Superpunchy one-pan eggplant adobo

The eggplant stays just firm enough to hold its shape while soaking in those salty-sour adobo flavors.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story January 29, 2024 Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. Superpunchy one-pan eggplant adobo By Melissa Clark Substituting vegetables in traditionally meat-centric dishes is one of my favorite hacks — whether mushrooms for beef, zucchini for shrimp, or, as in Kay Chun's new take on Filipino adobo, eggplant for chicken. It's a brilliant swap: The eggplant stays just firm enough to hold its shape, but gets suffused with the tangy flavors of soy sauce, vinegar and garlic and the softness of coconut milk. Serve it over rice, with a handful of basil leaves or sliced scallions at the end to add a fresh and fragrant rush. Featured Recipe Eggplant Adobo View Recipe → Coconut milk also lends its velvety sweetness to my sheet-pan meal of roasted sweet potatoes and gingery shrimp. As the sweet potatoes roast, the coconut milk they're bathed in caramelizes their edges, while the shrimp are added later so they stay succulent and plump. The potatoes need about 45 minutes in the oven, but that's hands-off time. The dish comes together easily, and it's an ideal use for that bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer. If you have the energy for one extraordinary dinner this week, it's well worth investing it in Genevieve Ko's homemade spinach-filled dumplings with chile crisp. (Consider it practice for the upcoming Lunar New Year.) Dumplings, as Genevieve writes, are as much about texture as taste. Her version, both steamed and fried, is a symphony of crackling, crunchy undersides with chewy-tender tops. A delightful textural contrast is also front and center in Ali Slagle's spicy sesame noodles. Springy ramen noodles meet nubby ground chicken and crunchy peanuts, which are seasoned with a sesame-orange-soy mixture that's been sizzled in hot oil. As long as you're buying ground chicken for Ali's recipe, you might as well throw in an extra pound for this take on youvarlakia avgolemono, a brothy, lemony, dill-flecked soup thickened with eggs and bobbing with chicken-and-rice meatballs. More traditional youvarlakia recipes use ground beef for the meatballs, and I've also made this soup with ground turkey. Which is to say, you've got options. For something both sweet and light — for either breakfast or dessert — you could make my broiled grapefruit with brown sugar and flaky salt. Grapefruits are in peak season now, and glazing them with sugar is a time-honored technique that I update with a pop of salt sprinkled on just before serving. The salt amplifies their sweetness and checks their bitterness while adding a pleasing crunch. As always, you'll want to subscribe to read all these smart recipes and so many more (in the tens of thousands range) on New York Times Cooking. If you need any technical help, the brilliant people at cookingcare@nytimes.com are there for you. And I'm at hellomelissa@nytimes.com if you want to say hi. That's all for now. See you on Wednesday. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Sheet-Pan Coconut Shrimp and Sweet Potatoes By Melissa Clark 55 minutes Makes 4 servings Christopher Simpson for The New York Times Dumplings With Chile Crisp By Genevieve Ko 1 hour Makes About 35 dumplings Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Spicy Sesame Noodles With Chicken and Peanuts By Ali Slagle 30 minutes Makes 4 servings Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Youvarlakia Avgolemono (Lemony Greek Meatball Soup) By Melissa Clark 1 hour Makes 4 servings Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Prop Stylist: Megan Hedgpeth. Broiled Grapefruit With Brown Sugar and Flaky Salt By Melissa Clark 10 minutes Makes 4 servings Sign up for the Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Fresh dinner ideas for busy people who want something great to eat, with NYT Cooking recipes sent to you weekly. Get it in your inbox Sign up for The Veggie newsletter Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties. Get it in your inbox Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Cooking from The New York Times. To stop receiving Cooking, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to NYT CookingGet the NYT Cooking app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018