Citrus and salmon is a winning combination, previously proven in New York Times Cooking’s recipes for broiled salmon with mustard and lemon, roasted salmon with ginger-lime butter and citrusy roasted salmon and potatoes. Our newest addition to this esteemed company is Farideh Sadeghin’s recipe for orange-glazed baked salmon. It’s a no-fuss fish dinner with a clever, timesaving twist: Farideh builds a side salad into the recipe by tossing salad greens with some of the reserved honeyed orange juice that is used to flavor the salmon. If you’re looking at the above image and thinking, “I bet blood oranges would be especially beautiful and excellent in this recipe,” know that Coco, a reader, already tried that and can confirm that the results were “absolutely delicious.”
Featured Recipe
Orange-Glazed Baked Salmon
The weekends are wonderful for cooking projects, but sometimes after a long Saturday of hitting the gym (sleeping in) and running errands (watching all of the new “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” in one sitting), you need a one-dish dinner that comes together with very little effort. I’ve been eyeing this one-pot creamy chicken and noodles from Clare de Boer, which turns a head of garlic, a whole chicken, a Parmesan rind and egg noodles into a luxurious, Alfredoesque dish. Don’t let the two-hour total cook time scare you off — almost all of that is hands-off as the chicken gently roasts and fills your home with so-good smells.
Sue Li’s black pepper beef and cabbage stir-fry is built on pantry and fridge staples: black peppercorns, soy sauce and cabbage. If you’re a planner, marinate your beef up to eight hours ahead; otherwise, a quick rub with the peppery, garlicky, brown-sugary cornstarch mix will do just fine.
Ali Slagle’s baked farro with lentils, tomato and feta isn’t one-pot, but it is efficient: You’ll toast farro in a baking dish in the oven and simmer up a quick tomato sauce, as spicy or herby as you like. Bake your lentils and toasted farro in the sauce, add big pieces of feta and then switch over to the broil setting. Toss some arugula or salad greens with a little lemon juice and olive oil and that’s dinner.
Maybe your weekend could use a serious sandwich. Here, then, is Lidey Heuck’s take on the Monte Cristo, an American diner classic. It’s a griddled ham, turkey and cheese sandwich dusted with powdered sugar and served with raspberry jam. And for even more sweet, golden goodness, there’s Granny’s five-flavor pound cake, a recipe from Carla Hall adapted by Genevieve Ko. Don’t worry if you don’t have all five extracts (vanilla, rum, coconut, lemon and almond); any combination will do and will yield a tender cake that tastes even better over time.
One last thing! Our friends at Wirecutter will be running a six-day decluttering challenge, with one of those days spent tackling the fridge. You can sign up here, and — in case the words “decluttering” and “fridge” reminded you of some long-forgotten items shoved to the back of those shelves — revisit Kenji López-Alt’s guide to food expiration dates here.
