A miraculous one-pot chicken and rice dinner

Dan Pelosi's new chicken and rice dish is a master class in ratios and timing.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 9, 2024 Dan Pelosi's one-pot chicken and rice with caramelized lemon. Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Chicken and rice works hard to make life easy By Melissa Clark The paradox of a one-pot chicken and rice recipe is that while it's wondrously simple to cook, it can be fiendishly difficult for a recipe developer to create. Adjusting the ratio of liquid to other ingredients, calibrating the timing so that the rice, chicken and vegetables all come out nicely seasoned and perfectly cooked — it takes hard work to keep things easy for you. When a recipe strikes that balance, that fragrant pot on your stove will delight everyone at the table, especially whoever's on dish duty. Dan Pelosi's one-pot chicken and rice with caramelized lemon nails the move. A high-wire act of creamy rice laced with schmaltz-browned lemons, Castelvetrano olives and seared chicken thighs, it reaches heights unattainable by its milder kin. Give yourself permission to slow down and take in its heavenly scent as it bubbles away, and serve it as a respite from September's frenzy. Featured Recipe One-Pot Chicken and Rice With Caramelized Lemon View Recipe A speedier and meatless road to one-pot nirvana is Kay Chun's vegetable yakisoba. This produce-packed Japanese noodle stir-fry features a heady concoction of Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and soy sauce that's tangy and slightly sweet. The colorful mix of textures and flavors will get you to cloud nine in about half an hour. Or maybe you're seeking a sheet-pan meal to grace your week? Follow Ali Slagle's lead and broil some turmeric-painted salmon fillets alongside green beans and corn. The char of the salmon skin is a perfect foil for the sweetness of the corn, while the beans add freshness and a bright hue. Make it while summer corn still beckons at the farmers' market. David Tanis's weeknight-friendly sausage with peppers and onions is welcome at my table all year long, but it feels like just the thing right now. Using up the last of the bell peppers and fresh basil, it's a quick meal that can sustain you through fall and winter. Serve it with eggs as David suggests, or, easier still, with crusty bread for scooping up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Eggplant has been on my mind, especially since I somehow haven't eat it nearly often enough this summer. (I'm not the only one — check out Tanya Sichynsky's excellent newsletter, The Veggie, which you can subscribe to here.) But I'm atoning for that now with the aid of Clare de Boer and her new recipe for spiced roasted eggplant. It couldn't be more straightforward. Just slice the eggplants into rounds, brush with a cumin- and garlic-spiked oil, and roast at 450 degrees until golden and tender. Using small Italian eggplant keeps the slices even and easy to flip; a dollop of spiced yogurt would make a delightfully creamy counterpoint. Make it once, then keep it in rotation as long as the eggplants last. Millie Peartree has dessert covered with her brown butter peach cake, a crumble-topped coffee cakelike confection that's dappled with juicy fruit. Serve it plain or gently plop a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream on top. It's just the kind of simple, homey sweet that celebrates summer stone fruit before the season sidles into apples and pumpkin spice. Naturally, you'll want to subscribe to get access to all of these cozy, late-summer recipes, along with so many more. 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. David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Vegetable Yakisoba  By Kay Chun 30 minutes Makes 4 servings David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Broiled Turmeric Salmon With Corn and Green Beans By Ali Slagle 20 minutes Makes 4 servings Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Simon Andrews. Sausage With Peppers and Onions By David Tanis 30 minutes Makes 4 servings Kerri Brewer for The New York Times. Food Stylist. Cyd Raftus McDowell. Spiced Roasted Eggplant By Clare de Boer 45 minutes Makes 4 servings Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich. Brown Butter Peach Cake By Millie Peartree 1 hour 50 minutes, plus cooling Makes 1 (9-inch) square cake 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. 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