The Best Dishes Bon Appétit Staffers Cooked This Week

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.

March 29

Last-minute fish

I’ve always been a terrible meal planner, and nothing has been more helpful for getting last-minute dinner on the table like keeping fish in the freezer. Salmon defrosts quickly, and this Crispy Miso-Butter Fish With Asparagus requires very little prep to get dinner on the table. I skipped sriracha because I don’t keep it around, and used red miso because it’s all I had left. I’ll refresh on white or yellow miso next time—red was a touch rich on the fish!—but the miso butter was just the kind of umami-packed additive to make early-spring asparagus sing. —Serena Dai, editorial director

Witty comeback

Did I make the ginger syrup that sweetens this rye and amaro cocktail? No, I did not. Instead, I used my always-on-hand plain simple syrup and tossed a few coins of chopped candied ginger into the shaker, along with the booze and the lemon juice. Now, if I were making a batch of this drink for a party, I’d definitely go the ginger syrup route, but for a quick cocktail after a dispiriting day at the office, it hit all the right notes. —Joe Sevier, senior SEO editor, cooking

Saag Halloumi

This Saag Paneer, But With Feta by Priya Krishna is a staff favorite. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve made it myself. This week I tried something new: Instead of feta or paneer, I swapped in Halloumi cheese. I tore the Halloumi into hunks, patted those dry, tossed them in oil, and baked them on a preheated sheet pan until golden and crispy (same vibe as this salad). Such a win scooped up with naan. I call it: Saag Paneer But With Feta But With Halloumi. Or something like that. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor

Gochujang tofu

I was thrust into a need-dinner-fast situation on Sunday night, and when I saw the “10 minutes of cooking” listed for senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokvic’s Gochujang-Butter-Braised Tofu, I marched myself over to the fridge and got out the block I just bought at the store. This is jumping to the top of my short list of reliable weeknight dinners. The blend of gochujang, fish sauce, soy sauce, and bouillon is so nicely spicy and umami-forward (the half stick of butter doesn’t hurt, either), and Shilpa made good on that 10-minute promise. Truly perfect if you’re in a hurry. —Noah Kaufman, senior commerce editor

Crispy chicken and rice

Our son was born three and a half months ago and seems to have an intolerance to everything, including dairy, soy, eggs, corn, fish, wheat, and now maybe nuts. We’re always on the hunt for recipes that fit my wife’s new dietary restrictions as we try to feed this little creature. Enter Kendra Vaculin’s Crispy Chicken With Za’atar-Olive Rice. This delicious meal is simple to make with leftover rice, is eminently batchable, and gets us through a few dinners a week. Sadly, we have to omit the feta, but the Castelvetrano olives more than make up for it with a buttery burst of salt. —Jon Wise, senior director of programming, video

March 22

Easy pantry orzo

I have a confession to make: Despite working for Bon Appétit/Epicurious, I’m not the most confident home cook. The end result is usually good, but I often require double the prep time. I’m trying to get better, though, and that takes practice, so I decided to try this pantry-friendly pasta from Jesse Szewczyk (“puttanesca-inspired flavors” beckoned to me, and I had all of the ingredients handy). It was a winner across the board: I was done in less than an hour, I had enough inactive time to clean up, and my diners were delighted. It was even better as leftovers the next day. —Nick Traverse, editorial operations director

Farmers market colcannon

I volunteered at a farmers market on St. Patrick’s Day weekend. As soon as I arrived, I was on-the-spot put on food demonstration duty, charged with making this colcannon over a camp stove. The recipe was so pared down, it really let the farmers market ingredients shine. We cut some corners to make it more quick-cooking and crowd-friendly, but waxy spring potatoes, frilly cabbage, cultured butter, and lots of crisp scallion and parsley were the stars. In my experience, kids are pretty hesitant to take samples from the food demo station. But even they couldn’t resist the pull of buttery potatoes served in tiny Dixie cups. —Antara Sinha, associate cooking editor

Lemony sheet-pan chicken

I so rarely buy chicken for myself. But I happened to have every other ingredient on the list for this Sheet-Pan Chicken and Potatoes With Lots of Lemon by senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Ukokovic, so it fit neatly into my Sunday dinner plans. I used some waxy, blush-toned potatoes from the farmers market, and took the time to use the good coriander, ground up in my mortar and pestle. It was lemony, garlicky, fragrant, and mouth-tinglingly tart. Such a cozy way to end my weekend. —A.S.

Coconut cake just for me

Despite being a person who absolutely adores cake, it has sadly become more rare that I get to bake my own at home. Last week, we celebrated our teammate Sonia’s birthday and our in-house cake experts, Shilpa and Jesse, took a modern Matisse-style approach to adorning Jesse’s Fluffiest Coconut Cake. I gasped. I ate. I vowed to make it for myself. And guess what, dear readers? Not only does it halve well, it takes to whole eggs (the original recipe calls for just whites) and you’ll have yourself a fine yellow cake as a result. I’m sorry to Jesse for adulterating his otherwise pristine recipe, but I have zero regrets. A single layer cake is just the thing you want when you’re sharing with just one or two other people (or no one at all). —Hana Asbrink, deputy food editor

Shrimp scampi

I have a distinct memory of my grandma dropping a whole stick of butter into a pan to make her shrimp scampi. Despite growing up eating her super-rich rendition, I’ve never made it for myself. Rick Martinez’s Shrimp Scampi is an equally easy dinner but with some sophistication. You marinate the shrimp in grated garlic, olive oil, and salt to build flavor. The dish is rounded out by the warmth of red pepper flakes, while the acidity of white wine and lemon juice brings balance. The companion video featuring Carla Lalli Music shows you how to make a restaurant-quality lemony pan sauce. While Rick’s recipe calls for only half a stick of butter, it still hits the notes of nostalgia. —Ali Inglese, director of content

March 15

Peppery chicken and rice

One of my 2024 goals was to cook more from cookbooks, and this weekend I hosted my first cookbook potluck of the year. Our book of choice: My Everyday Lagos by Yewande Komolafe. Everyone pulled their weight—one friend even successfully transported a whole jug of hibiscus syrup on the PATH train to my apartment. I made Miyan Taushe, a stewed squash and peanut dish, and Iwuk Edesi With Chicken, a large-format, vibrantly peppery party rice. It was by far my favorite meal of the week. —A.S., associate cooking editor

Worth-the-wait soba

I’ve had my eyes on these Soba Noodles With Crispy Kale since the recipe was first published, which means I’ve been dragging my feet for five years. They were as good as I imagined. Tossing kale with dried coconut and nutritional yeast yields wildly fun chips. A personal challenge to not eat them all straight from the sheet pan, but it was worth it to save them for the buckwheat noodles, slicked in citrusy tahini. To make the sauce brighter, I reduced the olive oil and swapped in some water instead. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor

Pantry khichdi

My secret to figuring out weekday cooking plans is to grill my coworkers for ideas, which is how I decided to make khichdi. I already had all the ingredients in my pantry to set it and forget it on a Sunday afternoon. Rich, hearty, and filling, the leftovers lasted for several more meals. Do not skip the cumin-seed butter; it turned a bunch of staples into a compelling dish. —Serena Dai, editorial director

Oscars cereal treats

I had to return some Tupperware from a friend who was hosting us for an Oscars party, so I took the opportunity to fill them with these brown-butter Rice Krispie Treats (and no, I did not skip out on the sprinkles). Something about homemade cereal treats just hit different than the pre-packaged ones. It was a great sweet treat to accompany pizza and raucous Oscar winner discourse. —A.S.

Spicy, buttery tofu

When I cook tofu—at least once a week, twice if I’m lucky—it’s usually sizzled in a pan or baked in the oven. Our senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic just introduced me to a new method with her recipe, Gochujang-Butter-Braised Tofu. Because you simmer the tofu in the sauce, there’s no need to worry about it sticking or burning. It just bubbled away in its spicy-umami jacuzzi, while I finished up some rice and dug a couple seaweed packets out of the pantry. —E.L.

March 8

Commute-friendly omelet roll-up

What’s a breakfast that can be assembled in minutes, will keep me full until lunch, and won’t mind being bashed around in my backpack for a 75-minute commute? Help. Last week it was an avocado sandwich with an audacious amount of olive oil and chile-flecked salt. This week it’s recipe developer Zaynab Issa’s easy Omelet Roll-Up. The beauty of flour tortillas is you can store them in the freezer, pry one apart from the stack, and it’ll thaw by the time you brush your teeth. I used pepper Jack instead of American cheese and it worked great, somehow still gooey by the time I reached the office. —E.L., senior cooking editor

Nutty cookie cake

I have never once in my life left a recipe alone (that’s just not who I am in the kitchen!), and this Parisian Cookie Cake was no exception. I more or less stuck to the base except I swapped half the sugar for brown sugar, added an extra egg yolk, and used pistachio butter and pistachios instead of almond butter and almonds. Oh, and I browned the butter. And left out the salted caramel drizzle. My writing group devoured the entire thing in about 10 minutes, and when people asked for the recipe, I couldn’t give them a straight answer. Which is to say, this is a great cookie recipe to play around with! —Carina Finn, commerce editor

Peppers, two ways

After years spent thinking that I don’t really like bell peppers that much, this weekend I did a 180 on these big waxy fruit. I made Rachel Gurjar’s Red Curry Pork and Rice Cake Stir-Fry and melted the peppers into pork fat and red curry for a jammy, sweet sauce that clings to each rice cake. The next day, I ran to the store for more peppers to purée with onions, tomatoes, and Scotch Bonnets to make Tunde Wey’s Vegan Jollof Rice, which I can’t wait to eat for lunch throughout the week. —Anna Hezel, Epicurious senior editor

Crispy noodles and cabbage

Just as I was ruminating on what I was going to do for dinner at the end of the day, editorial director Serena Dai handed me a cookbook to peruse: Hot Sheet by Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine. I went straight to the index to look up cabbage—leftover from my bean stew last week—and landed on Crispy Sheet-Pan Noodles With Cabbage. I riffed heavily on it: I didn’t have ramen, so I swapped in chewy udon. I didn’t have oyster sauce, so I went with a wild assortment of soy sauces and vinegars. I skipped the bacon. I added some onion and garlic. It’s a testament to the recipe that dinner still turned out delicious. —A.S., associate cooking editor

Citrusy sheet-pan halloumi

I could write a million words about senior cooking editor Emma Laperruque’s sheet-pan halloumi, but I’ll keep it brief. This recipe has stolen my heart. It boasts all the virtues of a sheet-pan dinner—ease, minimal fuss, ready in 30—but feels extremely special. Golden nuggets of halloumi mingle with toasty pita, creamy avocado, bright citrus, and a honey-lime dressing to tie it all together. It’s a refreshing change from the formulaic protein-grain-green dishes in my weeknight rotation, and just as easy to pull off. Simply put, this one’s a keeper. —Zoe Denenberg, associate cooking & SEO editor

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March 1

Easiest-ever salad

Is it weird to say I made my own recipe? I made my own recipe. This Three-Minute Red Wine Vinaigrette from our Thanksgiving issue. There’s no slicing or dicing, just pouring and shaking. I like to use a mason jar that has measurements etched into its glass, making the whole thing even easier. Pair with pre-washed greens (my guilty pleasure of the grocery store) and you get the quickest side dish I know. —E.L., senior cooking editor

Farmers market stew

Summer farmers markets get a lot of hype, but I am a winter farmers market evangelist. I came back from the Union Square Greenmarket this weekend with a certifiable bounty: a boule of sourdough, a frilly head of cabbage, some sweet onions—and a few knobs of garlic that I grabbed last-minute to meet the credit card minimum. I had everything I needed to make this Dilly Bean Stew With Cabbage and Frizzled Onions. It was soothing, hearty, and especially delicious sopped up with slices of bread that I fried in an extremely generous amount of olive oil. —A.S., associate cooking editor

Sweet-and-sour brussels sprouts

Sometimes my husband optimistically buys random vegetables from the grocery, and I’ll forget about them until they deteriorate. This week, I was determined to not let a cup of brussels sprouts suffer the same fate. After a quick search, I decided on these Charred Brussels Sprouts With Warm Honey Glaze. They take minimal prep, and throwing a sheet pan in with the oven as it preheats achieves the beautiful char that makes roasted brussels so enjoyable. A crispy, sweet, and sour delight, this recipe may just enter the regular rotation of weeknight sides. As they cooked, I seared a skin-on salmon fillet with salt and pepper and called it a night. — S.D., editorial director

Sick day hot toddy

I consider myself something of a home bartender. I like making drinks for friends when they come over, slowly growing my collection of bottles and bitters. Surprisingly though, it took getting a mild sore throat on a chilly weekend for me to whip up a couldn’t-be-easier Hot Toddy. I’m sorry it took me so long. This drink is a delight when you’re feeling under the weather, but don’t wait to catch a cold to try it yourself. I muddled a few slices of ginger in my mug before adding the other ingredients—an addition I highly recommend. —Carly Westerfield, recipe copy and production assistant

Lemony mushroom pasta

A lot of people get excited about the return of asparagus and rhubarb when spring’s on the horizon. Me? I’m amped for mushrooms. I’ve been told that fall is the time when the zeitgeist wants to hear about mushrooms, but spring mushrooms are just as lovely. I suggest picking up no less than three varieties for this pasta (I used a mix of black trumpets, blue oysters, and portobellos) for robust flavor and texture. Crucially, there is a big hit of both lemon juice and zest here (Meyer lemons are also in season right now if you want to swap one in). The result is rich but light; earthy yet bright. All in all, it’s a winner winner almost spring dinner. —Joe Sevier, senior SEO editor