Make This Melissa Pasta Tonight
Few people work as hard for the home cook as Melissa Clark. The sister has 1,527 recipes in our New York Times Cooking database. She is a charming and patient teacher, both on the page and on the screen. She writes books, anchors this newsletter and has taken up residence as an interim restaurant critic for The Times. Is there anything she can’t do? Yes, actually: today’s newsletter. So here I am, happy to pitch in.
Let’s start with Melissa’s pasta with spinach, feta and yogurt, which my teenager made for us recently. We had all the ingredients in the house, and with lots of spinach and a tangy dairy base, the dish covered several food groups. Also, it was super easy to execute well. It’s everything you want on a Wednesday.
Featured Recipe
Pasta With Spinach, Feta and Yogurt
Carolina Gelen’s miso-maple sheet-pan chicken with brussels sprouts might tip the scales toward boneless chicken fans in their ongoing battle with those who think chicken on the bone is best. The trick here is high heat and some midbake basting to encourage sticky chicken with a kiss of char. For me, a little acid often makes a dish pop, so I’ll add a splash of red wine vinegar at the end.
Ali Slagle is another cook in the vast NYT Cooking empire who delivers surprise after surprise. Her lentils diavolo, which are essentially lentils simmered in an easy homemade chile oil with tomato, might be best eaten from a bowl in front of the TV. But the lentils also serve as a great jumping-off point for more complex dinners, maybe one featuring grilled sausages.
Since this newsletter theme seems to be co-worker admiration, let’s move the spotlight to Tejal Rao. I can’t get enough of her lovely writing. I also can’t get enough winter citrus, so her citrus salad with peanuts and avocado is a double win. It’s bright with fish sauce and mint and works well as a meal all by itself, especially for lunch.
Since I’m doing work a favor here, allow me to hype my favorite method for juicy oven-steamed salmon. I picked it up years ago from Paula Wolfert, the prolific cookbook author. You gently cook the fish next to a pot of hot water in an oven heated to about 250 degrees. Crucially, you will need a thin sheet pan to make the magic happen.
Lastly, I’m as sick of this whole egg situation as the next guy, if only because I cannot bear one more egg pun. Still, interest in egg substitutes is on the rise. May I point you to a substitution guide assembled by Alexa Weibel? And making these vegan chocolate chip cookies by Erin Jeanne McDowell, which rely on a combination of flaxseed meal and water for the structure eggs would contribute, is a good way to practice egg-free living.
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