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When we asked our community on the Hotline for their best, easiest weeknight meals, there was one dish that many gravitated toward. Let me give you some hints: It\u2019s found in nearly every pantry, and you just add water.<\/p>\n
You’ll see lots of variations on this go-to, quick dinner below (pasta<\/a>, of course!), plus other simple recipes<\/a> It’s true that coming up with dinner<\/a> This dinner idea from yhw<\/a>, a spin on the classic Chinese comfort food, is also in our recipe collection<\/a>, and it takes 20 minutes from prep to finish:<\/p>\n \u201cScramble eggs and add diced tomatoes. Add splashes of soy sauce (2 to start), mirin or sugar (2 to start), and Shaoxing rice wine (1 to start) and cook until eggs are scrambled, tomatoes are softened and the whole thing looks like salsa on scrambled eggs. Season with scallions (optional) and white pepper (not optional). Some like it sweeter and add more sugar, but I find it best equally balanced between salty and sweet. Shaoxing wine is super cheap and in every Asian corner store, but you can also substitute regular rice wine or dry cooking sherry in a pinch. Eat it with rice and for spice lovers, you can also add a dollop of a crunchy chili oil.”<\/p>\n LouiseZ.\u2019s<\/a> recipe is like a deconstructed pesto tossed with tomatoes and spinach<\/a>. \u201cOne of my sisters lived in Italy for a few years, and rhapsodized about a raw, fresh tomato sauce. I cobbled this together from her description.\u201d It\u2019s her favorite in peak tomato season.<\/p>\n HalfPint<\/a>\u2019s family loves this Instant Pot recipe for an Indian coconut chicken curry<\/a> that takes 30 minutes total, prep time included. \u201cIt tastes even better the next day,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Here’s another beloved chicken curry recipe from the Food52 archives that will take just 10 minutes longer, start to finish:<\/p>\n MMH<\/a> has a very easy, tuna ni\u00e7oise-ish blueprint for a refreshing dinner. She combines the ingredients below and lets them sit a while to marry the flavors. Sometimes, she also smashes the beans and spreads them on slices of toasted baguettes.<\/p>\n Her ingredients<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Nancy<\/a>\u2019s breezy weeknight meal is a dish, she says, that \u201cI grew up knowing as \u2018pizza bagel,\u2019 but you can make it with any bread on hand, tomato sauce, cheese, and other toppings to taste. Also, if your time frame is longer than 15 minutes, and you have flour and yeast on hand, you could make a pizza dough and bake the real thing. Serve with lettuce salad or composed salad and drinks of choice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cZuni Cafe\u2019s Pasta With Preserved Tuna is a snap to make,\u201d says Happygoin<\/a>, \u201cand I always have the ingredients on hand. It\u2019s fabulous, fast, easy and delish!\u201d<\/p>\n Linsey S.<\/a>, moderator of the Food52 Cookbook Club<\/a>, shares a recipe<\/a> from the cookbook Pasta<\/em> by Missy Robbins, chef and co-owner of the popular Brooklyn restaurants Lilia and Misi (and soon, we hear, a Brooklyn pasta shop). \u201cWe always have loads of dried pasta in the house and while the recipe calls for Mafaldine, I have made the dish with every variety of pasta I can think of. All you need is butter, freshly grated parm, and coarsely ground pink peppercorns.”<\/p>\n This six-ingredient pasta comes by way of Deborah Madison\u2019s cookbook, The Savory Way,<\/em> and is shared on our site by luvcookbooks<\/a>. \u201cThe clever trick is floating a stainless-steel<\/a> bowl in the pasta cooking water and melting the cheese in the bowl. It somehow makes the whole process seem easier because the whole dish is made on one burner!\u201d<\/p>\n Luvcookbooks also recommends her baked chicken<\/a> thighs and drumsticks with curry, cayenne pepper, and lime.<\/p>\n
\n for when you reach 6 o\u2019clock and realize you haven\u2019t given a thought to what you\u2019re going to cook. (This happens to you, too, right?)<\/p>\n
\n on the fly is far easier and more delicious at the height of summer and early fall, when fresh produce and herbs are still plentiful and need very little zhushing to be the star of a meal. But even when you have to rely upon canned and boxed ingredients only, our community has you covered. Be sure to chime in at the end with your proven weeknight winners, too.<\/p>\n\n
More from Food52<\/h4>\n
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\nWhat’s your favorite weeknight recipe? Tell us your best dish in the comments!<\/em>
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