It’s no secret that BA editors cook a lot for work. So it should come as no surprise that we cook a lot during our off hours too. Here are the recipes we’re whipping up this month to get dinner on the table, entertain our friends, satisfy a sweet tooth, use up leftovers, and everything in between. For even more staff favorites, click here.
August 18
Magic-Shell-dunked dates
I was immediately curious about a trendy TikTok recipe that recently made its way to me. The idea is to fill a pitted date with peanut butter, then dip it in chocolate and freeze it. After watching the clip, I remembered that I had a container of staff writer Ali Francis’s homemade Magic Shell in my fridge—the perfect dip for these babies since the coconut oil makes the chocolate looser and glossier. I reached for the crunchy peanut butter and got to work. After freezing for an hour, the chocolate shell was just thin enough so as not to break a tooth, and the date became even chewier, mimicking the quality of nougat. Simply put: They were sublime. —Carly Westerfield, recipe production assistant
This sauce comes together in the microwave and instantly hardens when poured over ice cream.
Tomatoey scrambled eggs
I won’t say I bought too many tomatoes at the farmers market this past weekend. But I will say I bought, um, a lot. Luckily, there are many recipes to turn to, more than even I could fit into a single summer. For lunch, I whipped up this tomato-egg stir-fry from culture editor Karen Yuan. It is quick enough to make in the middle of a workday and ginormously flavorful for such a little ingredient list. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor
Garlicky, dilly zucchini
Emma has raved about this Lemony Zucchini With Sour Cream and Dill so many times, when I got my hands on some especially enticing farmers market zucchini, I was immediately compelled to give it a go. To make it a whole meal, I swapped in Greek yogurt for sour cream, and fried up some seedy bread in the garlicky, dilly dregs of olive oil left over from searing the squash. It was so fast, so easy, and so simple, I grabbed another few zucchini to make it again next week. —Antara Sinha, associate cooking editor
Giving chunky zucchini pieces a hard sear develops lots of texture and color while minimizing sogginess. The dilly sour cream provides a garlicky counterpart.
Refreshing tomato peach juice
As a noted fan of chef Steven Satterfield, his Atlanta restaurant Miller Union, and his cookbooks—and an equally noted fan of tomato season—I bookmarked this tomato-peach juice from his most recent book, Vegetable Revelations, as soon as we hit publish on the recipe. It’s forgiving (I doubled the ginger and used lime juice instead of lemon), so refreshing, and a great way to use up produce that’s split or getting a little too mushy. —Sonia Chopra, executive editor
Tried-and-true beans
These marinated beans have been my back pocket formula for years. When it was published in 2017, I was a post-grad looking for cheap lunch options that I could meal-prep days in advance. These days, when I get home late, haven’t made it to the grocery store in a while, and need to make a dinner out of pantry staples, I rely on it just the same. Instead of white wine vinegar, I used some leftover pickled jalapeño brine that was languishing in the back of my fridge, and instead of cannellini beans, I swapped in black beans. I couldn’t have been happier ending my night by scooping it up with some sturdy tortilla chips while watching another Bob’s Burgers rerun—yet another obsession that hasn’t wavered since 2017. —A.S.
Coating the herbs in oil and soaking the shallot in vinegar prevents oxidation, so you can keep these beans for days.
August 11
Spicy, corny noodles
When I saw corn, corn, and more corn at the farmers market this weekend, I had one thought: Cold Noodles With Sichuan Peppercorn Dressing. They are spicy and slick, refreshing and hearty, everything I want on a humid night. In lieu of green beans, I swapped in steamed zucchini, a welcome sweet contrast to all the tingly peppercorns. But arguably the best part is the leftover dressing. The next night I put it on crispy tofu. And tomorrow I’ll put it toward those vegetable dumplings in my freezer. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor
This cold noodle salad features a versatile Sichuan peppercorn dressing that will leave your tongue tingling.
Fresh flour tortillas
I had a breakfast burrito from Brooklyn’s Ursula Cafe on my birthday this year, and for weeks after, I found myself thinking about the tortilla. Don’t get me wrong, the fillings were amazing. But there is something so unforgettable about a good flour tortilla, which associate cooking editor Antara Sinha and I agree are often underrated compared to their corn-based counterparts. The craving inspired me to cook through this recipe from King Arthur Baking, which took barely half an hour, and I didn’t need any special equipment. The result was a batch of dreamy, stretchy, chewy wraps that I filled with carne asada, rice, beans, and corn salsa that I froze and will be eating for weeks to come. Lucky me. —Alma Avalle, digital production associate
All-purpose chimichurri
Of the many dishes I’ve cooked this summer (miso-brown-butter rice cakes, super-citrusy carne asada, creamy red curry pasta), the one recipe that stands out is perhaps the simplest: this classic chimichurri. I’ve made it just about once a week, smothering whatever herbs I have in the fridge (cilantro, parsley, dill) with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Consider it an all-purpose condiment to spoon over grilled steak, roasted chicken, seared scallops—just to name a few. At this point, I’ve memorized the recipe. —Zoe Denenberg, associate cooking & SEO editor
This colorful chimichurri recipe doubles as a marinade and works as an accompaniment to all cuts of beef—or anything else you want to gussy up.
Spiced peach cake
When I saw my friend (and esteemed cookbook author) Nik Sharma share his cardamom-saffron-peach cake recipe a few days ago, I knew I had to make it immediately. I had all the ingredients at home, and therefore had a cake in the oven 90-ish minutes after seeing the Instagram story. The result is a plush, peachy cake so fragrant that everyone who tried it commented on how well the floral cardamom (I used Burlap & Barrel) came through. Even if your peach slices were, uh, not as neat as they could have been, the end result looks lovely thanks to the jammy glaze. Great summer cake! —Sonia Chopra, executive editor
Summer fruit galette
I’ve been fortunate to spend some time on Martha’s Vineyard this summer. With so many pie stands, each with its own measure of sweetness and uniquely textured pie crusts, I generally leave the baking to others. But lately I’ve been daydreaming of Samantha Seneviratne’s Blueberry and Peach Graham Galette. The graham crackers in the crust, toasty and crunchy, are the perfect foil to sweet summer fruit. This is a stunner, as pretty as it is good. —Dawn Davis, editor in chief
Graham cracker crust lovers rejoice! This glorious fruit-filled galette is for you.
Smoky cauliflower tacos
In a fit of uncharacteristic thinking ahead, I turned to my partner and said, “Let’s make cauliflower tacos tomorrow night with that cauliflower in the fridge.” “Oh yeah, fun,” he replied. I came home from work, and after nattering on about the day and exchanging gossip about the new grey cat spotted in our building’s courtyard, I asked, “Shall I warm the tortillas if the cauliflower is ready then?” And my generally extremely caring husband says, “I thought you said you wanted to make the filling and the tortillas.” No. No I did not want to make the filling and the tortillas. And this is where I sell you on this recipe and how lightning fast it is. Despite all our garbled communication, the two of us were eating tacos (and spying on Courtyard Cat) within the hour. The cauliflower was spicy, tender, and frizzled in spots. It was light but filling, and meat-free. Highly recommended. —Shilpa Uskokovic, food editor
August 4
Speedy, spicy pasta
When I’m too tired to make dinner, but still want a substantive, soul-warming meal, I turn to a jar of red curry paste. It’s a simple shortcut to weeknight soups, stir-fries, and yes, curries, but this new red curry pasta recipe from associate food editor Rachel Gurjar might be my favorite application to date. Slightly spicy from the curry paste and creamy from coconut milk, this dish tastes like a punched-up pasta alla vodka. I added broccoli, tofu, and crispy mushrooms (a.k.a. all the bits and bobs in my fridge) and will absolutely use this recipe as a formula for faster-than-fast dinners. —Zoe Denenberg, associate cooking & SEO editor
This riff on pasta alla vodka swaps in Thai red curry paste for tomato paste and coconut milk for cream, resulting in extra intensity and spicy-sweet flavor.
Peppery plum salad
I’ve been traveling a ton and finally got to the farmers market this weekend for the first time in a while, which is to say: for the first time since the tomatoes got good. I’ve lived on tomato sandwiches and toasts since then, leaning especially hard on frying the bread in curry powder à la this recipe. But I also went too hard on stone fruit and have since spent every day trying to chip away at my stash (rough life). This fruit salad quickly became a way to zhuzh nectarines and plums into an appetizer or side salad rather than just a snack. The red wine vinegar dressing, heavy on the black pepper, balances the ripe fruitiness well. I added feta (inspired by this recipe) and couldn’t recommend it more. —Sonia Chopra, executive editor
Fan-favorite zucchini pasta
This Creamy Zucchini Pasta is a favorite for our readers, and perhaps even more so for our staff. And now I get why. This time of year, when zucchini is in endless supply, it’s a highly doable way to turn a heavy market haul into a one-dish dinner. There’s enough roughage to skip a salad altogether, and the cream and parm keep the sauce from feeling too vegetal. I went with bucatini but next time I might rebel, just a little, and try rigatoni for pasta salad vibes. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor
With the help of the large holes on a box grater, zucchini transforms into a pile of soft shreds. Cook it down with olive oil, onion, and garlic and it becomes a creamy, caramelized mush that’s great spread on toast (like in the recipe this one was inspired by, Jennie Cook’s Zucchini Butter), stirred into scrambled eggs, or turned into pasta sauce with the assistance of cream and lemon juice. You’ll be amazed by how many zucchini cook down into this one dish—a very good thing when you’re staring down a pile of this prolific summer star.
Riffable, hearty lentils
This lentil dish made a killer salad when served over greens and a filling next-day lunch when spooned over farro. It’s also infinitely riffable: Firm green lentils worked well for me instead of black, and I bet bell peppers would be a great swap for sweet peppers if that’s what you have at home. As always, I’m trying to limit dairy, so I cubed and roasted some tofu with more oregano and some chile flakes as a sub for the Halloumi (and then proceeded to steal at least two pieces of the salty, melty cheese from my husband’s bowl). Next time I make this I’ll skip the cheese (or not!) and serve as a side with salmon. I love a keeps-well-in-the-fridge lentil salad and I’m so glad to have added this one to my roster. —S.C.
Speedy, saucy salmon
There’s “easy,” and then there’s “so easy, it’s barely a recipe.” This four-ingredient Salmon Teriyaki falls firmly in the latter category. I had ambitiously set out some frozen salmon fillets to defrost earlier in the day. But by the time evening rolled around, I had lost all will to chop, dice, slice, or marinate. This speedy salmon (which required none of those steps), a pot of rice, and some quick-pickled cucumbers saved dinnertime when the only other conceivable option was chips and dip. —Antara Sinha, associate cooking editor
Stuck in a salmon rut? We got you. You’ll never believe how easy it is to make your own sweet-salty teriyaki sauce at home, and there’s no better application for it than this beyond-simple weeknight favorite.