If you think that sopping up the garlicky, winy sauce with a hunk of bread is the pinnacle of shrimp scampi, Ali Slagle is about to rock your world. In her shrimp scampi with orzo (above), it’s the rice-shaped pasta that absorbs all that lovely sauce, a smart tweak that results in this easy, five-star one-pan meal. Before you plunge in, though, make sure to check out the myriad variations in the notes — readers are adding all sorts of things, like feta, pecorino, cherry tomatoes, clam juice and a bag of baby spinach. Ali’s recipe is as adaptable as it is speedy.
Featured Recipe
Shrimp Scampi With Orzo
Nonetheless, if your heart is set on sopping, the brothy, jalapeño-laced elixir in Alison Roman’s braised chicken thighs with tomatillos will readily satisfy all your tortilla-dipping urges.
We’re not done dunking yet, though. Hobak jeon, Korean pan-fried zucchini slices, gain vim and verve after a quick dip in a zippy soy and gochugaru sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds. The recipe (adapted by Elyse Inamine from the chef Peter Serpico) calls for fish sauce in the batter, which gives the zucchini an especially deep saline note.
If this summer’s oppressive heat makes frying a no-go, here’s a no-cook solution. Martha Rose Shulman’s tabbouleh follows the Lebanese tradition of using more herbs than bulgur. It’s bright green from loads of mint and parsley, and dotted with nubby bulgur grains that hold the flavors of the lemon, garlic and olive oil in the dressing. Martha calls this “an edible garden” in her headnote, perfect for scooping up with romaine leaves.
Finally, for dessert, in keeping with the cool comfort of no-cook recipes, David Tanis has a raspberry-nectarine icebox cake that, with its ladyfingers and billowing cream, is a bit like tiramisù, but with juicy summer fruit and rosé wine instead of espresso.
As always, you do need to subscribe to get these recipes and the other thousands upon thousands we have at New York Times Cooking. If you need any technical assistance, send an email to cookingcare@nytimes.com; the smart folks there can help. And if you’d like to say hi, I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com.
Nose-to-Tail Gazpacho
I recently got a great gazpacho tip from Paul Keeper, a NYT Cooking subscriber from Austin, Texas. After straining your batch of Julia Moskin’s aptly named best gazpacho, hang on to that mix of tomato, cucumber, pepper, onion and garlic solids. He wrote to me in an email: “We put it in stuffed shells with bread crumbs, parsley and basil, bake it for 40 minutes and enjoy knowing that we have used all of the tomato except the core and the vine.” I could also see stirring that mix into Martha’s tabbouleh, along with the tomatoes. Thank you, Paul!
