Maple-miso salmon, lemony chicken breasts and broccoli pesto
Light-but-satisfying dinners to refill the tank.
Five Weeknight Dishes

December 3, 2024

Lighter but no less satisfying

Is it OK to have just cookies for dinner? Asking for a friend.

We’ve fully toggled into holiday mode here at New York Times Cooking, starting with Cookie Week, our annual baking bonanza: seven original recipes and videos to go with them; and a newsletter written by the delightful Vaughn Vreeland. Inch for inch, is there anything happier than a cookie? It’s joy forged from butter and sugar. I’m tempted to just disappear into the kitchen and bake up a storm.

Yet, as always, I have to eat a real dinner. And after a Thanksgiving weekend that included steak, French fries and multiple martinis, I’m due for a few lighter meals, like the maple-miso salmon with green beans below. Think of it as cookie-making fuel.

Ideas? Requests? Get in touch with me anytime at dearemily@nytimes.com. I love to hear from you.

I’m also making:

Sausage ragù; red lentil soup; white beans with chile-fried eggs.

Four maple-miso marinated salmon fillets sit on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, garnished with cilantro and sea salt and accompanied by bright green beans and some lime wedges.
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Ali Slagle.

1. Maple and Miso Sheet-Pan Salmon With Green Beans

The green beans cook in the same amount of time as the salmon in this simple recipe from Colu Henry, which comes with a maple-miso power marinade that could make anything taste good.

View this recipe.

A dark green bowl holds ginger-garlic shrimp with coconut milk.
Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Frances Boswell.

2. Ginger-Garlic Shrimp With Coconut Milk

I love this creamy coconut braise from Yasmin Fahr, which leans on ginger, garlic and turmeric for flavor. This is an utterly fast way to make something special.

View this recipe.

Four chicken breasts with lemon and herbs are on a white oval platter with a serving fork.
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.

3. Weeknight Lemon Chicken Breasts With Herbs

Do you have leftover fresh Thanksgiving herbs, like thyme, sage or rosemary? Here’s how you can use them (or use dried herbs instead). This easy recipe from Jennifer Steinhauer is a gift to the tired cook.

View this recipe.

A ceramic dish holds broccoli-walnut pesto pasta showered with grated cheese.
Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Vivian Lui.

4. Broccoli-Walnut Pesto Pasta

There are many planets in the pestoverse (classic basil, kale, even avocado), but this broccoli-mint version from Genevieve Ko stands out for how substantial it is, making for a filling meal. Bonus: This recipe uses walnuts, which tend to be less expensive than the usual pine nuts.

View this recipe.

A white Dutch oven photographed from overhead holds rice and black beans. To the top left is a plate with herbs and lime wedges.
Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

5. One-Pot Rice and Beans

Maybe you don’t need a recipe for rice and beans, in which case, just think of this as a reminder that it can be the base of a satisfying dinner. (I like mine with fried eggs.) But if you want a version imbued with extra flavor and one less pot to clean, you can’t go wrong with this recipe from Ali Slagle.

View this recipe.

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