Make new recipe friends, but keep the oldLast week I wrote about a specific variety of cooking burnout: You don’t mind being in the kitchen, but you’re out of ideas for what to actually do in there. Several of you wrote in with your own antidotes, including digging around not for new ideas, but for recipes you used to love that you haven’t made in many years. (For me, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s chicken with caramelized onion and cardamom rice, from the cookbook “Jerusalem,” immediately springs to mind.) This is a great suggestion. It reminds you that food is more than sustenance, that recipes carry memories and that even the mundane, day-to-day ones can be happy. It can be enough to bring you back to the stove. Still, we’re in the ideas business here at New York Times Cooking, sharing new dishes to cook and helping you figure out what to make every day. For instance, new to me: the suggestion in Melissa Clark’s latest column that you can instantly turn marmalade into a drink by heating it with water until it’s syrupy, then mixing it with seltzer or more water and ice. (You’ll also find Melissa’s new recipe for spicy marmalade chicken and sweet potatoes in that column, a must-make.) And for everyday use, we have this collection of our top-rated recipes that use boneless chicken breasts, including Ali Slagle’s five-star recipe for fajitas below. That one goes out to everyone who feels we are too into chicken thighs over here, and clamors for recipes that use white meat. Keep the emails coming at dearemily@nytimes.com. I love to hear from you. I’m also makingBaked wild salmon; kimchi fried rice; carrot-orange olive oil cake.
1. Chicken FajitasThere was no chatter when I made this for my family a few nights ago — only excited rummaging around the table for the cheese and avocado, the rolling up of tortillas and the blissful first bites. Ali’s recipe for fajitas is simple, but still delicious. For anyone who needs plainer flavor, set aside a piece or two of chicken to roast separately with just oil, salt and pepper (boneless thighs work better than breasts for this).
2. Cod With Caper-Orange SauceNargisse Benkabbou’s new recipe is so simple and elegant: Wilt spinach in a pan, then use that same pan to gently cook cod in a sauce made with orange juice, vinegar, garlic, honey and capers. This dish is perfect for when you want to do something nice for yourself at the end of the day.
3. Pasta With Tomato-Poached EggsA pot of spaghetti and a jar of marinara sauce is one of the ultimate convenience dinners. But with 10 extra minutes and this recipe from Christian Reynoso, you get a meal with added protein (that egg) that is luscious and fresher tasting.
4. Gochujang Tofu, Squash and Brussels Sprouts BowlsThe gochujang and apple cider vinegar dressing is the prize in this dinner, also from Ali. Save this for a night when you’ve got extra time for vegetables to roast in the oven — the squash takes about 30 minutes to cook — but the recipe is straightforward and easy to prep.
5. Crispy Chickpeas With BeefThe comments on this recipe from Mark Bittman are packed with good suggestions for how to change it up. Use garam masala instead of cumin. Add onions to cook alongside the beef. Use chopped firm tofu instead of beef, or ground lamb. Fold in peas toward the end of cooking. Finish with a big squeeze of lemon. Do it however you like. For a limited time, you can enjoy free access to the recipes in this newsletter in our app. Download it on your iOS or Android device and create a free account to get started. Thanks for reading and cooking. If you like the work we do at New York Times Cooking, please subscribe! (Or give a subscription as a gift!) You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest, or follow me on Instagram. I’m at dearemily@nytimes.com, and previous newsletters are archived here. Reach out to my colleagues at cookingcare@nytimes.com if you have any questions about your account. View all recipes in your weekly plan.
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