Butternut Squash Red Curry
This veggie-centric, warming, hearty dish is perfect for cold winter evenings.
Pumpkin Lentil Curry
This quick, cozy, satisfying vegetarian meal made mostly of pantry staples is perfect for New Year’s week.
Sweet Potato-Coconut Curry with Black-Eyed Peas & Collard Greens
We usually celebrate New Year’s Day with friends at the Salt Lick Barbecue, with the traditional cabbage (cole slaw) and pork (ribs), but this was my first year to have black-eyed peas. They symbolize coins, which along with collard greens to symbolize bills, are thought to bring prosperity throughout the year. We can use all the help we can get this year!
Serve with white rice.
Salt & Pepper Tofu
As we’ve been cooking more at home and rarely visiting restaurants, we’re really craving bold, unique flavors, especially Asian food. Learning how to use Sichuan peppercorns has been a revelation, and since first trying this dish we’ve started using the combination of salt, white pepper, ground Sichuan peppercorns, and sand ginger powder on everything. It’s as good on hot popcorn as it is this tofu.
Khichdi
With pantry cooking on the rise, and needing simple dishes we can make for lunch on a work-from-home workday, this one-pot dish of rice and lentils became a favorite. We even prepped “khichdi kits” of pre-measured ingredients to make it easier to get lunch on the table.
The toppings are the real star – don’t skip them!
Pasta e Ceci (Roman Pasta & Chickpeas)
Our lives have changed in the past month. We are sheltering in place in our homes due to the arrival of the coronavirus, so all work, school, cooking, and eating is now done at home. I no longer dash to get a poke bowl or go for lunch with a coworker, I don’t even really leave the house.
This comforting bowl of chickpeas and pasta, cooked in its own sauce, has become a weekly go-to lunch we can make quickly at home and eat while we work and help Leo do his schoolwork. Made entirely from pantry staples, it’s garlicky and satisfying, and is a small dose of reassurance in uncertain times.
Crispy Sheet Pan Gnocchi & Veggies
Gnocchi is a pillowy potato pasta typically boiled in water like other pastas, but a recent trend in roasting all of the ingredients for a meal on a single sheet pan has inspired a new way to cook them. Shelf-stable or refrigerated gnocchi can be roasted straight out of the package, resulting in a crispy, chewy texture. Bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, red onion, basil, and garlic round out the meal.
Salty Crispy Tofu
Medium or medium-firm tofu can be hard to find, but it’s the perfect texture for this dish. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at making tofu at home, I found this recipe, which calls for soaking tofu in hot salted water ahead of rolling it in cornstarch and shallow-frying it. It’s crispy and delicious, and one of my son’s favorite dishes.
Serve with roasted broccoli.
Farro, Tomatoes, & Parmesan
This dish was inspired by Martha Stewart’s one-pot pasta dish that creates its own sauce as it cooks. Combine water, farro, thinly sliced onions and garlic, and cherry tomatoes, and cook until the farro is tender and the onions and tomatoes have melted into the perfect sauce.
Jamy’s Quinoa Salad with Roast Vegetables, Feta, & Herbs
You can adapt this salad to take advantage of whatever vegetables are in season, or swap the quinoa for couscous or farro.