Brunch can be tough for those who are wheat-free because so many favorite breakfast foods — pancakes, waffles, French toast and avocado toast — are made with flour or bread.

Enter the potato crust quiche, a gluten-free take on the popular French tart filled with creamy custard and studded with any number of cheeses, meats and vegetables.

Made with smashed baby Yukon Gold potatoes instead of a traditional pastry crust, the vegetarian crust is both easy to pull together and makes the dish a little heartier than an everyday pie crust.

Because it’s crispier, a potato crust also adds more textural interest to the dish.

This recipe is extremely adaptable to personal tastes or whatever ingredients need to be cleaned out of your refrigerator’s crisper or happen to be on sale. If, for instance, you don’t like feta, use Swiss or cheddar cheese to bind the filling instead. You can also ditch the bacon for a custard packed with ham, chorizo or any other sausage.

For a meat-free quiche, stir in any favorite chopped vegetable — think fresh mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini or fresh or sun-dried tomatoes.

Looking to be even more creative? You also can play around with the herbs and spices, adding more or less, changing them up or leaving them out altogether, save for the salt. My husband, for instance, was not a fan of the fresh dill I added to the filling. Or as he put it, “What was that?”

Leftovers can be reheated, covered in foil, until warm in a 350-degree oven. You also can reheat quiche pieces in a skillet or air fryer.

Potato Crust Quiche with Spinach, Feta and Bacon

INGREDIENTS

2½ pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed

2 tablespoons, plus 2½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 small Vidalia onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

12-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry

6-ounce package crumbled garlic and herb feta (about 1 cup)

6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

8 large eggs, lightly whipped

½ cup heavy whipping cream

1 generous tablespoon chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish

1 generous tablespoon chopped fresh mint, plus more for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Position rack in lower third of oven.

Combine potatoes, 2 tablespoons salt and enough cold water to cover by 1 inch in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, undisturbed.

Reduce heat to medium; cook, undisturbed, until potatoes are fork-tender, about 25- 30 minutes. Drain well and pat dry with paper towels.

Generously brush a 10-inch cast-iron skillet evenly with 2 tablespoons oil. Place drained potatoes in an even layer in skillet. Using a flat-bottom measuring cup, smash potatoes firmly into the bottom, then press over bottom and about 1½-inch up sides of skillet.

Use a spoon or small offset spatula to evenly spread potatoes, smoothing and patching any holes or thin spots as needed.

Brush potato crust evenly with 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle evenly with 1 teaspoon salt. Bake potato crust until edges are golden brown and slightly crisp and center is lightly golden, 35-40 minutes.

While crust bakes, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a separate medium skillet over medium. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently until very soft and tender, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in spinach and crumbled until evenly combined. Set aside.

Remove skillet from oven. Sprinkle half of the feta (about ½ cup) in an even layer over bottom of potato crust. Top evenly with spinach mixture followed by remaining half of feta.

Whisk together eggs, cream, dill, mint and remaining 1½ teaspoons salt in a large bowl until well combined, about 30 seconds. Pour egg mixture over filling in skillet, spreading into an even layer, if needed.

Carefully transfer to oven using kitchen mitts. Bake until filling is set and a paring knife inserted in center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes, loosely covering edges with aluminum foil to prevent overbrowning if needed.

Let cool slightly on a wire rack before serving, about 20 minutes. Serve garnished with more dill and mint, if desired.

Serves 6-8.

—adapted from foodandwine.com

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One of the greatest perks of working for New York Times Cooking is that once in a while, I get to spend time in our gorgeous, light-filled studio working with our wildly talented, kind and funny food stylists, photo editors and photographers. (Pinch me.)

Despite what you may read on the internet about stylists using Elmer’s glue for milk or motor oil for syrup, what you see in our recipe photos is real, live food that has been made following the recipe to a T.

This means that, once we’ve gotten the perfect shot and the dish has been slid onto the communal table, all of us descend upon it, forks at the ready. I think every one of our recipes is delicious, but sometimes, as in life, there are standouts. Below are a few dishes that we couldn’t stop talking about (and eating).

1. Chicken Florentine

Chicken Florentine. A rich, shallot-y white wine sauce that’s been thickened with cream cheese coats pan-seared boneless chicken breasts and wilted spinach in this outrageously good dish from Dan Pelosi. Food styled by Simon Andrews. (Christopher Testani/The New York Times)

In this weeknight recipe, perfectly browned chicken breasts are smothered in a creamy spinach sauce that comes together with ease, all in one skillet. The highlight of this recipe is the buttery white-wine sauce, which is enriched and thickened with a secret ingredient: cream cheese. The sauce nicely coats the wilted spinach, though you can use sun-dried tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, or canned artichokes instead of, or in addition to, the spinach. A side of mashed or roasted potatoes would round out this dish well, but some crusty bread to sop up every last bit is a must.

By Dan Pelosi

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

Salt and black pepper

4 thin-cut boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted)

1 medium shallot, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried basil (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil)

1 teaspoon dried oregano (or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano)

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups packed baby spinach (about 3 ounces)

DIRECTIONS

1. On a plate, mix together the flour, Parmesan and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Dredge each chicken breast in the mixture, evenly coating on both sides.

2. Heat a large pan over medium. Add olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and melt to combine. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown (but not cooked through), about 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

3. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and let it melt. Add shallot, garlic and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring until the shallot is softened and the garlic is aromatic, about 2 minutes.

4. Add wine, broth, basil and oregano, and stir, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the liquid has reduced by about half, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the heavy cream and cream cheese and stir, allowing the cream cheese to soften and melt, until a thick sauce forms, about 6 minutes. Add baby spinach and stir until it is folded into the cream sauce and the spinach is beginning to wilt, about 1 minute.

5. Return the chicken breasts to the pan and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan on top.

2. Salmon Burgers

Salmon burgers. If you have a bag of frozen salmon in your freezer, it’s longing to be made into Mark Bittman’s salmon burgers. Food styled by Simon Andrews. (Christopher Testani/The New York Times)

For this recipe, you’ll want to grind part of the salmon in a food processor: It’ll bind the rest, which can be coarsely chopped to retain moisture during cooking. Some breadcrumbs keep the burger from becoming as densely packed as (bad) meatloaf. This approach, along with a few simple seasonings, produces delicious burgers in not much more time than it takes to make one from ground chuck. The only real trick is to avoid overcooking. Whether you saute, broil or grill this burger, it’s best when the center remains the color of … salmon. Two or three minutes a side usually does the trick.

By Mark Bittman

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless salmon

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 shallots, peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 cup coarse breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon capers, drained

Salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

Lemon wedges

Tabasco sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut the salmon into large chunks, and put about a quarter of it into the container of a food processor, along with the mustard. Turn the machine on, and let it run — stopping to scrape down the sides if necessary — until the mixture becomes pasty.

2. Add the shallots and the remaining salmon, and pulse the machine on and off until the fish is chopped and well combined with the puree. No piece should be larger than a 1/4 inch or so; be careful not make the mixture too fine.

3. Scrape the mixture into a bowl, and by hand, stir in the breadcrumbs, capers and some salt and pepper. Shape into four burgers. (You can cover and refrigerate the burgers for a few hours at this point.)

4. Place the butter or oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet, and turn the heat to medium-high. When the butter foam subsides or the oil is hot, cook the burgers for 2 to 3 minutes a side, turning once. Alternatively, you can grill them: Let them firm up on the first side, grilling about 4 minutes, before turning over and finishing for just another minute or two. To check for doneness, make a small cut and peek inside. Be careful not to overcook. Serve on a bed of greens or on buns or by themselves, with lemon wedges and Tabasco or any dressing you like.

3. Mie Goreng

The key to achieving the signature sweet-smoky-salty flavor of Indonesian stir-fried noodles is to let the noodles cook, undisturbed, over high heat until you see small wisps of smoke. Javanese sweet soy sauce, also known as kecap manis, can be very sweet, so giving it a good cook will bring just enough of a bitter edge to its sweetness. If you’re making this dish for a crowd, don’t prepare more than two servings at a time, otherwise the noodles will crowd the pan and not brown properly, and you won’t get that smoky wok hei flavor. But don’t let all of this scare you from making mie goreng. This recipe, from Zulfikar Fahd, chef and owner of Java Bali Kitchen, an Indonesian pop-up restaurant in Toronto, is satisfying and versatile, a quick and filling meal that uses up the odds and ends in your fridge.

Recipe from Zulfikar Fahd

Adapted by Mia Leimkuhler

Yield: 2 servings

Total time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Vegetable or peanut oil, as needed

2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes, or 8 large peeled, deveined shrimp (about 1/2 pound), optional

Kosher salt

Ground white pepper

2 eggs

1 leek, white and light green part only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

2 shallots, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

4 to 6 cherry tomatoes, halved

6 ounces cooked egg noodles, thin vermicelli or thick, flat rice noodles

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 to 4 teaspoons store-bought or homemade sambal oelek (optional)

3 tablespoons kecap manis (also sometimes labeled sweet soy sauce, preferably Javanese brands like ABC or Bango; see Tip below), plus more to taste

1 cup chopped green cabbage

4 bok choy or gai lan (Chinese broccoli), separated into individual stalks

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Store-bought or homemade crispy fried shallots, lime wedges and sliced cucumber for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat a wok or large cast-iron skillet on high until it’s very hot. (You should be able to hold your hand a few inches above the pan for just a few seconds.) Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil. If using chicken or shrimp, add it to the pan, season with salt and white pepper and cook until beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Crack the egg into the wok, seasoning with more salt and white pepper, and scramble together with a spatula until the egg is just cooked. Turn the heat down to medium.

3. Add the leek, shallots and garlic, and stir until they start to soften and are fragrant, about a minute more.

4. Add the cherry tomatoes and egg noodles, and season with salt and white pepper. Stir until everything is combined. Stir in the oyster sauce and optional sambal oelek. If the noodles stick to the wok, add another tablespoon of oil.

5. Turn the heat to high, then add the kecap manis and quickly stir everything to combine. Let cook, undisturbed, over high heat until you see small wisps of smoke coming out of the noodles, about 1 minute, then stir again. The noodles will begin to turn darker in color and caramelize, taking on a smoky flavor called wok hei. Repeat this process, scraping the sides of your wok in between, until at least half the noodles are darkened, but not burned, 2 to 5 minutes more. Taste, adding more salt, white pepper and sweet soy sauce if needed.

6. Add the cabbage and bok choy and stir until combined. Turn off the heat and drizzle with the sesame oil.

7. Top each serving with crispy fried shallots and serve with lime wedges and cucumber slices.

Tips: Kecap manis, or sweet soy sauce, can be found in Asian grocery stores. You can also make your own with this recipe from chef Lara Lee: In a medium saucepan, bring 3/4 cup light soy sauce or gluten-free tamari with 1 1/4 packed cups palm sugar or light or dark brown sugar to a simmer over medium. Reduce heat to low and cook until mixture thickens to the texture of maple syrup, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Cover and refrigerate for up to a few weeks. Makes about 3/4 cup.

4. Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup

Cheesy ham and potato soup. Such simple, economical ingredients – ham, potatoes, broth, aromatics and butter – yield silky, luxurious results. Food styled by Rebecca Jurkevich. (David Malosh/The New York Times)

Cooked ham lends a surprising amount of flavor to this simple, hearty soup. Easy to put together using leftover ham or a ham steak, this recipe is perfect for a weeknight or a busy weekend. The ham, joined by soft chunks of potato as well as soup all-stars carrot, onion and celery, is bathed in a creamy broth thickened with a quick roux made from flour and butter. The soup, served hot and topped with a mound of melty cheddar and chopped fresh scallions, makes second helpings hard to resist.

By Dan Pelosi

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Total time: 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 white or yellow onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 4 cups)

1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups diced cooked ham (8 to 9 ounces)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk

Shredded cheddar, for serving

Chopped scallions, for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the onion is just softened and everything is fragrant.

2. Adjust the heat to medium-high, then add the broth, potatoes and ham to the pot and cover to bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk until light brown and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add milk and continue to whisk until thickened, making sure no lumps form, 4 to 5 minutes more.

4. Add the milk mixture to the pot. Stir until incorporated and the soup is fully warmed through and creamy, about 3 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve warm, topped with shredded cheddar and chopped scallions. Soup can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

5. Beef Fried Rice

Beef fried rice. Kay Chun’s tasty and adaptable beef fried rice uses the smart technique of velveting, a traditional Chinese technique that quickly tenderizes tougher cuts, like the skirt or sirloin called for here. Food styled by Simon Andrews. (Christopher Testani/The New York Times)

Fried rice is perfect for easy and fast weeknight cooking, as it is highly customizable and can be made with all sorts of veggies and protein. This beef version employs a traditional Chinese technique of velveting meat that quickly tenderizes tougher cuts. Simply mix the beef with cornstarch and oil (seasoned here with soy sauce) and let stand for 30 minutes (or even just 15 minutes, if that’s all you’ve got) before stir-frying until browned. Feel free to add more vegetables to this fried rice, like shredded cabbage or snow peas. Be sure to have all of your prep ready before cooking, as the process goes quickly.

By Kay Chun

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 50 minutes

INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons neutral oil, plus more if needed

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

12 ounces skirt or sirloin beef, sliced 1/4-inch-thick then cut into bite-size pieces (about 1 inch)

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1/2 cup finely chopped carrot

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

4 cups day-old cooked rice (preferably jasmine)

3 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup sliced scallions, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the oil, 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and the cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Add beef, season with salt and pepper, and toss to evenly coat. Let stand for 15 minutes, or even 30 minutes if time allows.

2. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high. Add half of the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, just until browned, about 2 minutes. Using tongs, transfer beef to a plate and repeat with the remaining beef. You should have at least 2 tablespoons of fat remaining in the skillet (amount will vary depending on the beef); if necessary, add more oil to reach 2 tablespoons.

3. Add onion and carrot to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds.

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4. Add rice, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until well incorporated and warmed through, 2 minutes.

5. Push the rice to one side of the skillet and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the empty side. Add eggs and stir until scrambled, then mix the eggs into the rice mixture. Add beef (and any accumulated juices), peas, scallions, sesame oil and the remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and cook, stirring until mixture is well blended, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Divide fried rice among bowls and top with more scallions. Serve warm.

If a striking thing about the period just before Donald Trump’s second inauguration was the feeling that America was genuinely shifting to the right — wokeness crumbling, more minority voters and elite factions joining the GOP, every branch of government in conservative hands — a striking thing about the Trump administration is that it has governed as though none of this were the case.

Instead, its approach belongs to a world where both the conservative position and the wider American situation are simply desperate and there’s only the narrowest of windows to wrench the country away from some apocalyptic fate.

The best term for this mentality is “black-pilled,” an online reference, based on a famous scene in “The Matrix,” to different pills that awaken people to hidden realities. A red pill lets you in on secret right-wing truths. A white pill persuades you that the world situation is better than you thought. And a black pill lets you know just how doomed we really are.

A merely red-pilled Trump administration would still be doing much of what the actual one is doing — pushing the envelope on executive power, making a bid to revive American manufacturing, trying to find ways to increase deportations, picking fights with Ivy League universities.

But the black pill helps explain the hyperactivity with which Elon Musk’s DOGE project set about cutting jobs and programs — no pause for assessment, just the chainsaw.

Or the chaotic haste that yielded a list of sweeping demands being sent to Harvard apparently by mistake.

Or the no-pain-no-gain maximalism of Trump’s trade war.

Or the impulse to engage in brinkmanship with a conservative Supreme Court.

Or the seeming lack of concern for whether newly Republican constituencies might be alienated or freaked out.

The administration’s mentality exists in symbiosis with its most fervent online supporters, who have responded to each new foray with all-or-nothing takes. “If we can’t bring all the jobs back/deport all the illegal immigrants/smash the Ivy League, we don’t have a country.”

Let me take one illustration of this mentality, from a commentator who goes by the nom de guerre FischerKing and has more than 200,000 followers on X. Calling the American situation an “emergency,” with an added expletive, he writes: “The USA has elected a series of administrations from both parties who have given us a $37 trillion national debt, probably 30-50 million illegal aliens, woke ideology, and a series of pointless wars. But we’re supposed to care about ‘norms.’”

I like this post because it lets me make two points about the problem with the black pill.

First, it overstates the direness of the situation. The United States almost certainly does not have 30 million to 50 million illegal immigrants. A high-end estimate from an anti-immigration advocacy group puts the figure at 18 million to 19 million. That’s a big number; it makes a case for deportations. But it’s far less transformative than 50 million would be.

The 21st-century United States has indeed been embroiled in “a series of pointless wars.” But the debacles of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya are in the past, and U.S. foreign policy has turned in a more realist direction under Democrats as well as Trump. Even if you take a maximally skeptical view of our support for the Ukrainians, the war in Ukraine is a classic proxy conflict, not another Iraq or Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the peak of woke ideology is, for now, in the past: Today, Ibram X. Kendi is increasingly a punchline, the British Supreme Court is vindicating JK Rowling, and affirmative action, as well as DEI, is on the ropes.

So at the very least, some “emergency” aspects of our situation are less grim than the black-pilled view would suggest. But just as crucially, many norm-busting responses of the Trump administration are either nonresponsive to the alleged emergencies or arguably counterproductive.

The national debt is a real problem. But the Musk attack on federal spending has savaged important programs for the sake of trivial savings, and the profligate budgets being pushed through the House and Senate will very likely swamp any savings.

On immigration, the bitter fights over sending alleged gang members to a Salvadoran prison are not necessarily relevant to the White House’s ability to carry out deportations on a larger scale, since the administration desperately needs more resources for that project, not just more authority.

In the culture war, conservative success in the struggle against wokeness depends on continuing to convert centrists and even liberals to the cause, and the administration’s all-or-nothing strategy risks making liberal academia sympathetic — a truly counterproductive feat.

Finally, the trade war looks like a debacle. Full stop.

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One reason to stress these aspects of the Trump agenda (and the falling poll numbers that indicate their costs) is that black-pilled conservatives are understandably allergic to being lectured (especially from elite pulpits) that the situation isn’t as bleak as they believe.

Better for the critics to meet the black-pilled halfway — with the suggestion that even in a dire situation, you still need a response calibrated to reality, rather than a furious flailing that most likely guarantees defeat.

Ross Douthat writes a column for the New York Times.

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI

The Trump administration on Monday announced federal officials are launching investigations into Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review, saying authorities have received reports of race-based discrimination “permeating the operations” of the journal.

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The investigations come as Harvard fights a freeze on $2.2 billion in federal grants the Trump administration imposed after the university refused to comply with demands to limit activism on campus. A letter sent to the university earlier this month called for the institution to clarify its campus speech policies that limit the time, place and manner of protests and other activities. It also demanded academic departments at Harvard that “fuel antisemitic harassment” be reviewed and changed to address bias and improve viewpoint diversity.

Monday marked the first time that both sides met in court over the funding fight. The investigations by the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services were announced separately on Monday, with authorities saying they were investigating policies and practices involving the journal’s membership and article selection that they argue may violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

According to the federal government, the editor of the Harvard Law Review reportedly wrote that it was “concerning” that the majority of the people who had wanted to reply to an article about police reform “are white men.” A separate editor allegedly suggested “that a piece should be subject to expedited review because the author was a minority.”

“Harvard Law Review’s article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race, employing a spoils system in which the race of the legal scholar is as, if not more, important than the merit of the submission,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor in a statement. “Title VI’s demands are clear: recipients of federal financial assistance may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. No institution — no matter its pedigree, prestige, or wealth — is above the law.”

An email seeking comment was sent Monday to a spokesperson for Harvard.

Harvard is among multiple universities across the country where pro-Palestinian protests erupted on campus amid the war in Gaza last year. Republican officials have since heavily scrutinized those universities, and several Ivy League presidents testified before Congress to discuss antisemitism allegations. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution was the fifth Ivy League school targeted in a pressure campaign by the administration, which also has paused federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, and Princeton universities to force compliance with its agenda.