresh richness, but feel free to swap out the sour cream and use a good-quality Greek yogurt, crème fraîche or even buttermilk (it will be runnier, so no need to thin with water).
By Hetty Lui McKinnon
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
- 1 1/2 cups cabbage kimchi
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 (13-ounce) packages fresh or frozen cheese or potato pierogi (no need to thaw)
- 1/2 small lemon, for serving
- Handful of chopped dill, for serving
For the dill sour cream:
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup chopped dill
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Preparation:
1. Set a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 400 degrees. Add the brussels sprouts and kimchi to a rimmed sheet pan. (A small amount of kimchi juice is fine and adds lots of flavor.) Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt and black pepper, and toss to combine. Transfer the sheet pan to the oven.
2. Prepare the dill sour cream: Combine the sour cream, dill, oil, lemon and salt in a small bowl and whisk to combine. If the cream is too thick, add a tablespoon of water. (You are looking for the consistency of heavy cream.)
3. After 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and add the pierogi. Drizzle everything with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, and, using a spatula, toss everything together. Return to the oven, and roast until the brussels sprouts are tender, and the pierogi are puffed and golden, another 20 to 25 minutes. (Don’t flip the pierogi.)
4. Drizzle with olive oil, scatter with dill, and serve with dill sour cream and halved lemon.
2. Creamy Coconut Lime Rice With Peanuts
Coconut milk does double duty here in this light yet hearty rice dish that straddles the line between side salad and pilaf-like main. First the rice is simmered in creamy coconut milk, then the remaining milk is used to make a soothing dressing spiked with lime juice, peanut butter, toasted peanuts and garlic, with a little added heat from chile sauce. Fresh cherry tomatoes and chopped herbs turn it all into a rice salad that can be a flavorful side for grilled chicken or the base for fried eggs.
By Christian Reynoso
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice, rinsed
- 1 (13- to 14-ounce) can coconut milk
- Salt and pepper
- 1 (1 1/2-inch) piece ginger
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 2 limes
- 1/2 cup roasted and salted peanuts, crushed
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons sambal oelek
- 2 cups ripe cherry tomatoes, halved (about 10 ounces)
- 1 cup roughly chopped mixed herbs (such as dill, cilantro or mint)
Preparation:
1. Cook the rice according to the packaging instructions until tender, replacing 1 1/4 cups of the cooking water with 1 1/4 cups of the coconut milk. Fluff the cooked rice with a fork, transfer to a serving bowl and season with salt and pepper — it should taste well-seasoned and almost buttery — and let cool.
2. While the rice is cooking, add 1/4 cup coconut milk to another bowl. Finely grate the ginger and garlic into the bowl, followed by the zest of 1 lime. Then, juice both limes into the bowl. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the peanuts, the peanut butter, sugar and sambal and season with salt.
3. When ready to serve, add the tomatoes and 3/4 cup of the herbs to the bowl with the rice. Pour in the coconut dressing, toss well to coat, season with pepper and top with remaining 1/4 cup crushed peanuts and 1/4 cup herbs. For the best flavor, serve at room temperature the day it’s made.
3. Kale Sauce Pasta
This recipe for a vivid, vegetarian pasta sauce, made from blanched kale leaves and loaded with good olive oil and grated cheese, comes from Joshua McFadden, the chef at Ava Gene’s in Portland, Oregon, and was inspired by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers of The River Café in London. The technique is absurdly simple and quick from start to finish, but the result is luxurious and near-creamy. Feel free to play with the pasta shape, but no matter what you choose, be sure to let the blender run for a while at a powerful setting: You want the kale to completely break down into a smooth, bright, airy green puree.
Recipe from Joshua McFadden
Adapted by Tejal Rao
Yield: 2 servings as a main course or 4 as a side
Total time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed flat and peeled
- 1 pound lacinato kale, thick ribs removed
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 pound pasta, like pappardelle or rigatoni
- 3/4 cup coarsely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Preparation:
1. Put a large pot of generously salted water over high heat, and bring to a boil. In a small skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and garlic, and cook until the garlic begins to sizzle. Reduce heat to low, and cook very gently until garlic is soft and begins to turn light gold, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. When water is boiling, add kale leaves, and cook until tender, but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Pull out the hot, dripping kale leaves with tongs, and put directly into a blender. (Don’t drain the pot; you’ll use that same boiling water to cook the pasta.) Add garlic and its oil to the blender, along with a splash of hot water from the pot if you need some more liquid to get the blender going. Blend into a fine, thick green purée. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, then blend again.
3. Add the pasta to the still-boiling water, and cook according to directions on the package. Ladle out about a cup of the water to save for finishing the dish, then drain the pasta and return it to the dry pot. Add the kale purée, about 3/4 of the grated cheese and a splash of the reserved pasta water. Toss until all the pasta is well coated and bright green, adding another splash of pasta water if needed so that the sauce is loose and almost creamy in texture. Serve in bowls right away, and top with an extra drizzle of olive oil and the rest of the grated cheese.
4. Skillet Hot Honey Chicken With Hearty Greens
Requiring just one pan, this recipe yields supremely crisp, juicy chicken thighs and hot honey schmaltz, which serves as a warm vinaigrette for sturdy greens and a sauce for your — let’s say it again — supremely crisp, juicy chicken thighs. Squint and the flavors are reminiscent of fried chicken with a side of braised collards: Crackly chicken cozied up next to spicy, tangy and a little-sweet greens fortified by animal fat. Make your honey-schmaltz as spicy as you wish: Green chiles will pack more heat than red.
By Ali Slagle
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (4 to 6 thighs)
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small hot chile, thinly sliced (such as jalapeño, Fresno or serrano), or to taste
- 1 large bunch or head of hearty greens, such as escarole, mustard greens or kale (about 6 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Preparation:
1. Pat the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel, then season both sides with salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil into a large skillet, then add the chicken thighs skin side down.
2. Set over medium heat and cook, without moving them, until the skin is crisp and deep golden brown, about 15 minutes. If you can’t stand leaving the chicken untouched for this long, use your tongs to press the chicken down into the pan, which promotes even browning.
3. Flip the thighs over and swirl the chile into the rendered chicken fat. Cook until the meat is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, stem and tear the hearty greens into big bite-size pieces. In a big bowl, toss them with salt and pepper.
5. Transfer the chicken to serving plates, leaving the fat in the pan. Off the heat, stir the honey and vinegar into the fat until the honey’s melted and everything’s combined. Dress the greens with enough of the sauce to lightly coat, seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. (Feel free to eat the chile peppers or leave them behind.) Serve the chicken with the salad, spooning more sauce over the chicken and salad as desired.
5. Sheet-Pan Bibimbap
Bibimbap, the Korean mixed rice dish, is a kaleidoscope of flavors and textures. The popular dish has multiple origin stories and, like banchan and kimchi, many variations. Cooks who ordinarily keep namul (seasoned vegetable) banchan in the fridge may add them to a bowl with leftover rice and seasonings like spicy-sweet gochujang and nutty sesame oil, for example. Or, if starting their bibimbap from scratch, some may prep each component separately. But here’s a fun way to accomplish everything at once: Roast a melange of bits and bobs on one sheet pan as rice heats and eggs oven-fry on another. The caramelized sweet potato and salty kale in this formula come highly recommended, but you can use any vegetables on hand, reducing cook times for delicate options such as spinach, scallions or asparagus.
By Eric Kim
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 6 ounces oyster mushrooms, torn into bite-size pieces
- 1 medium sweet potato (about 6 ounces), scrubbed and thinly sliced into half-moons
- 1 small red onion (about 6 ounces), thinly sliced crosswise into half-moons
- 3 packed cups coarsely chopped Tuscan or curly kale (from 1 small bunch)
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 4 cups cooked medium-grain white rice, preferably cold leftovers
- 4 large eggs
- 4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, plus more to taste, for serving
- 4 teaspoons gochujang, plus more to taste, for serving
- Kimchi, for serving (optional)
Preparation:
1. Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. On a large sheet pan, arrange the mushrooms, sweet potato, red onion and kale into four separate quadrants. Drizzle the vegetables with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat, keeping the types of vegetables separate. Try to not crowd the vegetables; you want them to brown, not steam. Roast on the top rack until the sweet potato is fork-tender, the onion and mushrooms are slightly caramelized and the kale is crispy but not burnt, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place another large sheet pan on the bottom rack to heat. When the vegetables are almost done cooking, in the last 5 minutes or so, remove the heated pan from the oven and evenly drizzle the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil on it. Spread the rice over half of the pan. Crack the eggs onto the other half and carefully transfer to the oven. Bake until the whites are just set and the yolks are still runny, 3 to 6 minutes (this time may vary depending on your oven, so watch it carefully).
4. To serve, divide the rice evenly among four bowls. Now divide the vegetables evenly as well, placing them in four neat piles over each portion of rice. Use a spatula to slide the eggs over the vegetables. Drizzle each bowl with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and dollop with 1 teaspoon of gochujang, adding more if desired. Mix everything together with a spoon or chopsticks before diving in, and serve kimchi alongside, if you prefer.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.