Weeknight Meals

A delectable, high-protein puree made of cashew butter and silken tofu forms the base of this nearly instant soup. This soup is good warm, at room temperature, or even chilled, if you have the time to refrigerate it.

Thick, hearty noodles make this fifteen-minute soup substantial, yet it’s not too filling to serve as an introduction to another course.

When I first came up with this soup, I was looking to make something speedy to serve with a main dish salad. And speedy it is, taking only about fifteen minutes from start to finish, yet it tastes like a long-simmering soup. At first, I thought I was imagining things, but I’ve made it many times since, and that’s just how long it takes. The tiny bit of red curry gives it ample heat; if you’d like a spicier soup, use more, and for a less spicy effect, omit the red curry altogether

Orzo is a rice-shaped pasta. Look for the tricolor variety. While the orzo cooks, the vegetables for this soup roast in the oven, resulting in a sweet, smoky flavor when submerged in the broth.

It’s not so important which vegetables you use in these colorful, nutritious tarts—rather, that there is a seasonal bounty. Here, eggplant, red onion, zucchini, yellow squash, cherry tomatoes, kale, and red bell peppers fill cornmeal crusts, but you could easily use green beans, corn, or mushrooms. The crust is light and crisp, with less butter than many pastry doughs. To make free-form versions, spoon filling onto center of each dough round, and fold the edges inward. Serve each tartlet with a dollop of fresh ricotta cheese, if desired. Add a green salad to balance out a healthy lunch.

Serve with Veggie Balls (page 16)

Travel the globe and you’ll discover that every culture has a meatball. These balls highlight the exotic flavors and all the goodness from the great tandoor ovens of India. At the Shop we serve these with our simple Cilantro Yogurt Sauce (page 69), which is cool and refreshing and the perfect complement to the spice-rich tandoori flavor. This recipe also works really well with ground chicken or beef.

Don’t mistake the recipe title for something you’d find at a frat party. This sophisticated ball came about when a friend brought us thirty pounds of wild boar from his hunting trip. Because that doesn’t happen often, we switched to ground pork, and the balls are just as good. These meatballs are actually pretty simple, accented with a splash of Madeira, chopped rosemary and sage, and a hint of honey. Try to find a good-quality Madeira; it is reasonably inexpensive, and if you buy something decent, you can drink it with dinner. Serve these meatballs alongside one of the seasonal risottos (see pages 74 to 77), accompanied by Simple Arugula and Apple Salad (page 112).

Packed with jerk flavor and just the right amount of spice to keep you wanting more, these balls pair perfectly with sweet Mango Raisin Chutney (page 68). If you want to take the heat up a notch, add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Serve them over some fluffy white rice with Honey-Roasted Carrots with Prunes, Walnuts, and Mint (page 89). All that’s left is to put on some Bob Marley and chill out with some friends and a cold Red Stripe.

These balls represent the old-school deli soul of our Lower East Side neighborhood. When Jesse, one of the managers in the kitchen, brought up the idea of Reuben balls, we were a bit skeptical, but he insisted they would be delicious and asked if he could run a test batch. Well, he was clearly onto something because these balls taste just like a classic Reuben sandwich, especially when drizzled with Thousand Island Dressing (page 71). This is another meatball that works well in mini form as an hors d’oeuvre with dressing on the side for dipping.

When we opened the Shop, these Mediterranean balls were our first daily special. We were so busy that we didn’t get a chance to change it for three weeks, but nobody really complained because they were so delicious. People still get excited when we bring them back for a day or two. The raisins and walnuts give this ball a subtly sweet and earthy quality that complements the lamb. Make these into mini balls and pass them around at your next party. Just add toothpicks and Spinach-Basil Pesto (page 58) for dip. No sauce required. Or serve them over a bed of Braised Kale with Anchovies and Garlic (page 93) or Creamed Spinach (page 100).

With just enough spice to tickle the tongue, these balls are the ultimate crowd-pleasers. Whenever we have a large event to cook for, we always bring our Spicy Pork Balls. In terms of the meat for these balls, ask your butcher to grind some pork shoulder. It’s inexpensive and full of flavor, and it’s a cut we really love. Instead of using bread crumbs, as we do with most meatballs, we use fresh white bread, which makes for a lighter meatball. The ideal way to serve these is over a bed of Creamy Polenta (page 78) with a hearty ladleful of Spicy Meat Sauce (page 57).

These are the sleeper hit at the shop and star in our Chicken Parm slider. Guests are always surprised by the moistness and rich taste of these balls, and the secret is ground thigh meat. Chicken thighs are packed with flavor and are a better choice than the usual dry breast meat. Try these balls with Spinach-Basil Pesto (page 58) or Parmesan Cream Sauce (page 60). You can substitute ground turkey if you can’t find ground chicken.

Portugal lies on the Iberian Peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and Spain, and many of its culinary inspirations pull from both those places. In the province of Alentejo in southern Portugal, a combination of pork and clams expresses the inherent poetry of this duality. Ruddy with paprika, fragrant with garlic, and redolent of salt air, it is an exotic, compelling dish in which land meets sea in a bowl. The Portuguese are so fond of it that it is exported with them anywhere they settle, including New Bedford, Massachusetts, where it is served with corn on the cob. The dish is traditionally made with pork meat, cubed, spiced, and marinated overnight. I have simplified the recipe by using chorizo for the pork. It provides the same spiciness and color while eliminating a lengthy step.

Hmong farmers, fleeing Laos to escape persecution, began arriving in the United States in the latter half of the 1970s, with the majority arriving in the 1980s. Most of them eventually settled where they could continue their agrarian life: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina, and California, especially in the fertile land around Fresno, California. This occurrence is especially remarkable to me because it is where my Armenian relatives also settled three generations ago to farm in one of most bountiful growing places in the world. And I benefit still from that abundance. Notwithstanding the lengthy trip to the Bay Area, Hmong-grown vegetables from Fresno appear in glorious array at my local Oakland farmers’ market every Saturday, alongside the Armenian stand from the same area with its effusive display of fruits, heirloom tomatoes, eggplants, and Armenian cucumbers. Among the Hmong staples for sale are sturdy Asian brassicas, such as Chinese cabbage, Chinese mustard greens, and choys of several kinds; luffa (ridged gourd) and Chinese bitter melon; okra and small pickling cucumbers for my holiday pickle jars; and long beans for my Asian-to-new-Californian dishes. Together these two vendors supplement each other and pay tribute to the marriage of Asian and Mediterranean culinary ingredients in California’s hot and prolific Central Valley. It’s enough to incite a food frenzy and cook up something healthful and delicious, such as this hearty yet delicate Hmong-style main-dish soup.

This is a good old Italian recipe that makes an appearance on our menu every once in a while. It’s brimmin’ with Old World flavors and looks damn good on the plate. It’ll keep your main courses from gettin’ boring.

These beans have a deep, broodin’ flavor—sweet and spicy at the same time. We add crumbled hot Italian sausage to make ‘em truly special.

This recipe was inspired by an Italian recipe handed down by my partner Mike’s grandmother. Like all good Italian cooks, she insisted that the raw ingredients in any dish be ripe and flavorful. She never cheaped out and neither do we. When we started the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, it was one of our original sides, and it has stayed on our menu ever since. It’s best made in the morning, or at least several hours before serving.

“How ‘bout a nice sausage sandwich?” From 1983 to 1988 my partner, Mike, and I belted that line out thousands of times at fairs and festivals up and down the East Coast. Those were the days of Dinosaur Concessions, when we made our living slingin’ sausage and charbroilin’ steak for sandwiches. We pretty much retired from the fair business in 1988 when we opened the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. But ten years later we were back at it again. In 1998 we joined forces with Steve Davis from Gianelli Sausage, whose family stand has been a mainstay at the New York State Fair for as long as I can remember. Gianelli (see Resources, page 175) makes a great sausage—lean, yet packed with flavor— just great for our State Fair Sausage & Pepper Sandwich and all our other sausage specialties.