Lunch - quick and easy recipes - page 173

One of the most ubiquitous casseroles around, the pot pie has many incarnations, both good and bad—but when it’s good, it’s memorable. With tasty Creamed Turkey (or Creamed Chicken, if you prefer), loads of vegetables, and a no-fuss puff pastry crust, this one falls in the good category. We think you’ll agree. What to buy: We used Dufour puff pastry with excellent results, but if you prefer a denser crust, try topping your pot pie with frozen store-bought flaky pie dough. This recipe was feat...

Creamed spinach can be clunky, rich with so much cream and butter the spinach itself is an afterthought. Start by reducing cream while infusing it with a subtle hit of onion. Separately, wilt the spinach, drain off the excess liquid, then add the reduced cream, season, and serve. For a classic steakhouse dinner, pair this creamed spinach with Roasted Herbed Beef Tenderloin, a Caesar Salad, and Dilled Potato Gratin.

A careful balance of salty and sweet, crisp and chewy, these nuts are the perfect accompaniment for cocktail hour. You start with raw, untoasted cashews, toss them with oil and set aside. Then you make a syrup with brown sugar, a little water, and honey. Drizzle it over the cashews, toss, spread onto baking sheets and toast in a medium oven till golden brown and crisp. The cashews will last 1 week stored in an airtight container at room temperature. We featured this recipe in our Bring Happy ...

This streamlined version of classic Greek spanakopita calls for frozen chopped spinach and frozen filo dough, so active prep is at a minimum. You begin by making the filling, sautéeing onion in butter, then adding eggs, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and seasonings. Add the squeezed, defrosted spinach and crumbled feta. Then layer thin sheets of filo dough in a baking dish, remembering to brush each layer with melted butter.

Think of this as a lower-stress version of Chicken Cacciatore. Skin-on, bone in chicken thighs receive a flavor-boosting browning. They’re joined in the crockpot with the classic trio of aromatic vegetables: onion, celery, and garlic, with garlic, sautéed to soften. Moisten with broth, canned diced tomatoes, red wine, and balsamic, and let the slow cooker do its thing for 5 to 6 hours. Serve with creamy Polenta.

Like crepes? Than you’re going to love socca. This thin chickpea flour pancake hails from Nice, but it’s rarely seen outside the South of France (except in Genoa where’s it called a farinata), and we think it merits wider recognition. Add a flavorful filling—we like it with a dollop of fresh goat cheese and lots of freshly ground black pepper—fold it up, and polish a few off for a delicious snack.

A favorite pancake recipe of mine. This recipe went through vigorous testing to create an amazingly fluffy and light pancake. The olive oil addition is what creates such a moist cake. Olive oil can be replaced by melted butter, or even browned melted butter, for a richer flavor. Add fresh fruit or citrus zest to your completed batter to create other versions of this beauty.

Nothing says satisfying comfort meal like fajitas, that Tex-Mex dish of seared meat and vegetables served family style, so everyone can scoop up exactly what they want. Here, salmon stands in for the usual chicken, beef, or shrimp. You start by getting the oven hot, then slathering a single chunk of salmon fillet with a mixture of olive oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, chile flakes, and salt.

The classic rendition of this dish is traditionally made with chicken, but we wanted to change up our poultry routine, so we swapped out the conventional choice with hearty and heathy turkey. What’s with the name? Story goes that the recipe is named after an opera singer, Luisa Tetrazzini, though there is still a debate about the dish’s true origins: whether they trace back to San Francisco’s Palace Hotel or New York’s Knickerbocker Hotel.

Who doesn’t love a big bowl of fried rice? Unfortunately, the traditional fried rice recipe can be high in sodium and saturated with greasy cooking oils, making it a far from healthy dinner option. If saying no to fat-filled take out, and yes to adding more vegetables into your diet, is on your list of cooking priorities, this is the recipe for you. Cauliflower Rice is a popular Paleo alternative to carb-heavy grains.

This carrot salad has a little bit of a Moroccan influence and a tad of Middle Eastern. This shaved medley spiced with harissa, cumin, and caraway is brightened by mint, parsley, and lemon with all sorts of textures and colors. This salad could steal the wow factor from your meal’s protein. It’s that good.

An Indian-inpired dish for your chicken makes a bright, summery idea for a cookout or barbecue besides the usual burgers and hot dogs. Tumeric is such a healthy spice, and it’s softened, sweetened, and refreshed by the cilantro, lime, and coconut dip. Serve your turmeric chicken skewers with Coconut Rice and Cucumber and Mint Raita.

Pho has achieved a rise in popularity nationwide in the last decade. Pronounced, “fah,” Vietnamese noodle soup is basically broth, linguine-shaped rice noodles called “bánh phở,” a few herbs, and meat. In this case, it’s shrimp. You can start off with Rice Paper Banh Mi with Lemongrass Pork and finish the meal with Vietnamese Coffee Ice Pops.

Move over Mike’s Hot Honey and Bees Knees Spicy Honey, you can make your own chile-infused honey. It’s only the hottest new condiment, that’s all. Drizzle it over pizza, ribs, chicken, fruit, and even vanilla ice cream. Your chile-infused honey would be great on this Roasted Pepper and Spicy Sausage Grilled Pizza recipe.

This is not your standard prepared pimento cheese at the grocery store. This is so much better. It’s fresh and has more complexity than those less ready-made versions. Also called pimiento, pimentos are red cherry peppers, about 3 to 4 inches long and are more succulent, sweet, and aromatic than red bell peppers. Serve this pimento cheese dip with crackers, peppers, carrots, and celery sticks — or even make a grilled cheese sandwich with it.

Let’s not overcomplicate things, shall we? Sometimes you want a classic, no-fuss grilled cheese. Forget the fancy bread, caramelized onions, pears, or whatever else you can do to multiply the steps in creating this simple tradition. Here’s something to cook when you don’t feel like cooking.