Five Weeknight Recipes That Feel Like a Saturday Night
The Tuesday evening problem is universal. You are tired, the fridge contains ingredients that don't obviously go together, and the gap between wanting something good to eat and wanting to spend an hour producing it is about the size of a takeaway delivery app.
The solution is not to lower your standards. It is to own a small repertoire of dishes that look and taste considerably more effortful than they are.
The best weeknight cooking has one rule: it should taste like it took longer than it did.
The solution is not to lower your standards. It is to own a small repertoire of dishes that look and taste considerably more effortful than they are.
The best weeknight cooking has one rule: it should taste like it took longer than it did.
Aglio e olio is the starting point and possibly the end point too. Spaghetti, olive oil, garlic, chilli, parsley. Twenty minutes. The version that actually works requires patience with the garlic: it needs to go into cold oil and warm up gently, not hit a hot pan and burn. Burnt garlic ruins everything. Gently golden garlic is one of the best smells in cooking.
Butter-basted chicken thighs, skin-side down in a cold pan, brought to heat slowly so the fat renders before the skin crisps. Add thyme and a bashed garlic clove. Finish with butter, basting for two minutes. This takes thirty minutes and is objectively delicious. Serve with anything.
Butter-basted chicken thighs, skin-side down in a cold pan, brought to heat slowly so the fat renders before the skin crisps. Add thyme and a bashed garlic clove. Finish with butter, basting for two minutes. This takes thirty minutes and is objectively delicious. Serve with anything.
Quick-cured salmon. Take a fresh salmon fillet, coat it in equal parts sugar and salt with some dill, wrap it and put it in the fridge in the morning. By evening it is lightly cured, texturally transformed, and looks extremely deliberate. Serve sliced thin with crème fraiche, capers and rye bread. It takes three minutes of active cooking and zero heat.
Lamb chops with a chermoula. Mix coriander, parsley, cumin, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Rub it on lamb chops. Rest for fifteen minutes while the griddle heats up. Cook four minutes a side. The chermoula is doing all the work and it tastes like you have been thinking about dinner since breakfast.
Lamb chops with a chermoula. Mix coriander, parsley, cumin, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Rub it on lamb chops. Rest for fifteen minutes while the griddle heats up. Cook four minutes a side. The chermoula is doing all the work and it tastes like you have been thinking about dinner since breakfast.
Gnocchi with brown butter and sage. Shop-bought gnocchi is a weeknight staple and it is not cheating. Brown butter until it smells nutty. Fry sage leaves until crisp. Cook the gnocchi, toss in the butter, finish with parmesan. Twelve minutes. Properly satisfying.
The best weeknight cooking has one rule: it should taste like it took longer than it did. The recipes above all qualify. Cook one of them this week and see how quickly it becomes part of a regular rotation.
The best weeknight cooking has one rule: it should taste like it took longer than it did. The recipes above all qualify. Cook one of them this week and see how quickly it becomes part of a regular rotation.
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