Weeknight Meals

We'll happily make room on our condiment shelf for yuzu kosho, a blend of citrus zest, garlic, chile, and salt. It adds aromatic acidity (and some heat) to rice dishes, noodle soups, fish, and chicken. We substitute lemon, lime, and grapefruit zest for the hard-to-find yuzu, a Japanese citrus.

This is the definition of minimalist Thai cooking. The steam not only gently cooks the fish until just tender but also creates an instant, complex sauce from a handful of basic ingredients. Scoring the fish's flesh allows more of the flavor to season the fish and facilitates faster steaming. The fish is cooked on a plate that fits inside the steamer, to catch the juices.

The simplest of all Thai dishes, stir-fries are a great way to showcase fresh green vegetables. You can increase the spiciness of your stir-fry by adding more chiles. The key to this dish's success? Controlling the heat on the pan from beginning to end.

I stepped up on a cinder block to enter the open kitchen and realized then just how short the cook was; he flicked on the burner and the flame shot up as high as his chin. His broom closet-size kitchen swelled with heat and even with my average height, I towered over him awkwardly as he wielded the wok with beef and soy sauce. "You must play basketball!" he suggested. On his kitchen wall and out of reach of the blazing flame, plastic bags of spices hung from low-set rusty hooks, and his windowsill nearby lay scattered with tangerine peels set out to dry in the sun. Cooks in China are in the habit of keeping the peels of the tangerines they eat and spreading them out to dry in the sun for later use. Then they just rehydrate a few pieces whenever they want to add a nutty, slightly bitter note to a stir-fry or stew. Tangerine Beef is a Sichuan specialty and tall on flavor.

Treat this recipe as a basic template from which to have a blast mixing and matching different meats with different cheeses. The Parmesan is a must and not an option to switch out; it's the magic ingredient that will make the meat more savory and any cheese you stuff in your slider taste cheesier.
The recipe can be halved or doubled easily, so if there are a lot of kids in your crowd, you might want to cut back on the number you make. If a bunch of your drinking buddies are on their way over, however, you'll likely want to do 1 1/2 times the recipe, or even double it.
We've given you suggestions for toppers and meat-and-cheese combinations, but those are just ideas to get your imagination going. If the weather is cooperative, fire up your grill, but if you are grill-less, the broiler does a fine job. Any which way you do it, you can't help but have fun!

Sometimes you gotta take a break from the hard-core carnivordom, and these are the way to go—just ask our staff, who eat them around the clock. These balls happen to be Mike's favorite too. You'll often find us at the bar with a big bowl, topped with Classic Tomato Sauce or Spinach Basil Pesto and a side of steamed or sautéed spinach. And when it comes to kids, this is a great and tasty way to sneak in more veggies.

We like to whip up this delicious tofu scramble with home fries made from Yukon Gold and sweet potatoes on lazy weekend mornings. Begin to cook the scramble just as the home fries are nearly browned to perfection so you can serve this hearty and soul—satisfying breakfast all at once. It tastes and looks great when accompanied by salsa or chopped tomatoes and a handful of garden—fresh herbs.

Radishes and breadcrumbs give this greens-packed vegetarian pasta its crunchy texture.

Fry up this German classic tonight. A squeeze of lemon juice over the top brightens up the thin, crispy cutlets.

People often think of turnip soup as bitter and thin, but this one, made with young delicate turnips, is creamy and sweet. Blanching the turnips first removes any bitterness, and the sharpness of the greens makes a delicious counterpoint to the sweetness of the turnips.

We've rarely gone out for Indian food without including aloo gobi among our selections. It's a vegetarian/vegan standard. This rendition comes together quickly, and the tofu mimics paneer, the bland, soft cheese found in some Indian dairy dishes.

This one is Italy, pure and simple. Which is precisely what Italian cuisine is all about: Get yourself fresh, pure ingredients in season, plus some fine, real condiments and seasonings, and put it all together without a lot of fuss, and ecco! A simply superb meal, as healthy as they come and as good as eating gets. It's also beautiful on the plate. Note that scampi does not, in fact, mean shrimp, as many people think, but rather refers to the popular lemon, garlic, and oil preparation for shrimp in so many red-sauce Italian joints.

We swooned over deputy food editor Janet McCracken's pumpkin seed and cilantro pesto when she made it in the BA Test Kitchen. Now we use it on rice, pasta, roasted vegetables, and chicken, too.

The Reid family crumbles blue cheese on top to add a salty bite.

This recipe is a twist on the classic lemon-and-caper-based Italian piccata sauce. Here I feature spicy smoked paprika and tangy kalamata olives, creating a unique, savory flavor. I've used cod, though halibut would also work well. The trick is to choose a thicker fish that can absorb this spicy sauce. Serve with a big green salad or steamed kale.

This traditional Thai-style soup is my personal favorite. I love coconuts, and this soup is all about the coco. I like to use different ages of coconut meat to get varied textures. A more mature nut makes a chunky soup, while a younger one makes a creamy soup. I also like to use a variety of hot peppers: jalapeño, serrano, and even the super-spicy Thai chile, just to get a wide range of spiciness. Some peppers are hot as you eat them, others after you eat them; my favorites are hot only when you stop eating them.

Thailand has been heavily influenced by Indian culture. India's religion, music, and especially their food have all become part of Thailand's heritage. Curries are often thought of as an Indian thing, but Thai versions of curry are just divine. Serve this dish with Tom Yum , if desired.

Be a bean counter! The new USDA guidelines recommend having 1 1/2 cups of legumes weekly for their protein, fiber, iron and more. This hearty, lightly tangy dish gets you a third of the way to your goal.