Hello again, and welcome to Five Weeknight Dishes. I’m finding myself in the mood for chicken — roast chicken in particular, something juicy and salty and soul-anchoring. One of my absolute favorites from NYT Cooking is on the list below, Melissa Clark’s sheet-pan chicken with arugula, yogurt and potatoes. I fell back on a lot of my favorites this week, as the days gathered steam and things got too busy: salad with green goddess dressing, pasta, eggs and more eggs, delicious and pleasing and practically made from muscle memory. Here are a few of those recipes, along with others I love and imagine you might too. Any weeknight favorites you want to tell the world about? Please start with me! I’m at dearemily@nytimes.com.
Here are five dishes for the week:
1. Sheet-Pan Chicken With Potatoes, Arugula and Garlic Yogurt
I’m going to tell you a secret: I have made this recipe without marinating the chicken. You have my blessing to do that, too, though of course it’s best if you marinate it for at least 30 minutes, or even start it the night before. At 1 hour, this one pushes the weeknight limit, but it’s so good I had to mention it. I also have to mention Melissa’s fantastic new sheet-pan guide, which breaks down the process so you can put anything together to make a good meal.
Yes, this is just a dressing. And yet — it’s not just a dressing. For me it was the key to unlocking salad-for-dinner, which I’d always felt seemed a little punitive. (I hope we can agree that’s a bad vibe at supper.) It comes from Jessica Battilana’s cookbook, “Repertoire,” and it’s so good it entices her two small kids to eat greens. I use it to make main-course salads that are louche and delicious, with lettuce (I like red leaf here), avocado, onions, croutons, olives and either canned chickpeas, jarred tuna or leftover chicken or salmon. Serve with a baguette.
View this recipe in your weekly plan.
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4. Cacio e Pepe
Forever and always. You’ll want something green doused with lemon alongside: steamed string beans, or romaine salad for its crunch.