heroic recipes for a busy school year
these recipes get it
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Good morning!
Dare me to make this happen. [Twitter]
"Will We Ever Shut Up About Caesar Salad?” (Absolutely not, just wait until The Recipe with Kenji and Deb Season 2, Episode 2!) [Taste Cooking]
Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks is one of the best things in my neighborhood. Love this spolight on her! [New Yorker]
If ever there was a sound effect that perfectly epitomized the transition between a leisurely late-summer breezy, beachy vacation and the first week of school, resumption of scheduled activities, and a general feeling even among adults who have been employed the whole time that it’s time, somehow, to get back to work… it would be a needle scratching off a record. Is it just me? Surely it can’t just be me. Every year, without fail, I find September to be a beast and while we’re just one non-vacation day into it, this one appears to be playing out no differently.
How do we manage? We’re going to lean into what works. Below, 10 recipes that are so anchored in our weekly meal rotations, they’re staples. They’re simple but not plain. They please a crowd. They hit all of the weeknight dinner and weekday morning notes. And they don’t forget the important things, like a really great cookie as a reward for getting through the school day (adults, you too). I hope you find a few recipe saviors in here, too.
Cheers!
Deb
The Smitten Kitchen Classroom Wishlist Project 2024 is going strong! In the US, a tremendous number of teachers don’t get the funding they need to set their classrooms up for success. Most will end up paying out of their own pockets to buy educational materials, which is all wrong. I’ve asked teachers to send me their wishlists in hopes that we can help clear as many as possible, as we did the last two summers. Help out if you feel you’re able — you will unquestionably make a teacher’s (and their students’) day! [Project information. Direct link to spreadsheet.]
Deb
banana oat weekday pancakes
A fork-mixed, one-bowl whole wheat pancake that's miraculously not compromised in taste or texture. It goes from assembly to plates and mouths in 15 minutes, which means even a human who slacks as much as I do most mornings can pull them off.
thick, chewy granola bars
No wan, tooth-breaking granola bars here. These are tall, loaded with pretty much anything you wish, and hearty so if you make a batch over the weekend, you've got breakfast and/or snacks sorted for as long as they last.
quick, essential stovetop mac-and-cheese
Quick, essential stovetop mac-and-cheese that you can have 15 minutes from now, or whenever an intense need for pasta with a sauce of salty melted cheese strikes and nothing else will do.
skillet ravioli with spinach
A 15-minute, 5-ingredient crispy-creamy pasta-and-greens dinner that wants to change the way we make ravioli forever, just in time to talk ourselves out of ordering pizza tonight.
simple eggplant parmesan
Really simple, weeknight-friendly, breading-and-frying-free eggplant parmesan that's baked until blistered, cozy, and absolutely spoonable, with stretches of cheese trying to drag each spoonful back to the pan. Spoiler: It will fail; you will win. [Video below!]
taco torte
Vegetable, bean, and cheese tacos stacked like a lasagna and sliced like a cake are always a good idea.
corn and black bean weeknight nachos
In my forever quest to have more nachos in my life, I've found that 3 vegetables, 9 salad-y toppings and 0 skimping on the melty cheese is the magic formula.
skillet turkey chili
A one-skillet, weeknight-friendly chili with a simple ingredient list that requires little planning ahead, which is awesome because I discovered during quarantine months that even with all of the time in the world, I never quite mastered planning far enough ahead to not be in a rush when making dinner. 🙃
soy-glazed chicken
A quick skillet chicken with a soy sauce reduction that gives the cutlets a lacquered glaze. This is such a family favorite that it's gone in the regular rotation. We serve it with rice and a quick vegetable slaw.
whole wheat chocolate oat cookies
Oat and chocolate chip cookies with both whole wheat flour and (optional) wheat germ -- no wait, come back! They're craggier, more nuanced, and flavorful than any oat cookie I've made before and I don't think you'll go back to making them the old way, either.
I’ve written three cookbooks and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Wondering what you might cook from Smitten Kitchen Keepers for these warm summer days? I thought you’d never ask! Try the zucchini cornbread and tomato butter, two-bean salad with basil vinaigrette, spinach spiral bread, tomato and corn cobbler, and lamb skewers with crackly vinegar glaze. To finish, I recommend the big crumb pie bars, the blondie chipwich, and/or the strawberry summer stack cake. Were you looking for a list of all the recipes in each of my cookbooks? I’ve added these in a separate page and hope it makes it easier for you to find everything you want to cook.
My podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, launched this spring. Our tenth episode and season finale is the second of a two-part Mailbag episode where we answer as many of your questions as we can. You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts and I’ve set up a podcast tab/page where you can keep up on it here, too. I hope you’ve enjoyed listening along to season one — season two is coming very soon, and it’s going to be so much fun.
simple eggplant parmesan
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most — yes, including the the Smitten Kitchen x Staub Braiser, which is back in stock! For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
See you next week!
