We have recipe recommendations this week, as always, but we also have something more exciting for you: restaurant recommendations. Please say hello to Where to Eat, a new weekly newsletter by Nikita Richardson, a wonderful editor on the Food and Cooking team who always knows where to go and what’s good in New York City. Sign up here to start receiving it on March 22, and please note that it’s available to everyone for four weeks, but after that it’s exclusively for Times news subscribers.
Not that recipes aren’t exciting! Great ones often are. Look at Ali Slagle’s beans and greens alla vodka, which — as the name implies — swaps in kale and beans for the pasta, or Eric Kim’s sheet-pan bibimbap, another brilliant take on a beloved dish.
More ideas are below. Suggestions? Requests? Reach out to me at dearemily@nytimes.com. See you here next week.
1. Beans and Greens Alla Vodka
There is nothing wrong with classic penne alla vodka — and actually, everything is pretty right about it. But that didn’t stop Ali Slagle from pairing that magical tomato-cream sauce with chickpeas and kale for a meal that feels a little more like 2022 and is, in its own way, just as good as the original.
2. Sheet-Pan Bibimbap
Bless Eric Kim for determining that not only can you make bibimbap on a sheet pan, but that it might be the best way to make bibimbap at home. His version is laden with roasted mushrooms, sweet potatoes and kale, but you can swap in any vegetables you like and adjust the roasting time; asparagus for spring would be nice.
3. Spicy, Lemony Chicken Breasts With Croutons and Greens
Uncharacteristically, I bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts — I usually go for bone-in thighs — and so last weekend I used a method I learned from Dawn Perry: searing and steaming the meat. If it sounds hard, it isn’t, and it will help keep that white meat juicy. This recipe calls for red-pepper flakes, but you can easily omit them.
4. Salmon Croquettes
Millie Peartree uses Old Bay seasoning and hot sauce in this pan-fried Southern staple, conveniently made with canned salmon. These croquettes are crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and so satisfying for a weeknight dinner.
