Lunch - quick and easy recipes - page 174

Usually seen with tuna, poke (poh-keh) is the California craze that’s slowly infusing the rest of the U.S., first in metropolitan cities. It’s a raw, sushi-grade fish salad popular for decades in Hawaii, kind of like ceviche or tartare in other cuisines. The protein is usually marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil, then combined with other ingredients that can vary widely. The name comes from the Hawaiian, “to cut or slice.”

A cheesy, potato, bacon casserole is what you crave when you crave comfort food. While bacon is the best, you can use other types of meat, such as sausage or ground beef, if you have those on hand. No worries. This can part of dinner, or even better, a great breakfast or brunch. Game Plan: Assemble the night before, store in the fridge, and then bake off in the morning. Wash this down with this orangey treat, like this Orange Julius recipe, and maybe have a fruit salad on the side.

When you cook onions for a long time, they turn translucent and trade their bite for a sweet-savory flavor that’s so good you want to dive into it. Well, you can dive your chips and crackers and crudités in this recipe. Slow-cooking onions for 7 to 9 hours is taking caramelizing to the next level. We suggest that you double the recipe and freeze half of the onion mixture for the next time you make French onion dip.

They look like little armadillos, but that’s where the similarities end. Originally a Swedish potato dish, the name “hasselback” comes from the Hasselbacken Hotel Restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden. These hasselback potatoes are crispy in places, but still soft and buttery at their core, thanks to the increased surface area open to the oven’s heat. You can line up two knives on both sides of the potato to ensure you don’t slice all the way through.

This rich and creamy soup punctuated with dry sherry is similar to bisque except for those sweet chunks of lump crab meat. It’s a staple of natives of South Carolina’s coast and one example of celebrated Chef Mario Batali’s new cookbook, The Big American Cookbook, featuring 250 recipes from all corners of the country. Stay with the Southern theme and start off with this Bourbon cocktail recipe.

I can eat an entire bowl of these Brussels sprouts and still go back for seconds. It is a great side dish at dinner, especially in the fall and winter. The sweetness of the pear, the tartness of the dried cranberries, and the caramelized edges of the Brussels sprouts make for smiling faces around my family table. For the best-tasting Brussels sprouts, bake them on a large rimmed baking sheet to ensure they have plenty of room to spread out.

Being from the Caribbean, my partner Lu loves tropical flavors—he goes crazy for anything that comes with mango. I’ve made him swordfish with mango-avocado salsa, zucchini pasta cooked with mango and coconut flakes, and this tilapia recipe, which is probably his favorite. The spicy, blackened fish gets along famously with the sweet mango and refreshing chayote and bell pepper. With fresh herbs like cilantro and mint, you’ll have to check out your window to make sure you’re not at the beach!

This dish is deceivingly simple, as long as you get the right ingredients, it can be executed for the home cook seamlessly. This salad started as a play on the classic “Cucumber, yogurt and smoked fish” combination, but at dinnertable in NYC, their team adds in a unique Japanese twist: mixing in sesame yogurt, marinated trout roe, and a seaweed (hijiki) dressing.

These polenta pizzas work equally well as a great appetizer or main course and are dead easy to make to boot! You just need some precooked polenta tubes, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, and walnuts (and whatever other toppings you’d like to add to the mix). Simply slice up the polenta tube into rounds, lay them out on a baking pan, pile on the toppings, and bake. The caramelized red onions mixed with the sun-dried tomatoes add a subtle sweet flavor and the walnuts add texture and some bitterness.

Shishitos are so delicious, but enjoy with caution! About one in 10 of these little peppers is spicy. The seeds tend to be the spiciest part so avoid those if you can’t handle a lot of heat. Serve alongside a little dish to discard stems and seeds.

This recipe from Marcel Vigneron, Chef & Owner of LA’s WOLF and Beefsteak is a great option if you want something light and fresh, but bursting with flavor from the pomegranate seeds and apples. Apples and pomegranate seeds are in the peak of their season right now, so it’s a really great salad that celebrates the end of winter. The brussels add texture, and the pine nuts add sustenance, which makes it absolutely delicious!

Breakfast rice bowls such as this have taken over Los Angeles in the last half decade. People are obsessed with them. And for good reason: they’re satisfying and healthy, and there’s just something about spooning rice and runny eggs from a bowl and into your mouth that makes you feel all wrapped up and warm; it’s like a free hug.

These easy chicken skewers, courtesy of Ayesha Curry, are rubbed in a warm blend of jerk spices (including garlic, allspice, and clove, with a little brown sugar and fresh thyme in the mix), then grilled to juicy perfection. A cool, vibrant salsa with silky fresh mango and crunchy red onion provides a great sweet-tangy contrast to the meat. Although these turn out beautifully on a grill pan, feel free to fire up your gas or charcoal grill if you have one handy.

We chatted with award-winning chef Thomas Boemer to get some great grilling tips, and a few excellent recipes too, like these Grilled Lamb Chops with Broccolini and Olive-Pistacho Sauce. Picholine olives, an elongated, green French variety with a firm texture and mild, fruity flavor, lend just the right amount of brininess to this chunky yet elegant sauce.

Is rice pudding the best comfort dessert of all time? This recipe is convincing enough—it’s simple and satisfying, and comes together in less than half an hour. All you do is combine milk, raw rice, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan and simmer for about 20 minutes. Stir in a bit of vanilla or almond extract and boom, you’re done.

Beefy brisket is transformed into tender morsels of barbecue goodness. Rub the beef with a combination of chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, cayenne, and garlic, then slow-cook it in a sweet-savory sauce that includes smoky chipotle chiles. After 10 hours of gentle cooking, the meat can be sliced or shredded, tossed with the sauce, and stuffed into a sandwich. Serve some ranch-style pinto beans on the side. This recipe was featured as part of our Slow Cooker Recipes for Hot Summer Days.