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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I love tacos when I’m cooking for a crowd because they’re usually so much easier to pull together than a sit-down dinner with multiple courses, and they can be easily individualized depending on the toppings.

Any protein made with tinga, a spicy-ish sauce crafted from fire-roasted tomatoes, chili peppers and spices, is always at the top of my go-to list because it’s so flavorful and can be prepared fairly quickly — a blessing when you’re pinched for time in a crowded kitchen full of hungry people.

I was just that during a recent weekend, when four of my five kids (plus two daughters-in-law and two grandkids) came for a weekend visit. Taking everyone out to dinner would have cost the proverbial arm and a leg, along with the patience required to dine with active toddlers. And ordering pizza just seemed so … predictable.

But tacos? Kids especially love crunchy handheld foods and the grown-ups appreciated the casual eat what you want, when you want it taco bar I set up on the kitchen counter.

There are probably as many recipes for chicken tinga as there are home cooks, but a few pantry ingredients are essential: tomatoes, white onion and garlic, chipotle peppers in adobo and Mexican oregano, which is a bit more floral than the Italian variety used in pasta sauces.

I also like to add a little cumin to the sauce. Mexican cookbook author Rick Bayless, whose recipe I’ve adapted over the years, also recommends a dash or two of vinegar for extra tang.

This recipe is doubled for a crowd, but can easily be cut in half for smaller gatherings. If you like, you can cook the chicken thighs whole and shred them in the pan with two forks just before serving, or you can start with thin slices or bite sized pieces. It all depends on how chunky you like your tacos.

Similarly, if you prefer a tamer dish, cut down on the amount of chipotles and adobo sauce you add.

Serve with a salty, crumbly cheese such as queso fresco or feta and lots of chopped cilantro.

Chicken Tinga Tacos

INGREDIENTS

Vegetable or olive oil to coat the pan
1 large white onion, sliced a little less than 1/2 inch thick
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 (15-ounce) cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, or to taste
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
2 teaspoons cumin
A little additional vinegar, if you think the dish needs it
1 ripe avocado, sliced
1 cup Mexican queso fresco or other fresh cheese like farmers cheese, mild feta or fresh goat cheese
A handful of cilantro leaves for garnish
Chopped red onion, for garnish
24 hard taco shells or soft taco-sized flour tortillas, warmed

DIRECTIONS

Prepare chicken. Set a very large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle the bottom liberally with oil. When the pan is hot, add onions.
Stir onions until they soften and start to brown, about 4 minutes, then snuggle the chicken in the pan in a single layer on the bottom. Cook until everything is nicely browned, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook a minute or so longer.
In a blender or food processor, blend the tomatoes and their juice to a very coarse puree.
Remove chipotle peppers from sauce and chop into small pieces — start with 3 or 4, you can always add more.
Add puree to the browned chicken in the skillet, along with the chopped chiles, half the adobo sauce from can and oregano and cumin. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the chicken is tender and the mixture is thick, about 4 minutes.
Taste and add a little more adobo sauce or chopped chiles if it’s not spicy enough. Season with 2 teaspoons of salt and a couple dashes of white or red vinegar, if you would like it a little more tangy. Stir to combine.
When ready to serve, place some chicken tinga in warmed hard taco shells or on warmed soft tortillas. Top with sliced avocado, a sprinkling of fresh cheese, chopped onion and leaves of cilantro.

Serves 8.

— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

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Jaden McDaniels was not available to the Timberwolves this time last year. He punched a wall out of frustration in the final game of the regular season, breaking his hand in the process, and ensuring Minnesota would be without its best perimeter defender heading into the playoffs.

That loss proved to be insurmountable for the Timberwolves as they simply didn’t have the personnel needed to compete with the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

Perhaps the performance the Timberwolves got from McDaniels in Game 2 against the Phoenix Suns was his way of making up for lost time.

He dominated on both ends of the floor on Tuesday night at Target Center en route to a 105-93 win. He was a force on offense, leading the team with 25 points, and a demon on defense, using his length to shut down the trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on the other end.

“Not playing last year I was kind of antsy,” McDaniels said. “Just being in this environment, and being in the playoffs, it feels like a dream come true for me.”

It should also feel like a nightmare to the rest of the league.

Frankly, if McDaniels continues to play like he did in Game 2, the Timberwolves are going to be nearly impossible to beat moving forward.

If anything is clear about McDaniels at this point in his career, it’s that he’s always going to bring it on defense. He takes pride in erasing the opposing team’s best player.

“It feels great,” McDaniels said. “You can hear them get louder and louder each possession.”

Now it seems the offense is catching up for McDaniels.

“It’s always been there,” head coach Chris Finch said. “There’s things that he can do and at times we might need to put the ball in his hands a little bit more. He’s just making the right play off the ball all the time. That’s important for the way that we’re playing and the attention that our other guys are drawing.”

This is a group already equipped with a pair of dynamic scoring options in Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, a security blanket of Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert running the pick and roll, and a bench unit that includes Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

It’s not a fair fight if McDaniels is also contributing at a high level on offense.

It wasn’t so much that McDaniels scored 25 points for the Timberwolves against the Suns as it was the ways in which he got his buckets. He slashed his way to the hoop to get himself going. He hit a few midrange jumpers to keep the defense honest. He knocked down a couple of corner three pointers for good measure.

“He’s a person who can live up to these moments, offensively and defensively,” Reid said. “We’ve been friends since I started with this team, so it’s good I get to see him embrace these moments against big time players and get a chance to go out there and compete.”

This is the guy the Timberwolves thought they were getting when the inked McDaniels to a 5-year, $136 million extension.

Now the biggest problem with McDaniels has always been consistency. He can pop off for 20 points with ease, then ghost his teammates for 48 minutes a few games later. The key for the Timberwolves in the playoffs will be making sure McDaniels can harness this type of performance with regularity moving forward.

Asked if he thought this was the best game he has ever played in the NBA, McDaniels replied, “It’s close.”

He paused.

“I mean, 25 points in the playoffs,” McDaniels said. “There’s nothing more I could ask for.”

There’s nothing more the Timberwolves could ask for either.

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The Twins seemed to have the ingredients in place for a win on Tuesday — they had their ace, Pablo López, on the mound and were facing the team with Major League Baseball’s worst record — but sometimes it takes a few extra ingredients to perfect a recipe.

In this case, it was a sprinkle of power and some clutch hitting.

Byron Buxton’s first home run of the season came at the most opportune time for the Twins, tying the game in the ninth inning. Alex Kirilloff followed that up with a walk-off single to right after a tough night in which he had struck out four times, sending the Twins to a 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night at Target Field.

The late-inning drama came after Trevor Larnach delivered a mammoth tow-run home run — 433 feet — an inning earlier, cutting into Chicago’s three-run lead. Larnach was also involved in the Twins’ first run of the game, doubling in the first inning and scoring on Max Kepler’s single.

That lead was short-lived, though.

While López seemed, on paper, to be a great matchup against the White Sox (3-20), the starter saw his velocity dip dramatically during his start, leaving after throwing 38 pitches in the fourth.

Though López finished off the inning by collecting three strikeouts, the final pitch of his outing was a four-seam fastball at 91.9 miles per hour, a big drop from his average velocity on the pitch, which was at 94.8 mph entering the game.

One of the pitches he threw in the laborious inning was a curveball hammered by Eloy Jiménez out to left that stayed just fair. The White Sox designated hitter now has three home runs in his eight career at-bats against López, and this one made a big difference for much of the game while the offense was being held quiet by starter Erick Fedde.

Fedde allowed just three hits in his six innings of work and fanned 11. But after his departure, the Twins finally broke through, scoring in the seventh, eighth and finally the ninth.