My favorite recipes to cook at home aren’t the showiest or the most elaborate. They’re the simple ones that have something I think of as a “lightbulb moment” — an idea, technique or ingredient that makes a dish distinctive, maybe even brilliant. You know a recipe has a lightbulb moment when you make it and you can’t get over how good it is, how excellent its ratio of effort to flavor.
Take our roasted chicken thighs with hot honey and lime. You brush the chicken with a mixture of butter and hot sauce while it’s still in the oven, for glossy heat. And this pepper steak with celery stir-fry is perked up with sunny strips of lemon peel and a big squeeze of lemon juice to serve. Those extra touches help these dishes shine.
Those recipes and more are below for your cooking pleasure. Ideas? Requests? Email me at dearemily@nytimes.com. I love to hear from you.
4. Baked Cod
This is one of those recipes you need in your rotation: an easy, fast and very tasty method for cooking cod, courtesy of Lidey Heuck. I sometimes buy frozen cod so I can make a meal like this on short notice, and you can use a mix of fresh or dried herbs to flavor it, depending on what you have in the kitchen.
