MAKE-AHEAD MEALS:
Five weeknight dishes will help you organize your evenings»
Hello and welcome to Five Weeknight Dishes. My daughter said something kind of funny the other day at lunch: “Dinner is coming for us, Mama!” She was just narrating the events of the day as she expected them to unfold, using her toddler syntax. But she had divined a feeling I often have these days: Dinner is coming for us! Run!
I’m finding that the best way to surf the daily cooking waves is to try to steal bits of time to prep for meals to come. Chopping at 11 a.m. makes life far saner at 5:30 p.m. and provides a plump little break from the other tasks on my list.
The recipes below include elements that can be made ahead when you have time: I made herb sauce midafternoon the other day, and a double batch of scallion sauce for noodles, too. I cooked bacon after breakfast so we’d be prepared for BLTs at lunch. I even made a meatball mix to stick in the fridge one morning after I’d gotten up early while everyone else slept late and the house was delectably quiet. (This was a high-water mark in my short career of prepping food ahead.)
Here are five dishes for the week: Chicken and Rice With Scallion-Ginger Sauce
This is exactly what I want to eat right now: plush, gently cooked chicken; fluffy rice; and a scallion sauce with a bit of an edge from jalapeño and vinegar. I’d double that sauce for meals to follow, like a breakfast of leftover rice topped with a fried egg.
BySueLi
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 45 minutes
Ingedients 1½ cups sushi rice (or other shortgrain white rice)
2 cups chicken broth
1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled
and grated (about 3 tablespoons) 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
(about 2 pounds)
Kosher salt and pepper
¼ cup vegetable oil
6 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar 1 jalapeño, halved, seeded, then
thinly sliced
2 teaspoons toasted white sesame
seeds
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon granulated sugar
Directions
Place rice in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse under cold water, shaking gently, until the water runs clear. In a medium saucepan, combine rice, broth and 1 tablespoon grated ginger. Season chicken all over with salt and pepper and place on top of rice mixture. Cover and bring mixture to a boil over high. Once mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until rice is plump, broth is absorbed and chicken is cooked through, 20 to 22 minutes. Turn off heat and let rest, covered, 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the vegetable oil, scallions, vinegar, jalapeño, sesame seeds, sesame oil, sugar and remaining ginger; season with salt and pepper.
Remove chicken from saucepan and slice ½-inch thick crosswise. Fluff rice with a fork and divide among bowls. Top with chicken and scallion-ginger sauce. Penne With Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Simple in its bones, this dish can be made simpler still by skipping the pecorino and breadcrumbs. You could also roast the tomatoes ahead: I did that with four pints of cherry tomatoes and kept them in the fridge. Reheat in a skillet with oil, maybe garlic, and a little pasta water; toss with pasta; serve.
By Amanda Hesser
Yield: 2 to 4 servings
Total time: 35 minutes
Ingredients 1 pound small cherry tomatoes, halved cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 to 3 tablespoons for tossing
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup freshly grated pecorino
Romano, more for serving
¼ cup breadcrumbs
½ pound penne
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line bottom of casserole dish with cherry tomatoes in a single layer, halved side up. Pour oil on top, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle cheese and breadcrumbs on top. Bake until tomatoes have wilted, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with enough sea salt so that water tastes mildly of salt. When tomatoes are just about done, add penne to water and cook until al dente (it should be pliable but still firm in center). Scoop out about a cup of pasta water and reserve. Drain pasta and add to casserole. Fold tomatoes and pasta together, adding another 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning. If it is dry, add a little reserved pasta water. Serve, passing more grated cheese at the table. Grilled Fish With Salsa Verde
Italian salsa verde is made with parsley, garlic, capers and several glugs of oil, which makes it a good candidate to store in the fridge at length. The herbs will lose some of their vibrancy, but the sauce will remain delicious, and more important it will already exist, removing one item from your to-do list. Cook the fish however you’d like. Just keep it simple.
By Martha Rose Shulman
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Total time: About 30 minutes
Ingredients
FOR THE SALSA VERDE:
1 to 2 garlic cloves (to taste), halved,
green shoots removed
Salt to taste
1 anchovy fillet, rinsed (optional) 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and
chopped
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¾ cup (tightly packed) flat-leaf parsley
leaves (25 grams)
FOR THE FISH:
2 pounds cod
Salt and freshly ground pepper to
taste
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
To make the salsa verde, combine the garlic, anchovy fillet, salt and capers in a mini food processor and pulse to a paste. (Alternatively, use an immersion blender and combine the ingredients in a jar and blend to a paste.) Add the olive oil and parsley and blend to a purée. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If using within a few hours, allow to sit at room temperature. Otherwise, refrigerate. Allow to come to room temperature before using.
Prepare a hot grill. When the grill is ready, season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides and brush generously on both sides with olive oil. Grill for about 3 minutes on each side, just until you can pull the flesh apart with a fork. Remove from the heat and serve with the salsa verde.
Egg Curry
Boiled eggs are an underrated staple to keep on hand; even softboiled eggs can be stored and reheated gently. This recipe, from Tejal Rao, could make supreme use of those eggs: a saucy, highly spiced, rich and warming dinner. (The onions could be caramelized in advance too, shaving 30 minutes off dinner prep later.)
By Tejal Rao
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients ¼ cup neutral oil, such as grapeseed
or canola
2 medium yellow onions, chopped 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
2 small cinnamon sticks
6 green cardamom pods
1 teaspoon ground coriander ½ teaspoon ground turmeric ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns 6 Roma tomatoes, finely chopped 1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon garam masala
6 to 8 hard-boiled eggs, peeled Handful of small, tender fresh cilantro
stems
Directions
In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until evenly caramelized and light brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger, and fry, stirring occasionally, another 4 minutes. Add the cinnamon and cardamom. When the spices start to toast, after about 2 minutes, stir in the coriander, turmeric and peppercorns.
Add the tomatoes, salt and 1 cup water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and the fat rises to the top, about 15 minutes. Stir in the garam masala and lower the heat. If the sauce isn’t runny, stir in ½ cup water.
Add all but 2 of the eggs and stir gently. Halve the remaining eggs lengthwise and arrange on top, yolkside up. Heat until the eggs are warmed through, then top with cilantro.
Sheet-Pan Shrimp Scampi
This Melissa Clark recipe is for all the last-minute cooks. I am still one of you at heart. Do not prep this ahead. Pull everything out of the fridge when you’re on the edge of being ready for dinner. Toss the shrimp in the melted butter. Broil. Eat.
Yield: 3 to 4 servings
Total time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
2 lemons
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more as
needed
1 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 pound peeled large or extra-large
shrimp
2 to 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for garnish
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (or use
more parsley)
Directions
Position a broiler rack 4 inches from heating element, then heat the broiler. If your oven is separate from your broiler, heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Slice one of the lemons ¼-inch thick, removing the seeds. Arrange lemon slices in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Cut the other lemon into wedges and reserve for serving.
Brush lemon slices generously with oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Carefully pour wine onto baking sheet, avoiding pouring directly over lemon slices.
Transfer pan to the oven or broiler, and broil until the tops of the lemon slices are caramelized and charred in spots, and the wine has reduced by half, 6 to 12 minutes. (Broilers vary a lot in their intensity, so watch carefully.) If your broiler is in your oven, turn off the broiler and heat oven to 450 degrees. (It should heat up quickly since the broiler’s been on.)
Meanwhile, in a medium pot over medium heat, melt the butter.
Remove from heat and add shrimp, garlic, ¾ teaspoon salt, the red-pepper flakes and black pepper; toss well to coat shrimp with butter.
Transfer shrimp mixture to the baking sheet, and spread shrimp in an even layer on top of the lemon slices. Roast until shrimp are cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Toss lemons and shrimp well, taste, and add more salt if needed. Transfer shrimp, lemons and any pan juices to a serving platter and sprinkle with parsley, basil and more red-pepper flakes. Serve immediately, with lemon wedges for squeezing.