Go for the gold: What to Cook Right Now

January 17, 2022

Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.

What to Cook Right Now

By Sam Sifton

Good morning. It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day of service for many, and of reflection. You may wish to get to recipes right away, but I'll put this out there for those who would like to take a moment before we light the stoves: King's sermon on loving your enemies, delivered in the late 1950s at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala.

I'll consider that sermon as I cook today: smothered chicken, served with mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans. It's a pleasure to eat a Sunday supper on a Monday, after all, off work and ensconced in the kitchen. Then maybe rum cake for dessert, Alaska-style.

As for the rest of the week? I love this recipe for tofu and broccoli fried rice, in which you glaze the tofu with soy sauce before adding it to the wok. Big flavor! Great texture, too.

Also, this fantastic recipe for cumin-baked pork chops that The Times first published in 1997, which works really well on the grill if you're someplace where grilling's an option in this time of year.

Spaghetti and chicken meatball soup (above) could be good, as would potato and cheese pierogi, or beans and garlic toast in broth. I'm in need of kimchi jjigae. Also, pork gyros and vegetable shabu shabu in kombu-ginger broth. And let me tell you: cinnamon toast popcorn is no joke.

There are thousands and thousands more recipes to cook right now waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. You do need a subscription to access them, but we think you'll find it worth the scratch. Subscriptions allow our work to continue. I thank you for yours. (I thank you, too, if you're just subscribing today!)

We are as always here for you should anything go awry while you're cooking or using our technology. Just reach out for help: cookingcare@nytimes.com. We'll get back to you. (You can always write to me, if you want to fire a dart or deliver an apple: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I read every letter sent.) And, please, do visit us on social media. We're on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. That's a lot of content!

Now, it's nothing to do with bullinada or dulce de leche chocoflan, but you should spend a luxurious chunk of time exploring The Times's "52 Places For a Changed World," global destinations for travelers considering the effects of travel itself. The Summerland Peninsula in Australia? Yes, please.

Provocation in The Atlantic, by M. Nolan Gray: "Stop Fetishizing Old Homes."

Last week's news that the National Endowment of the Humanities had awarded $24.7 million in new grants led me to this discussion of one of the winning projects, investigating the history of Louchébem, which the endowment called "a secret, highly endangered language spoken by Parisian butchers since the 13th century."

Finally, here's a super old-school time-wasting game from the Google Doodle Archive, "Champion Island." Enjoy that, and I'll be back on Wednesday.

Continue reading the main story