Stone Fruit Caprese

A standout caprese starts with great fruit. You need ripe tomatoes to weep juices, which then mingle with grassy olive oil and milky cheese to make your dressing. Basil adds freshness, black pepper and flakes of sea salt add crunch, and that’s it, a perfect combination. But if the stone fruit options are looking better than the tomatoes at the market, you can use them instead. They’re similar in flavor to tomatoes, but need cajoling to relinquish their juices. By letting sliced fruit macerate with salt, sugar and lemon juice, their fruitiness becomes more electric and their juices pool on the plate. Start with fruit you can smell and pair it with equally quality ingredients. Caprese is more about shopping than cooking.

20 min

Sheet-Pan Peppers and Chickpeas With Ricotta

Glazed sweet-sour peppers meet their match: a textural medley of crispy chickpeas, crunchy croutons, and a creamy swoosh of ricotta cheese.

Taco Salad

This Mexican American classic has roots at Disneyland. Charles Elmer Doolin, a cofounder of the Frito Company, created an edible cup out of Fritos and served it at his Disneyland restaurant, Casa de Fritos, in 1955. It was the size of a teacup, filled with ground beef, beans and sour cream, and called the Ta-Cup (a portmanteau of taco and cup). The creation was a hit, with recipes for taco salad made with various corn chips proliferating in the ’60s, becoming a staple in school cafeterias, and eventually growing into the jumbo version added to the Taco Bell menu in 1984. (The menu item was retired in 2020.) You can use any corn chip for this recipe, and there’s no need for it to be in cup form, but opt for Fritos, if you want that authentic taste. 

35 min

Avga me Kolokithakia (Zucchini Omelet)

Layers of thinly sliced zucchini, crumbled feta and fresh dill are bound with custardy eggs in this quick, Greek-inspired omelet.

1 hr

Greek Salad

While diner-style Greek salads made with chopped romaine, crumbled feta and often grilled chicken have become ubiquitous in American restaurants, a traditional Greek salad, or horiatiki salata, is a simpler affair. An assembled salad of large-diced vegetables with Kalamata olives and sometimes capers, this salad has no greens at all, and the feta is served sliced on top of the salad rather than crumbled and tossed into it. A traditional Greek salad dressing usually consists of olive oil and red wine vinegar; this recipe adds garlic and oregano. To make the salad into a satisfying vegetarian main course, throw in a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas.

15 min

Fruit Salad

A bit of sugar and lime makes a standout fruit salad: The duo accentuates fruit’s flavors and sweetness while creating a syrup to gloss the fruit. Massage lime zest into the sugar so its oils release, then stir mixed fruit with the lime sugar and some lime juice. Taste and tweak until the result is electric. You could also add chopped mint or basil, ground cinnamon or coriander, vanilla bean seeds, chile flakes or grated fresh ginger.

20 min

Chocolate Mousse Cake

A rich, mousse-like chocolate cake baked in a 20 cm (8-inch) round pan. The edges set while the center stays soft and slightly trembling for a creamy, mousse texture once cooled. Simple one-bowl method yields an elegant dessert in under an hour.

Quick Chana Masala

This easy chana masala recipe has a clever trick: boiling the canned chickpeas with their liquid helps match the texture you'd get from soaking dried ones.

Smoked Salmon Pasta

Creamy, tangy, and bright, this one-pot pasta with hot-smoked salmon, lemon, capers, and dill is weeknight comfort and easy elegance all rolled into one.

Tomato Aguachile

Tomato aguachile is a punchy, plant-based variation of traditional seafood aguachile or ceviche. A refreshing side to serve on a hot day.

Weeknight Harissa Eggplant Parm

No coating or frying here! Toasted breadcrumbs and a blanket of melty cheese replicate the flavors and textures of eggplant parm in a fraction of the time.

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze