Weeknight Meals

Roast a selection of seasonal vegetables right along with the chicken breasts to make a delicious meal. Turnips, carrots, onions, and potatoes are perfect for a winter evening.

Fragrant with garlic, lemon juice, and butter, this may just become a favorite. Soak up the tasty pan juices with crusty French bread.

You can double or triple this recipe, although you probably won’t need to increase the egg mixture until the recipe is quadrupled.

My husband loves tortilla chips, but he won’t touch those little pieces left in the bottom of the bag, so I crush them with a rolling pin to make a coating for boneless chicken breasts. This family favorite can be easily expanded into a party meal. Ordinarily, I serve his with rice, and sometimes I like to add black beans, too.

While the chicken roasts (it only takes about 30 minutes), prepare one of these sauces to dress it up, or simply serve with mashed potatoes and gravy prepared with the pan drippings.

I’ve baked these spicy chicken breasts for crowds, and always receive lots of compliments. The original recipe was for grill-cooking, but this version works year-round.

This simple sweet-hot glaze is one to remember when you’re down to the wire at dinnertime. Keep the ingredients on hand in your cupboard, ready to dress up ordinary chicken parts. Cover leftover glaze and store it in the refrigerator; it will keep for several weeks. In the convection oven, the chicken cooks quickly, retaining its tenderness and juiciness.

Crunchy with peanuts and marinated in a richly flavored Asian-style sauce, this is good with steamed jasmine rice and stir-fried snow peas.

Roast chicken is a simple but perfect dish when convection roasted: the meat is juicy and the skin is brown and crisp. I reach for fresh herbs in the summertime or dried ones in the winter and a bit of butter, then slip them under the breast skin before baking. When there’s absolutely no time, I just put the chicken in the oven. Be sure to place the chicken on a rack above a shallow roasting pan for perfect air circulation. To turn this into a one-dish meal, add some vegetables—carrot chunks, potato cubes, onion wedges, fennel sticks, cut-up zucchini, or anything in season. Roast them in a single layer in a shallow baking pan beneath the chicken. Following this basic recipe, I give my favorite variations.

Tender, juicy pork tenderloins cook as quickly as boneless chicken breasts.

I’ve discovered that poultry really is juicier and more flavorful when it is brined. But the amazing thing is that when you add spices to the brine, the chicken picks up the flavors. I threw in a couple tablespoons of a special hot chimayo chile powder bought on a whim. Not only did the rich chile flavor come through, but the chicken also had just a pleasant hint of hotness. Convection roasting adds another measure of juiciness to the chicken, sealing in the juices. Sometimes I scrub a couple of baking potatoes, rub them with olive oil, and place them in the oven to roast right along with the chicken.

This is a simple and tasty way to grill boneless pork chops, and you can roast vegetables at the same time by placing them in a pan on the rack beneath the meat.

Pork loin is one of my favorite meats to convection roast because it’s readily available and easy to handle, requiring no special trimming or cutting. If you simply season it with salt and pepper and use the same temperature and timing as with this recipe, the meat is tender and delicious. Most ovens come with a probe. When you’re roasting pork loin it’s best to use it, so that you don’t accidentally overcook the meat, making it dry rather than succulent and juicy. Set the probe to 160°F. The roast continues to cook for a few minutes once you’ve removed it from the oven. When you convection roast the pork, it is done in one-third to one-half the usual time.

So simple, yet so flavorful. These lamb chops roast to medium-rare in 8 to 10 minutes in the convection oven. Lamb chops are difficult to probe with a thermometer because they are so small. You can cut one to determine doneness.

I love to grill flank steak outdoors, but sometimes it isn’t possible. The convection oven is a wonderful substitute. If you have a cast-iron grill pan long enough to accommodate a flank steak, place it in the oven when you begin to preheat it. Otherwise, use the roasting pan and rack assembly that comes with your oven. I recommend preheating the oven for at least 10 minutes.

Meatballs baked in the convection oven are cooked as quickly as a pan of cookies—no greasy smells or mess. I bake meatballs for kids this way. This isn’t a fancy meal—just serve them over mashed potatoes, or in a bun or a wrap.

Here’s a quick hot-roasted meal that’s as ideal for entertaining as it is for a busy weekday. All you need to add are some tossed greens and crusty bread.

This is definitely a special-occasion meal, but it is so easy to do, and you can “grill” it all year round! I like to use ridged cast-iron grill pans to do everything from hamburgers to tenderloin steaks. I preheat the pan in the oven using the regular bake setting. Once it’s preheated, I set the oven to convection roast or convection broil and use tongs to transfer the meat to the hot grill pan. Turn it over halfway through cooking to get grill marks on both sides. At the same time I bake thick-cut potatoes in a roasting pan on a lower oven rack. Add a simple green salad to the menu and serve with crusty bread.

Roasting concentrates the flavor of tomatoes in this light, refreshing, easy-to-make soup. It’s irresistible either hot or cold.

Here’s a soup for late summer when eggplants, tomatoes, and red peppers are luscious and ripe. Top the soup with a dollop of plain yogurt and pesto for added zip.