5 Ingredients or Fewer

A bit of planning ahead makes preparing weeknight dinners a breeze. Use the extra chicken from Roast Chicken and Parsnips with Swiss Chard (page 149) in one of the recipes below.

Roasted chicken breasts gain a big boost with surprising sides: caramelized parsnips and wilted Swiss chard. To save time, this recipe calls for roasting four additional chicken breast halves to use in one of the recipes on the following page.

Chicken thighs are a more flavorful (and economical) alternative to breasts, and just as versatile. A spice-and-ginger rub flavors the meat, while the heat of the broiler crisps the skin.

Begin cooking the shrimp and sauce while the pot of water is coming to a boil so everything is ready at the same time. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp, as they can easily become tough.

This creamy no-cook sauce is very simple: Whisk together goat cheese, reserved pasta water, and butter, and toss with pasta and roasted asparagus. The corkscrew shape of cavatappi is just right for cradling the sauce.

Two types of peas are cooked along with the pasta in this one-pot dish, so everything finishes at once. The vegetables should be cooked just long enough that their colors stay vibrant and they are warmed through.

You can poach the eggs a few hours before composing the salad. Immediately place them in an ice-water bath to stop the cooking, then keep in a bowl of cool water (it should just reach the tops of the eggs). Reheat briefly in a pan of barely simmering water.

Napa, or Chinese, cabbage (not to be confused with bok choy) has a delicate taste and tender, ruffly leaves. Here one head is divided into two salads—one with Asian-style ingredients and the other with apples and caraway.

Salsa simply means “sauce” in Spanish. These three versions are delicious served with tortilla chips, or as condiments along-side grilled fish, chicken, or pork.

You can flavor the goat cheese with any one of the three suggested mix-ins listed below, or make some of each. Serve the cheese spread atop crostini (page 365) or crackers; this recipe makes enough for approximately twenty-four servings.