Quick meals - quick and easy recipes - page 159

A fizz is one of simplest, most refreshing tall drinks we know. There’s something about the mix of gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup topped off with fizzy water that expresses the soul of the cocktail. Here, we give it a pink twist—a little boost of deep red grenadine syrup—that turns the classic fizz into a blushing sipper perfect for Valentine’s Day or other romantic occasions. Try pairing with our fresh Red Velvet Cake recipe to really impress your date. Game Plan: Try it with our easy, h...

Super-healthy antioxidant açaí berries are the beautifully purple center of this delicious breakfast bowl or afternoon after-yoga pick-me-up. It’s actually a two-part recipe. First, you blend up a straight-up smoothie, with unsweetened açaí purée (we like the one from Sambazon), frozen banana and peach slices, apple, honey, coconut milk, and—for extra body and protein—a bit of natural almond butter. The second part is what goes on top, a freestyle mix of whatever texture.

Inspired by Abby Sciuto, Chief Forensic Scientist on the CBS series NCIS, this milkshake cocktail has something dark lurking in its depths. In this case that’s bourbon: half an ounce blended with vanilla-bean ice cream and cream stout beer. It’s sweet, cold, and indulgent enough for dessert, adult enough for after-dinner sipping. Milkshake cocktails are also a great choice for an afternoon around the pool, or that grown-up burger barbecue for anyone who wants something thicker.

At Grand Army Bar in Brooklyn, New York, Damon Boelte’s clever twist on the Americano turns the traditional aperitivo into a Franco-Italian shandy. Where the standard Americano pairs equal parts bitter Campari with sweet vermouth, the Perfecto splits the sweet in half with two different vermouths — brutish Carpano and the fruitier French Dolin Rouge — to create a more nuanced sweetness. The traditional topper of soda water is then replaced with pilsner beer.

Matcha is all the rage, and we’re finding new ways to incorporate it into our cooking and baking, besides just matcha tea. Why are we so mad about matcha? Well, it’s green tea, but times 10. Matcha is the ground-up whole leaves, so you get more of all the antioxidants, caffeine, and other good-for-you stuff. And, it doesn’t hit you hard with a burst of energy and then a crash, like coffee can do. It’s more of a long, slow influx of energy. A little goes a long way.

Time can be short in the morning, and you know breakfast is important. With overnight oats, you slap it together the night before and have it ready in the fridge to grab quickly and eat on the go. It’s a balanced, nutritious, homemade breakfast that’s delicious too: There’s fiber, protein, probiotics, calcium, and fresh fruit in this recipe. So much better than store-bought cereal.

Yay, cake with rainbow-colored sprinkles! It’s like birthday in a cup anytime you want to celebrate that it’s, well, a Tuesday. You know what would go great before this totally rad milkshake? Another simple delight: Pizza Dough Dogs. Or if we’re going all carnival-style, Corn Dogs.

Let’s not overcomplicate things, shall we? Sometimes you want a classic, no-fuss grilled cheese. Forget the fancy bread, caramelized onions, pears, or whatever else you can do to multiply the steps in creating this simple tradition. Here’s something to cook when you don’t feel like cooking.

When you hear the words “strawberry shortcake,” you used to think of either a pretty summertime dessert of fresh strawberries, fluffy cake, and whipped cream … or that children’s character with the red hair that smells like strawberries (or Jolly Ranchers). But after you slurp up this milkshake, that’s all going to change. The classic combination makes an irresistible and memorable milkshake. Here, we use crisp vanilla wafer cookies.

They look like little armadillos, but that’s where the similarities end. Originally a Swedish potato dish, the name “hasselback” comes from the Hasselbacken Hotel Restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden. These hasselback potatoes are crispy in places, but still soft and buttery at their core, thanks to the increased surface area open to the oven’s heat. You can line up two knives on both sides of the potato to ensure you don’t slice all the way through.

Apple dumplings are an early American food stemming from the Northeast, especially in Pennsylvania Dutch towns. Of course, you could trace it even further to Britain and other parts of western Europe too. It’s a great dish during the apple harvest in the fall. And, you can serve apple dumplings for breakfast or dessert. Game Plan: First, you’ll need to make a pie crust. Use our Basic Pie Crust recipe.

I could go on and on about how much I love olive trees. I even have olive trees growing in my yard — and that’s just the beginning of my obsession. So, it didn’t take much convincing for me to try making a dessert with olive oil, and citrus is a natural pairing. I like to serve this cake with plain whipped cream and basil leaves for garnish. Or simply dust the top with confectioners’ sugar and call it a day.

My husband, Jack, isn’t the biggest fan of avocados. I prep this one while he’s not looking, and he’s yet to realize that this decadent chocolaty dessert is made from pureed avocado.

Staffordshire, right in the middle of England, is a county famous for the invention of bone china, cute bull terriers. In harsh winters of years gone by, farmers in the area would grow oats rather than wheat and so the oatcake was born. They have a delicious natural malty sweetness that is traditionally topped with melted cheese and bacon and were traditionally sold directly from kitchen windows, how idyllic!

This way of making popcorn will change your life. Well, not really, but it will change the way you make popcorn! No need to buy those overpriced (and not to mention wasteful) prepackaged microwave popcorn bags. You can do it yourself with much more healthy and enjoyable results. Top off your popcorn with some nutritional yeast for an added protein boost and cheese-like flavor.

This dish is deceivingly simple, as long as you get the right ingredients, it can be executed for the home cook seamlessly. This salad started as a play on the classic “Cucumber, yogurt and smoked fish” combination, but at dinnertable in NYC, their team adds in a unique Japanese twist: mixing in sesame yogurt, marinated trout roe, and a seaweed (hijiki) dressing.