Weeknight Meals

My go-to salad for the fall, this simple combination tastes great with just about everything. Fresh, toasted poppy seeds release a delicious, complex nuttiness into the dressing. You can also add avocado and shrimp or chicken to turn this salad into a complete meal.

If a meal I’m making needs a little protein boost, I must admit that the first thing I think of reaching for is tofu. But since we already use plenty of soy foods, I try to remind myself to consider beans instead. Beans of all kinds are inexpensive and delicious nutritional powerhouses—in short, a food category that deserves daily attention.

This classic recipe is a good way to highlight this nourishing green vegetable. The rich flavor of pine nuts and sweetness of raisins are surprising yet compatible in tandem with the spinach.

You may not feel like dealing with a big mess o’ greens when you’re in a huge hurry to eat, but if your main dish is a breeze and you have a few minutes to spare, it’s a great investment of time. Recently, I fell in love with kale, so preparing a batch in this manner no longer seems like a big deal. Greens—especially kale and collards—provide a reliable source of calcium for vegans. This is a good way to prepare Swiss chard, kale, or collard greens.

Here’s my favorite way to dress up frozen corn kernels. Not surprising, it’s even better with fresh corn, as described in the variation. Serve this as a side dish to Southwestern-style specialties and bean dishes.

Broccoli is given a spark of heat in this speedy preparation. This is a good way to complement Asian-style rice, noodle, or tofu dishes.

Summer is the prefect time to make the luscious Spanish classic, piperade, when peppers of all colors are abundant and, for a short time, relatively inexpensive. This is a great partner for almost any sort of pasta or grain dish, hot or cold, or to serve alongside a summertime sandwich. Use leftovers in wraps.

This wonderful salad is a perfect accompaniment to classic Middle Eastern dishes. You can also build a meal around it in the summertime; serve with store-bought or homemade hummus, fresh pita bread, and stuffed grape leaves. See the menu with Tofu Shakshouka (page 45) for another menu idea. Make sure to use an organic, unwaxed cucumber, as it’s best unpeeled in this salad.

Here’s a quick and clever way to make potato fries without a lot of peeling and cutting. Fingerling potatoes, if you are not familiar with them, are small potatoes with a long, narrow shape—hence their name. They come in several varieties; I like to use organic golden fingerlings like Russian Banana. These are ready, from start to finish, in about 20 minutes.

You can almost build a meal around this simple, delicious side dish. Once you’ve got the potatoes in the oven you have plenty of time to make a bountiful salad. You can also put Teriyaki Tofu Steaks (page 62) or store-bought veggie burgers in the oven at the same time for a no-fuss “meat and potatoes” kind of meal.

This adaptation of a traditional Middle Eastern salad is filled with vigorous flavors and textures. I especially like it with Middle Eastern-or Spanish-themed meals. For a light summer meal, serve this with Sweet and White Potato Salad with Mixed Greens (page 188).

Here’s a salad with plenty of personality. I like to make this as part of a meal of cool dishes in the summer, either with a cold soup or with two additional interesting salads.

In my part of the world (the Northeastern United States), we get the best mangos and avocados in mid-to late winter, just when our winter-weary palates need them most. This relishlike salad is not only scrumptious but also lovely to look at. It’s especially welcome with Southwestern-style tortilla dishes.

This appetizing bean salad adds color and crunch to a meal. Make it to bolster grain dishes and pastas.