These might just be the best beans

This braised white beans and greens with Parmesan recipe boasts five stars and over 11,000 reviews.

View in browser|nytimes.com October 23, 2024 Lidey Heuck's braised white beans and greens with Parmesan. Julia Gartland for The New York Times (Photography and Styling) These might just be the best beans By Melissa Clark The cranberry beans are back, baby. Every year they grace the greenmarket for a very short run, their magenta-speckled pods boisterously upstaging the green and wax beans. I've already been taking full advantage, simmering them by the potsful with herbs, garlic and olive oil (cover the shucked beans with salted water, add a few thyme sprigs, some smashed peeled garlic cloves, a drizzle of olive oil and simmer, covered, for 35 to 45 minutes). It's a little disappointing to watch those pretty pink swirls fade away as they cook, but then their earthy, herby flavor more than makes up for the costume change. Once the cranberry beans are gone for the year, I'll console myself with canned cannellini beans, which, between you and me, are almost as good and don't need shucking. Lidey Heuck's braised white beans and greens is exactly the sort of recipe I love for canned beans. You let them bubble slowly with lots of olive oil and garlic, and then add hardy greens to turn them into a meal. Lidey finishes these beans with grated cheese for extra savoriness, but I could see stirring a few anchovies into the oil instead. Or give your white beans the full glam treatment and do both. Featured Recipe Braised White Beans and Greens With Parmesan View Recipe → This past weekend I cooked my first sweet potatoes of the season, roasting them with what might be the last of the farmers' market cherry tomatoes (though I buy cherry tomatoes all year long; even in winter they're still pretty good). Another go-to option is to some add chicken like Yewande Komolafe does in her excellent sheet-pan chicken with sweet potatoes and fennel. The pungent vinaigrette made with pecorino and lemon lifts the sweet, caramelized flavors of the dish and makes everything pop. Speaking of popping, a dash of sazón is the secret to Kristina Felix's mushroom poblano tacos. This Puerto Rican seasoning mix (made with cumin, garlic, turmeric and other spices) is widely available to buy, but you can easily stir some together yourself with ingredients you might already have. In either case, a little sprinkle on the vegetables as they brown intensifies them and adds warm, complex notes. Roll this mushroom-pepper mix in tortillas for a satisfying meatless dinner, and then save the leftovers for your scrambled eggs the next morning. Eric Kim gets a similar depth of flavor in his salmon rice bowls by bathing chunks of the pink fish in doenjang, the Korean fermented soybean paste, before roasting them with onions. Served over steamed rice with a spoonful of kimchi, it's a quick weeknight meal with umami to spare. Melissa Knific has a new recipe for bún chả and I'm all about it. A traditional Vietnamese street food, these tender pork patties are spiked with lemongrass, garlic and fish sauce, and are usually served with pickled vegetables, rice noodles and herbs in a citrusy broth. You might remember this photo of President Barack Obama and Anthony Bourdain eating bún chả in Hanoi in 2016. This classic dish, for all its publicity, is not at all hard to make in your very own kitchen. Banana bread also made headlines a few years ago, as a baking star of the 2020 pandemic lockdown. Sheela Prakash proves banana bread's still got it by putting coffee and cardamom in her new version, letting the aromatic pair infuse the slices of moist loaf cake studded with chopped bittersweet chocolate. If you're sensitive to caffeine, you could eat this for breakfast rather than dessert. Or find some decaf espresso powder, as Sheela helpfully suggests in a tip, and serve after dinner, perhaps with a petite sip of amaro or lovely herbal tea on the side. Without a doubt, you'll want to subscribe to get all these amazing recipes (and thanks to you if you already do). If you need any technical assistance, you can send an email to cookingcare@nytimes.com; the smart folks there are sure to help. And I'm at hellomelissa@nytimes.com if you want to say hi. That's all for now, and I'll see you on Monday. Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. I'm not usually a Hamburger Helper kind of cook, but this deluxe homemade version is like a cozy mac and cheese had a love child with a sophisticated Bolognese — in other words, it's completely irresistible. IN THIS NEWSLETTER Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Sheet-Pan Chicken With Sweet Potatoes and Fennel By Yewande Komolafe 45 minutes Makes 4 servings Kerri Brewer for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Mushroom Poblano Tacos By Kristina Felix 30 minutes Makes 12 tacos Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas. Doenjang Salmon Rice Bowl By Eric Kim 30 minutes Makes 2 to 4 servings Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Bún Chả By Melissa Knific 1 hour 20 minutes Makes 4 servings Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Cardamom Coffee Banana Bread By Sheela Prakash 1 1/4 hours, plus cooling  Makes 8 to 10 servings (One 9-inch loaf) 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 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. 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