Sometimes, I cook not what I want to eat that night, but what I want to eat the next day.
Chili, all sorts of soups and stews and roasts, fried chicken — these are all delicious straight from the pot (or the cooling rack set in a baking sheet). But I like them better as leftovers, after they’ve had a moment to mellow in the fridge and relax into their best selves.
So this lineup features five dinners that are quick and perfect for eating right away but, I think, really shine as leftovers, whether reheated or repurposed into other equally delicious dishes.
1. Meatballs With Any Meat
Making great meatballs is all about memorizing a basic ratio that you can adjust to suit your taste. Start with a pound of ground meat — any kind will work, even fish if you want to take it in that direction. Add 1/2 cup breadcrumbs for lightness, a teaspoon of salt, and an egg to bind it together. That’s all you need. Pepper and other spices, chopped herbs and minced allium (garlic, onion, scallions or shallot) can be added to taste. Then broil or fry as you like.
By Melissa Clark
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground meat (pork, beef, veal, chicken, turkey or a combination)
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
- Black pepper and/or ground cumin, curry powder, chile flakes, garam masala, etc., to taste
- Minced garlic, onion, scallions or shallot
- Chopped parsley, basil or cilantro
- Olive oil, for frying (optional)
Preparation:
1. In a large bowl, gently combine all ingredients. Roll into 1 1/2-inch balls. Transfer to a baking sheet.
2. Broil until golden and firm, 7 to 10 minutes. Or fry in oil until deeply browned all over. Sprinkle with more salt before serving.
2. Sheet-Pan Scallion Chicken With Bok Choy
This weeknight sheet-pan chicken dinner makes exciting use of refrigerator staples. A fun mash-up of mustard, miso, scallions, garlic and ginger creates a zesty coating for skinless chicken thighs. The flavors soak into the chicken as it roasts, and the thighs are left on the bone to keep the meat juicy. The chicken cooks atop a bed of fresh bok choy, which picks up the rich aromatics of the pan juices, but broccoli florets also work well here. Turn leftovers into chicken salad sandwiches for lunch the next day: Simply pick the meat off the bones, chop the bok choy and mix it with some olive oil, lemon juice and chopped celery or fresh herbs.
By Kay Chun
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped (about 1/2 cup), plus more for garnish
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger (from one 3-inch piece)
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 2 teaspoons turbinado or brown sugar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup safflower or canola oil
- 1 1/2 pounds baby bok choy, halved lengthwise, or large broccoli florets
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs (about 3 pounds), skins removed
- Steamed rice or mashed potatoes, for serving
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Preparation:
1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, combine scallions, mustard, ginger, garlic, miso, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 6 tablespoons of the oil. Mix well.
2. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss bok choy with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt and pepper, then spread in an even layer. Season chicken with salt and pepper, arrange on top of bok choy and rub chicken all over with the scallion-mustard marinade.
3. Roast until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
4. Serve chicken and vegetables over rice or mashed potatoes. Spoon pan juices over the chicken and garnish with scallions. Serve with lemon wedges.
3. Cauliflower Adobo
Chicken adobo, the national dish of the Philippines, is made by braising chicken in a salty, sour and sweet mixture of mostly soy sauce and vinegar. In this vegetarian version, cauliflower, rather than chicken, is caramelized on one side, then simmered in the pungent but not prickly sauce until toothsome yet tender. The simmer mellows the vinegar and soy sauce into a sauce interlaced with pepper, garlic and something herbal but not immediately traceable — that’s the bay leaves. Serve the cauliflower and sauce over rice or another grain with something green on the side.
By Ali Slagle
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 large cauliflower (2 1/2 to 3 pounds)
- Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper, plus more as needed
- 3 tablespoons canola oil, plus more as needed
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons raw or light brown sugar
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 Thai chile, halved lengthwise, or 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced, for serving (optional)
Preparation:
1. Trim leaves and woody stalk from the cauliflower, then cut through the root into 8 wedges. Season both sides of each wedge with salt and pepper. Reserve any loose cauliflower pieces.
2. In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Place one layer of the wedges in the skillet cut-side down and cook without moving them until well browned on one side, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and continue until all the cauliflower is seared, adding more oil as needed. Return all the cauliflower to the pan with uncooked side facing down.
3. Add 1/4 cup water, any loose cauliflower pieces, 2 teaspoons black pepper, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, bay leaves and Thai chile. Cover and let simmer over medium heat until the cauliflower is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
4. Uncover, turn the heat to medium-high, and cook, basting the cauliflower occasionally with the sauce, until the cauliflower is tender and the sauce has thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup, 8 to 10 minutes.
5. Serve the cauliflower with plenty of sauce and a sprinkle of scallions, if using.
TIP: If you plan to eat rice with the adobo, bring 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan before you start the recipe. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt and 1 cup long-grain rice, cover, and let simmer on the lowest heat possible for 18 minutes. Proceed with the adobo. Let the rice sit, covered and off the heat, until the adobo is ready. Fluff rice with a fork before serving.
4. Salmon With Lemon-Herb Marinade
Here’s one of the easiest ways to entertain: broil or grill a large salmon fillet, then adorn it with lemon wedges and rosemary sprigs. This recipe marinates the rich salmon in lemon juice, soy sauce and herbs. Serve it with a sharply flavored potato salad and a large bowl of greens.
By Moira Hodgson
Yield: 6 servings
Total time: 20 minutes, plus marinating
Ingredients:
- 1 3-pound salmon fillet, in one piece
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped fine
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges
- Sprigs of rosemary, for garnish
Preparation:
1. Wipe salmon fillet dry with paper towels. Combine remaining ingredients (except lemon wedges and rosemary sprigs) in small bowl and mix well. Pour mixture over salmon, making sure it is coated on both sides. Marinate for at least an hour before cooking.
2. Preheat broiler or grill. Cook salmon, turning once — five to six minutes each side for medium-rare.
3. Place salmon on serving platter and garnish with lemon wedges and sprigs of rosemary.
5. Niku Jyaga (Japanese Beef and Potato Stew)
There’s nothing extraordinary about meat and potatoes stewed in a sweet soy broth, and yet it’s easy to find yourself taking just one more taste until half the pot is gone. Patience pays off though: niku jyaga tastes better the second day, when the potatoes are saturated with sauce. Every household makes it a little differently in Japan, and so the flavor is affectionately called “mother’s taste.” Saori Kurioka, a private chef in Brooklyn, New York, cooks hers the same minimalist way her mother and grandmother did in Kobe, Japan, with just beef, potatoes, onion and carrot. She uses a wooden otoshibuta, a drop-lid that fits inside the pot, so the vegetables simmer and steam evenly as the broth slowly concentrates, but the same thing can be achieved with parchment paper. Beveling the edges of the potatoes with a peeler keeps them from crumbling as the jostle around the simmering pot, but skip it if you’re rushed or impatient.
Recipe from Saori Kurioka and Cheiko Kumagai
Adapted by Hannah Kirshner
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Total time: 45 minutes, plus resting
Ingredients:
- 5 medium waxy potatoes, such as Yukon Gold (about 2 1/2 pounds)
- 2 medium carrots, peeled
- 2 small onions (about 1 pound), peeled
- 1 piece dried kombu, about 8 inches by 5 inches, broken in half (optional)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- 3 tablespoons sake
- 3 tablespoons raw or turbinado sugar
- 8 ounces thinly sliced, well-marbled beef (see tip)
Preparation:
1. Peel potatoes and cut each into 4 to 6 pieces, so they are relatively uniform in size. Bevel the edges of each piece with a vegetable peeler. Soak in cold water for about 10 minutes to remove some starch.
2. Cut carrots in rangiri: Hold the knife at a diagonal, and rotate carrot quarter turns to cut irregular, multifaceted chunks. Cut each onion into 6 to 8 wedges, about 3/4 inch wide. Cut beef into 2-inch pieces.
3. Prepare a drop-lid for a 3- or 4-quart heavy-bottomed pot: Cut a circle of parchment paper about 1 inch smaller than the diameter of the pot, and cut a 1/2-inch hole in its center.
4. Drain and rinse potatoes. Add to pot with carrots, onions and 1 1/2 cups water (it will not fully cover the vegetables). Tuck kombu (if using) into the water. Bring to a boil, then discard kombu. Add soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar. Add beef, stirring to distribute.
5. Place parchment lid directly on top of vegetables and liquid, and simmer — don’t boil — stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes, until potatoes are very tender. Turn off heat, discard parchment, and rest for at least 30 minutes (overnight is even better) to allow the potatoes to soak up the seasoning. Reheat, and serve with white rice, or a frosty beer.
TIP: Thinly sliced beef is available from Japanese and Korean markets. To prepare it yourself, buy a well-marbled cut like chuck or boneless rib-eye and freeze for 30 minutes, until firm. Slice it as thinly as you can perpendicular to the grain. (Most American butchers will not slice it thinly enough.)
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Originally Published:
