We’re still a few months away from returning to the newsroom en masse at The Times, but I’m starting to feel a strange premature nostalgia for these work-from-home days, when at the end of the day I could walk away from my laptop, wander into the kitchen, pour myself a glass of wine (or lately, an amaro: I am currently sipping my way through all the options at our local wine store), and start prepping dinner. Sometimes it was even sort of leisurely!
So with that in mind, I’m paying a little bit more attention to cooking dinner again. Eric Kim’s asparagus pasta was one of the best things I’ve made recently, and so we’ve got that below, along with four other recipes you’ll want to know about. Tell me what you think at dearemily@nytimes.com. And P.S.: It will be very hot this weekend, at least in the New York area. We have so many enticing summer cooking and drinking ideas for you. (I will be blending up this.)
1. Creamy Asparagus Pasta
This recipe by Eric Kim is downright inspired, with a seaweed flavor that’s subtle but deep, and an irresistible onion-cream sauce that coats every noodle. Definitely make it if you haven’t yet. Eric says you can add shrimp if you like.
2. Skillet Chicken With Rhubarb
The star of Melissa Clark’s springy chicken recipe is the rich rhubarb sauce, so much so that you could cut corners elsewhere and use boneless breasts or thighs, to reduce cook time. Be warned that the finished sauce is not a cute color. But who cares. This one is really delicious.
3. Roasted Salmon With Peas and Radishes
OK, here we have some cute colors. Kay Chun’s bright pink-and-green meal looks simple, but the tangy sauce, made with browned butter, Dijon mustard, capers and miso, has a lot going on for very little effort. If you are over your current standard fish dinner, as I am, this is a superb recipe to try.
