40 Easy Weeknight Meals, From Chicken To Fish To Noodles

I can't tell you how many times I've made this! I have the butcher butterfly the chicken, so all I do is grind the thyme, fennel seeds, salt and pepper, mix it with olive oil, and brush it on the chicken. When the lemon slices are roasted and caramelized, you can eat them with the chicken.

This is the classic poke, the one that you probably think of when you hear the word. It showcases the evolution of the dish over the decades, with the more prized ahi tuna replacing bony reef fish, the nutty richness of sesame oil stepping in for 'inamona, crunchy raw yellow onion replacing the limu, and shoyu (soy sauce) — a staple in Hawaii, thanks to the Japanese-influenced culture — for salt. At popular poke counters, you'll find this base mixed with all sorts of seafood, such as salmon, kajiki (blue marlin), or abalone, and even non-seafood, like tomatoes or edamame.

The Gujarati people love okra, especially in a yogurt and chickpea sauce that we call kadhi. It sets a Gujarati heart aflutter. Okra can turn gloopy when cooking, though, because the seeds don't like moisture very much. I've found the best way to deal with this is to fry the okra on a high heat and in small batches so that they crisp up nicely. You can then toss them with the onions and cover with the sauce just before serving.

Bowls of hearty whole grains topped with healthful, delicious fare are a trend that will outlast any fad pastry or rainbow this-or-that. Join food stylist and recipe developer Anna Hampton as she explores the wide world of ancient strains, gluten-free options and other filling, fiber-rich grains that pair beautifully with fresh vegetables, home-fermented foods and lean proteins for a meal that looks as good as it tastes. This quinoa chili recipe is as hearty as a stew gets.

When I first saw this sandwich in Spain, I immediately thought of Philly cheesesteak. It had steak piled with caramelized peppers and onions and I thought, "I bet blue cheese would be great on that." Turns out I was right. The savory sharpness of blue cheese tempers the sweetness of caramelized onion and pepper while standing up to hearty steak.

Time-saving tip: Steam the vegetables over the saucepan you are cooking the noodles in so they cook at the same time.

Make the chipotle sauce with sun "cheese" and skip the honey to make this vegan.

Hawaiian pizza is one of our guilty pleasures — gooey mozzarella, sweet-tart pineapple, savory ham, and spicy tomato sauce...aloha, mmmm! We turned this classic pizza combination into one heck of a grilled cheese sandwich by using fresh, high-quality ingredients and adding a splash of love.

What's really nice here is the way the two cheeses play off each other. The sharp, tangy goat cheese gets very soft, and the stronger Gruyère becomes melty, but each maintains its own identity. Peppery arugula ties it all together. The cooked greens wilt into the cheesy frittata, and the bright arugula side salad cuts through the richness of the frittata and makes this a complete meal.

Chana dal, otherwise known as chickpea lentils, come from splitting and skinning black chickpeas (the most popular variety in India). Because they belong to the chickpea family, they're naturally very delicious and need little teasing before they turn into a gorgeous-tasting dal.

I first had these steamed eggs with an Asian twist in Thailand, and they are a great hangover cure! It's now a family favorite, not only for breakfast but for any time of day.

The eponymous "cups" of this recipe denote equal parts soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. It's a potent, salty and savory braised chicken dish with these ingredients along, but the dish really gets its signature from the sheer volume of garlic cloves, thick pieces of ginger and fresh basil leaves for flavor. This recipe's name might underscore the fact that most recipes were passed orally in Taiwan, rather than written, until recent generations. After one taste of it prepared elsewhere, it is quite irresistible to try re-creating at home. This dish shares some similarities with Hakka-style preparations and red-braised styles of cooking, but its use of basil is refreshingly distinct. It has been enjoyed in Taiwan as a quintessential Taiwanese dish for quite some time.

This entire dish is right out of Rose and Ruthie's River Café playbook, with just a few tweaks of my own. They taught me how to make fonduta, a silky sauce rich with crème fraîche and egg yolks. It takes less time and just a bit more effort than tomato sauce and turns a plate of pasta into an elegant and impressive meal. Get yourself some asparagus spears that are as thick as your pointer finger — not those thin or sprouty ones — and you'll enjoy the juicy slivers in each bite.

We wanted moist, flavorful salmon burgers that tasted foremost like salmon and that could be made in advance and cooked up for a quick and delicious dinner. Many salmon burger recipes use canned salmon, but since the salmon is the star of this dish, we found that it was well worth the additional modest expense and effort required to make our burgers with fresh salmon. Burgers made with canned salmon were lackluster (to say the least) and mushy, while those made with fresh salmon were moist and full of flavor, with an appealing, chunky texture. A food processor made quick work of chopping the salmon into pieces.

A wonderful light summer lunch. Everything can be prepared well ahead and then assembled just before serving. Hot-smoked salmon has a great texture, more akin to poached salmon than smoked. Some adventurous cooks hot-smoke their own fish, but I'm keeping this quick and simple.

When I was traveling in Peru, I came across this truly delicious (and healthy) version of risotto using quinoa in lieu of the traditional arborio or carnaroli rice. Being a huge risotto fan, I played around with this substitution using different seasonal vegetables, but I always tend to come back to this simple mushroom version. The flavor is nuttier with earthiness from the mushrooms, and it has more texture than your traditional risotto. With quinoa's nutritional value, I love that I don't feel guilty when I whip this up on a weeknight.

Translated from Italian, "fra diavolo" means "brother devil." Not sure why the "brother" part, but for certain the "devil" part has to do with the spicy kick this dish has. The creaminess of the coconut milk tones down the kick just a tiny bit, so if it's not enough heat for you, feel free to add some more red pepper flakes.

With its unique texture from the pear, coupled with the blue cheese, this sandwich offers a hint of autumn and is a nice nibble while watching the game.

This recipe was born out of a gentle spring evening with a few fridge ingredients knocking around and the prospect of a meal for one alone at the kitchen table. Sometimes you come up with the best ideas when you're in your own company. Even though the recipe serves two people, I ended up eating the whole pot.

Wake up your taste buds with this fiery alternative to the sausage sandwich – my perfect food for the morning after the night before. The quality of the bread will really make all the difference here; you want something with a good chewy crust and character. If you don't find sourdough, then halve and toast some ciabatta or baguette instead.