Three ingredients, 25 minutes, pure magic

Eric Kim's scallion-oil fish turns olive oil, alliums and white fish fillets into a simple, luscious dinner.

View in browser|nytimes.com October 28, 2024 Eric Kim's scallion-oil fish. Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Three ingredients, 25 minutes, pure magic By Melissa Clark Who isn't stirred by the ease and brevity of a three-ingredient recipe? Minimalist dishes are kitchen haikus — short, focused compositions that get right to the essence of their ingredients. In Eric Kim's scallion-oil fish, he makes poetry with only fish fillets, alliums and olive oil. He fries scallions until the oil turns green and the scallions become golden and crisp, a preparation called pa gireum in Korean. Then, he turns off the burner and adds the fillets to poach gently in the oil's residual heat, so they turn from translucent to opaque and absorb that pungent flavor. It's a blessing for apartment dwellers because, as Eric writes in The Times, this gentle cooking method won't infuse your bedroom pillows — a win for fish fans who are not ready to sleep with the fishes. Featured Recipe Scallion-Oil Fish View Recipe → Next, bringing us up to five ingredients (not counting salt and pepper, because that's punctuation), Joshua McFadden's kale sauce pasta, as adapted by Tejal Rao, is lean and elegant. First, you blanch some kale in salted water and transfer the softened greens to a blender along with sautéed garlic and good olive oil (using high-quality ingredients is essential in minimalist recipes). Then, while your greens are whirling into pesto, you cook your pasta in the same water you used for the kale. You'll end up with a vivid, emerald-hued sauce that's full of umami with a suave, silky texture. That kind of efficiency and thrift makes this cook's heart sing. If you want to take it a step further, you can heed the advice that Andree Shore left in the notes and save the kale-pasta cooking water to make soup. Ali Slagle's chicken noodle soup is a perfect candidate; just replace some of the chicken stock she calls for with the starchy kale-pasta water, which will add body and green vegetable nutrients to the pot. Whatever you do, keep Ali's excellent recipe at the ready. With the first crop of autumnal colds looming, we need all the soup we can get. For a meatless cure for what ails you, a big bowl of soft, buttery couscous topped with gingery spiced chickpeas and vegetables will do the trick. (Doesn't ginger fix everything?) Nargisse Benkabbou has a streamlined, vegetarian take on Friday couscous, a traditional meal to end the Muslim day of prayer in Morocco. Ideal for weeknights or any other busy evenings, her version is colorful, fragrant and festive enough to share with family or friends. Plunging deeper into comfort foods, let's indulge in a cozy turkey meatloaf. Melissa Knific's new recipe adds a grated apple into the meat for sweetness and moisture, while the barbecue sauce baked on top creates a glossy, piquant glaze. Serve it with mashed potatoes (obviously) and maybe some three-ingredient steamed broccoli to round out this square meal. For dessert, Andy Baraghani puts extra crunch into his apple-blueberry crisp by sprinkling panko bread crumbs and chopped pistachios into the crumbly, cardamom-scented topping. Serve this beauty warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, letting it melt into the filling to make a creamy, violet-tinged sauce. Pure poetry. As always, you'll want to subscribe to get all of these recipes and so many more (in the tens of thousands range). 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. IN THIS NEWSLETTER Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Gozde Eker. Kale Sauce Pasta Recipe from Joshua McFadden Adapted by Tejal Rao 20 minutes Makes 2 servings as a main course or 4 as a side Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Chicken Noodle Soup By Ali Slagle 40 minutes Makes 4 to 6 servings Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards. Friday Couscous By Nargisse Benkabbou 1 1/2 hours  Makes 6 to 8 servings Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Easy Turkey Meatloaf By Melissa Knific 1 hour 30 minutes Makes 4 to 6 servings Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Mariana Velasquez. Prop Stylist:Paige Hicks. Fluffy Mashed Potatoes By Genevieve Ko 40 minutes Makes 6 to 8 servings Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich. Lemony Steamed Broccoli By Millie Peartree 15 minutes Makes 4 servings  David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Apple-Blueberry Crisp With Panko-Pistachio Topping  By Andy Baraghani 1 1/2 hours  Makes 8 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 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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