I’ve recently returned from spring break, where I scrounged a few quiet minutes to lie down poolside and devour “The Upstairs Delicatessen,” by Dwight Garner, a book critic here at The New York Times and a known eater of exceptional taste. The subtitle of this memoir: “On Eating, Reading, Reading About Eating, and Eating While Reading.”
In the book, Dwight refers to “pasta nada,” which is what his father-in-law, an accomplished chef, called pasta dishes that were made on the fly from whatever was in the house. Pasta nada! A perfect phrase, and one of my preferred ways to feed myself. I emailed Dwight to ask him to elaborate on what pasta nada looks like in his kitchen. “The only requirement is that it be simple,” he replied:
One of our standbys is sage with toasted walnuts that are chopped somewhat finely. We always have a sage plant or two to raid, so this is easy. And it’s bliss. If you keep the basic ingredients for puttanesca (tuna, capers, anchovies, black olives, garlic, etc.) around, you can generally omit any two or three of them, add parsley and have good nada. Small leftover chunks of mozzarella mix well with cherry tomatoes or basil or both. Some nights, for us, dinner is just pasta with parsley and red pepper flakes and a mix of butter and olive oil. And decent bread and a glass of red wine.
We’ve got many nada-ish pastas on NYT Cooking, though it seems that a true nada would regard these recipes as broad-strokes maps and then off-road at the first turn. I’ve included one such pasta below, along with four other recipes I feel are in the nada spirit: flexible and made with few ingredients, the kinds you might keep stocked in the fridge, pantry or freezer.
1. Creamy Garlic Pasta With Greens
Creamy garlic pasta with greens. Christian Reynoso’s new pasta dish is both utterly simple and inspired. Food styled by Rebecca Jurkevich. (Johnny Miller/The New York Times)
By Christian Reynoso
In this 20-minute weeknight pasta, one of the tastiest, most versatile sauces, aioli (or garlic mayonnaise) is dolloped over a simple bowl of spaghetti tossed with wilted greens. With hardly any cooking and minimal knifework, this one-pot dish starts out by simply cooking the pasta. Meanwhile, a quick aioli is whipped up by stirring garlic, lemon and a little olive oil into store-bought mayonnaise. You’ll generously spoon that shortcut aioli over the pasta, coating each noodle with its rich and fresh garlicky bite. (Leftover aioli can be saved for later use throughout the week.) Serve this pasta with sausages and peppers or a rotisserie chicken.
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 pound spaghetti
Salt and black pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 lemon
3 large cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 to 10 ounces baby or pre-cut cooking greens (such as kale, chard, spinach or collard greens)
Crushed red pepper, optional
DIRECTIONS
Cook pasta according to package instructions in a Dutch oven or large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, make the aioli: Add the mayonnaise to a bowl. Finely grate the lemon zest over, then cut the lemon in half and juice half of the lemon into the bowl. (Reserve the remaining lemon half for another use.) Finely grate the garlic into the bowl, add the olive oil and whisk together until smooth.
After the pasta has been drained but is still hot, add the greens to the same pot and pour 1/2 cup pasta water over, toss with tongs to lightly wilt greens. Add the pasta and season with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper, if using. Toss again and add the remaining 1/2 cup reserved pasta water, if you’d like, to create a light sauce.
Transfer to serving bowls or plates. Serve warm with a generous dollop of the aioli spooned over the pasta. Add more black pepper, if desired. Swirl the pasta and greens into the aioli to coat each bite as you eat.
2. Soy-Glazed Chicken Breasts With Pickled Cucumbers
Soy-glazed chicken breasts with pickled cucumbers. “Glazed” sounds fancy (and delicious), but this recipe is just an easy method for coating chicken in a sticky-shiny mixture of honey and soy sauce. Food styled by Simon Andrews. (David Malosh/The New York Times)
By Dawn Perry
The pan-steam method used here ensures boneless, skinless chicken breasts cook quickly while staying moist. The technique works with water, but a flavorful mixture of soy sauce, honey, garlic and coriander infuses the chicken with even more flavor. Depending on the size of the skillet you use, the sauce may reduce a little slower or faster than the time indicated. When you swipe a rubber spatula across the bottom of the skillet, the sauce should hold a spatula-wide trail that fills in with liquid pretty quickly. If you happen to reduce too much, whisk in water one tablespoon at a time until you’re back to a shiny sauce that can be drizzled. Rice is an obvious side, but the sliced chicken and pickled cucumbers are really good tucked inside flour tortillas, too.
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
1 shallot, peeled, halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup rice vinegar
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 1/2 to 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, roughly smashed with the side of a heavy knife
Cilantro leaves and tender stems, for serving
Steamed rice, for serving
DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, toss to combine the cucumber, shallot, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; set aside while you make the chicken.
In a shallow dish, stir soy sauce and honey together; add chicken and turn to coat.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add garlic and coriander and stir to coat. Add chicken breasts (reserve the marinade) and cook until browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. (Browning happens a little faster than usual here because of the honey and soy; if the marinade is getting too dark, lower the heat slightly.)
Add reserved marinade and 1/4 cup water to the skillet. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes more per side.
Uncover the skillet, increase heat to medium-high and cook, turning chicken occasionally, until liquid is reduced and chicken is glazed, about 5 minutes. Serve chicken drizzled with any leftover glaze over rice with cucumber salad and cilantro.
3. Kimchi Fried Rice
Kimchi fried rice. Francis Lam learned how to make this mellow kimchi fried rice from a home cook named Grace Lee. Food styled by Jerrie-Joy Redman-Lloyd. (Con Poulos/The New York Times)
Recipe from Grace Lee
Adapted by Francis Lam
Not the high-heat stir-fry you might expect, Grace Lee’s home-style fried-rice recipe uses a simple technique — make an easy, flavorful kimchi sauce, mellowed out with butter, and sauté leftover rice in it. It’s perfect for a snack or a quick, simple meal. The Spam, though optional, reflects many Koreans’ love of foods introduced by the American military. — Francis Lam
Yield: Serves 2
Total time: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 small onion, medium dice
1 cup roughly chopped kimchi (6 ounces)
2 tablespoons kimchi juice, or to taste
1/2 cup small-dice Spam, ham or leftover cooked meat
2 cups cooked, cooled rice (preferably short-grain)
2 teaspoons soy sauce, or to taste
1 teaspoon sesame oil, or to taste
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
Salt to taste
Crumbled or slivered nori (roasted seaweed) for garnish
Sesame seeds for garnish
DIRECTIONS
In a nonstick sauté pan or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat, and add onions. Cook, stirring, until the onions start to sizzle, about 2 minutes. Add kimchi and kimchi juice, and stir until it comes to a boil, about 3 minutes. Add Spam, and cook until sauce is nearly dried out, about 5 minutes.
Break up the rice in the pan with a spatula, and stir it to incorporate. Turn heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until the rice has absorbed the sauce and is very hot, about 5 minutes. Stir in soy sauce and sesame oil. Taste, and adjust with more soy sauce, sesame oil or kimchi juice. Turn heat down slightly, but let the rice continue to cook, untouched, to lightly brown while you cook the eggs.
Place a small nonstick sauté pan over medium heat, and add the vegetable oil. When it is hot, add eggs, season with salt and fry to your desired doneness. Serve rice topped with fried eggs, nori and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
4. More-Vegetable-Than-Egg Frittata
More-vegetable-than-egg frittata. It’s a Mark Bittman recipe that doubles as a fridge-cleaner – put whatever you want in it. (Craig Lee/The New York Times)
By Mark Bittman
This simple frittata — just eggs, vegetables, fresh herbs and a little Parmesan if you’re feeling luxurious — is proof that eating well doesn’t have to be deprivational. It can also be delicious.
Yield: 2 or 4 servings
Total time: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, sliced (optional)
Salt and black pepper
4 to 6 cups of any chopped or sliced raw or barely cooked vegetables
1/4 cup fresh basil or parsley leaves, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or mint leaves, or any other herb
2 or 3 eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
DIRECTIONS
Put olive oil in a skillet (preferably nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron) and turn heat to medium. When fat is hot, add onion, if using, and cook, sprinkling with salt and pepper, until it is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add vegetables, raise heat and cook, stirring occasionally until they soften, from a couple of minutes for greens to 15 minutes for sliced potatoes. Adjust heat so vegetables brown a little without scorching. (With precooked vegetables, just add them to onions and stir before proceeding.)
When vegetables are nearly done, turn heat to low and add herb. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.
Meanwhile, beat eggs with some salt and pepper, along with cheese if you are using it. Pour over vegetables, distributing them evenly. Cook, undisturbed, until eggs are barely set, 10 minutes or so; run pan under broiler for a minute or 2 if top does not set. Cut frittata into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.
5. Dumpling Noodle Soup
Dumpling noodle soup. Frozen dumplings make an excellent fast dinner on their own, of course, but they’re heroic in recipes like this one from Hetty Lui McKinnon, which was loosely inspired by wonton noodle soup. Props styled by Megan Hedgpeth. Food styled by Hadas Smirnoff. (Linda Xiao/The New York Times)
By Hetty Lui McKinnon
Keep a package or two of frozen dumplings in your freezer for this warming weeknight meal. This recipe is loosely inspired by wonton noodle soup, but replaces homemade wontons with store-bought frozen dumplings for a quick alternative. The soup base, which comes together in just 10 minutes, is surprisingly rich and full-bodied, thanks to the trio of ginger, garlic and turmeric. Miso paste brings extra savoriness, but you could substitute soy sauce or tamari. Scale up on veggies if you like; carrots, peas, snow peas or mushrooms would be excellent additions. Any type of frozen dumpling works in this dish, making it easy to adapt for vegan, vegetarian or meat-loving diners.
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
6 ounces thin dried wheat, egg or rice noodles
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 (2-inch) piece ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
6 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoon white miso paste
16 ounces frozen dumplings (not thawed)
4 baby bok choy (about 12 ounces), trimmed and each cut into 4 pieces through the stem
1 small head broccoli (about 9 ounces), cut into bite-size florets
Handful of cilantro or chopped scallions, for serving
DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to package instructions, until the noodles are just tender. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain well again. Divide them among four serving bowls.
Place the same large pot over medium heat, and add sesame oil, ginger, and garlic. Stir and cook for 30 seconds, until aromatic. Add turmeric, and stir for 15 seconds, until fragrant.
Pour the vegetable stock into the pot, then season with 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes on medium heat, to allow flavors to meld.
Remove the lid and add the miso paste, stirring constantly until it is dissolved. Taste, and season with more salt, if needed.
Increase the heat to medium-high, and carefully drop the dumplings into the broth. When they float to the top, add the baby bok choy and broccoli, and cook for about 2 minutes, just until the broccoli is crisp-tender.
Ladle the broth, dumplings, baby bok choy and broccoli into the four bowls over the noodles. To serve, top with cilantro or chopped scallions.
Five weeknight dishes originally appeared in the New York Times.
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