Meals on the table within 30 minutes - quick and easy recipes - page 90

Fresh, buttery ricotta is delicious spread on a sliced and toasted baguette, sprinkled with salt and olive oil. For added complexity, top the cheese with earthy, nutty, bitter greens like nettles. For the meat lovers, try topping it with our easy pancetta. What to buy: Store-bought ricotta is fine to use here, or you can make your own.

A Polynesian favorite, ahi tuna poke makes a great starter, especially when served with crispy Furikake Wonton Crisps. To keep the poke cold, chill the serving dish ahead of time and nestle it in a larger bowl filled with ice to serve. What to buy: Togarashi powder, a Japanese mixture of spices that always contains chiles, can be found in ethnic markets. (It may also be labeled shichimi togarashi.) Or you can make your own.

This elegantly composed salad combines classic flavors and textures: Chewy dates, crunchy almonds, and creamy blue cheese nestle with peppery arugula and watercress. A sweet-tart honey-Dijon dressing pulls it all together. For a heartier meal, serve with grilled ribeye.

Blanched green beans are sautéed with a little vinegar and parsley for a bright-tasting, easy side dish. Serve with rich dishes like Potato Gratin, Brick Chicken, or Chicken Cordon Bleu.

If you’re not ready to give up egg yolks cold turkey but you want to make more healthy, lower-cholesterol choices, this is the omelet for you. Adding a single yolk to our Basic Egg White Omelet gives the dish just enough of the body that so many people think is lacking in an egg-white-only omelet. We recommend topping it with a touch of hot sauce. Special equipment: You will need an 8-inch nonstick frying pan.

Pressed for time in the morning? The easy, no-cook cheese-and-herb mixture in this omelet should be your go-to filling. The creamy, tangy goat cheese plays nicely with just about any fresh herb. For a weekend breakfast, roast some lemony potatoes to serve on the side. Special equipment: You will need an 8-inch nonstick frying pan.

Unwrapping a soggy sandwich at a picnic is an avoidable tragedy. Just a light smear of fig jam across a crusty baguette keeps this French-inspired grab-n-go sandwich from crossing into sodden territory. Tuck in some ham and Camembert cheese, wrap it up, and stick it in your basket. No more sad sandwiches.

In the realm of snacking, it’s universally known that some dips require a sturdier scooping device. Enter the pita chip. These crunchy, thick chips can stand up to any dip, from hummus to hot crab to roasted eggplant, without buckling. Special equipment: You’ll need a pastry brush to make these chips. What to buy: Ras el hanout is a North African spice blend with sweet and floral notes and can be found at Middle Eastern grocers. Or you can make your own.

The simple act of griddling a PB&J sandwich with lots of butter changes the whole thing, making the outside crispy and the inside warm and extra gooey. What to buy: We took the purist route here with peanut butter and strawberry jam, but feel free to swap in your own combination of nut butter and jelly.

When Hank Williams Jr. sang, “I don’t want no little ol’ Danish rolls. I must have ham and grits,” he was talking about the rib-sticking appeal of creamy grits and sautéed ham for breakfast. In our version we also throw in some cheddar cheese and a few dashes of hot sauce for a speedy yet filling meal. Game plan: To simplify your prep time, shred the cheese and dice the ham the night before. If you have preshredded cheddar, you will need about 3/4 cup.

Making nachos at home gives you the freedom to use a tastier, fancier cheese instead of processed nacho cheese, but those nicer cheeses quickly harden, or separate and become gloppy. To keep your melted cheese perfectly smooth, Scott Heimendinger, director of applied research for Modernist Cuisine, shares this trick from the Modernist Cuisine at Home cookbook: Simply add sodium citrate. What to buy: Sodium citrate, or sour salt, is an emulsifying sodium salt that comes from citric acid. It ha...

Whole wheat flour gives this pizza dough a hearty flavor and a chewy yet crisp texture. This recipe makes enough dough for two large pizzas, so you can top one for the adults and let the kids have a go at the second one, or freeze it for later. Just add pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and all your favorite toppings. Chowhound uses this in our easy margarita pizza recipe.

This basic cream cheese frosting recipe is really easy to remember: Just beat together 2 sticks of butter, 2 packages of cream cheese, 2 cups of powdered sugar, and a splash of vanilla extract. It has just the right balance of sweetness and tang, so you can spread it on almost any sweet, from pumpkin cupcakes to ginger cake, or sandwich some between oatmeal cookies. Game plan: Refrigerate the frosting in a zip-top bag or an airtight container with a tightfitting lid for up to 4 days.

This is a milder and more accessible version of my first hot sauce recipe, Habanero Blood Orange Death Kick. When my dad (who grows his own Trinidad Scorpion peppers) said it was way too hot, I took his advice and left out the serranos to curb the heat a bit. I also used easy-to-find domestic oranges and limes. Spoon it over a breakfast frittata for a punch of heat.

If you’re hankering for a great steak but don’t have access to a grill, try this soy-sauce-marinated rib-eye recipe from Le Pigeon (nicknamed the Dirty Bird) in Portland, Oregon. Throw the steaks in a smoking-hot cast-iron skillet, sear on one side, flip them over, and top with butter. Finish the steaks in the oven, then serve with a seemingly odd but tasty Hawaiian-inspired relish made with pineapple and blue cheese. A pile of crispy semolina-coated onion rings makes the perfect side.

This recipe is a great way to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey when you just can’t eat another turkey-and-gravy sandwich. Mix diced turkey with tart apples, sweet grapes, creamy mayo, and crunchy walnuts and celery. Serve for lunch atop leaves of butter lettuce, or stuff it into delicate French pastry shells as an elegant appetizer.