Go for the gold: What to Cook This Week

August 22, 2021

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

What to Cook This Week

By Kim Severson

The other day I sent an email to a colleague asking if she had heard anything on that promotion she was up for. "Not expecting any news soon, since the whole world seems to be collapsing around us!" she wrote back.

I think a lot of people might feel that way lately. If we were all in therapy together, I would let you know that I hear you and I see you. But we're in a cooking newsletter together. So let's cook.

Sunday supper is the best way to start a week. You could invite Madhur Jaffrey to the table (symbolically, of course) and make her curried roast chicken (above), or slide Melissa Clark's sweet and spicy chicken into the oven. Either is good practice for Rosh Hashana, which is so early this year. I love both Pavlova and Nigella Lawson, so that means I double love her strawberry pav for dessert.

On Monday, consider using up that squash with marinated zucchini with farro, chickpeas and Parmesan from Sarah Jampel. It's a real sleeper of a dish. Or maybe eat a couple of roasted zucchini planks with mozzarella from my pal Melissa Clark. No zucchini? Riff on these fried eggs and garlicky green rice from Sarah Copeland and call it a day.

We are deeply devoted to Taco Tuesdays at our house. People wake up, remember it's Taco Tuesday and jump out of bed with enthusiasm. (I'm lying about the enthusiasm part.) But we do eat a lot of tacos on Tuesdays, sometimes stretching the definition to include chicken and mushroom bulgogi in a lettuce shell. You could make them from green beans and corn, à la Martha Rose Shulman. You've got Tejal Rao's version of quesabirria tacos. Maybe you didn't have time to make the birria de res. You could always try this TikTok hack. (Results not guaranteed.)

Wednesday's a good night for a quick pasta dish. You won't go wrong with pasta alla norma sorta or this wacky, one-pan spaghetti and chicken creation from Yotam Ottolenghi.

Thursday? Whip some feta and charred scallions into this great dip. Just sit in front of the screen with a nice plate of crudite, pita points or even some sturdy potato chips and be happy. Or be even happier and pair it with a kebab. Maybe saffron-stained salmon kababs? Or these Greek-influenced lamb kebabs from Doc Willoughby, who used to be Ruth Reichl's ride or die during her Gourmet magazine years. The trick is in the technique.

Friday, you could go down the Kenji López-Alt rabbit hole and try grilling pizza using a dough ball from your local pizzeria or the grocery. Or just slow jam this avocado soup with chile oil, which our New York Times Cooking senior staff editor Tanya Sichynsky called "vibrant as heck" in our Slack channel.

Whichever path you chose, do consider making a batch of these pretty lemon meltaways from Yossy Arefi. You'll find great tips in the comments, including one that recommends using an empty paper towel tube as a sleeve when you put the dough in the refrigerator. It helps keep that perfect cylindrical shape while it chills, like you should be doing tonight.

We've got so many more recipes for you on New York Times Cooking, which requires a subscription. For the price of just one big pumpkin spice latte, you could have a month's worth of access to 20,000 well-tested recipes.

Other places you can find us? YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. (I'm @kimseverson on Twitter.)

Also, don't sleep on sending us an email at cookingcare@nytimes.com, because we really will answer.

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