A broccoli salad makes sense. Broccoli loves you, and you love it, so everything is going to be fine. Well, once we make one. Gorgonzola rules, don’t be scared, and eggs rule, so don’t worry. Bacon vinaigrette is always nice and warm. We will get through this and make this right. This salad low- key could be made in any season, warm or cold. Also it’s a fire dinner or breakfast. Dang, just eat this every day, all day. You’ll become so strong.
Growing up, I awoke to the smell of this omelet cooking on most weekends, and my mom (whom our kids call “Nanima”) still makes it for the kids whenever they stay over. First, the potatoes are diced and sautéed until they’re perfectly tender, and then you add the spiced egg mixture. My mom would also pack it with onions, and we’d enjoy it with fresh paratha (a flatbread), yogurt, and green chutney; you can also serve it with Pickled Carrots. It’s kinda like a frittata but with all the Indian spices to warm your soul (and your taste buds). I love that the kids gobble it up and that they’re just as excited when they smell it cooking on a weekend morning as I was!
These are inspired by Moroccan beghrir, the tender, spongy semolina pancakes that Yotam used to start his day with when filming his TV series Mediterranean Feast. After a thorough sampling of the freshly baked wares of pretty much every souk in the medina, it was these—reminiscent of a crumpet, but much simpler to make—that kept luring Yotam back for more. With thanks to Mandy Lee for the precise instructions for obtaining the “thousand” holes.
Getting ahead: The batter can be made a day ahead: keep it in the fridge overnight to rise, and decrease the yeast to ¼ teaspoon. The honey butter keeps in the fridge for up to 1 week.
I’ve made versions of these crispy, delicate little fried cabbage pancakes at restaurants and in my very own home, where they are a breakfast staple. I’ve often watched my mom bulk them up with canned salmon and loads of the week’s forgotten vegetables. We’d eat them over bowls of hot grits or rice. To me, they are reminiscent of okonomiyaki (loosely translated as “grilled as you like it”), a popular savory pancake from southern Japan. I like to drizzle Spicy Sorghum-Miso Mustard (page 110) over them.
If Ukrainians ever voted on their favorite breakfast dish, syrnyky—little pancakes made with farmer cheese—would be the clear winner. Pretty much every Ukrainian, regardless of his or her skill in the kitchen, knows how to make this dish. Here’s my favorite tried-and-true recipe (which, I am proud to say, has become the go-to recipe in many Ukrainian households!).
Syrnyky are traditionally served with sour cream or jam, but feel free to experiment with other toppings, such as maple syrup, peanut butter, and fresh fruit. You can even drizzle the pancakes with a little caramel sauce!
When you make syrnyky, your choice of farmer cheese is of great importance. It should not be too dry—if it is, the syrnyky will not hold their shape well—but neither should it be too watery. If there is a lot of whey left in the cheese, you should strain it through a sieve with cheesecloth and let the liquid drain.
Rice is the headlining ingredient in this herb-forward “salad,” but it wouldn’t be khaao yam without the inclusion of earthy toasted coconut. The dish is a beloved breakfast on Ko Yao Noi and beyond, sold from vast bowls at Muslim-run tea shops.
This version, taught to me by Bussaba Butdee, who runs a homestay on Ko Yao Noi, includes the rather decadent addition of grilled shrimp, which she happened to have on hand. These are not standard and can be omitted. Less optional for southern Thais is the herb called bai phaa hom. Known colloquially as—no, I’m not making this up—“dog and pig fart herb,” the leaf provides the dish with a unique, but not as unpleasant as the name might suggest, aroma. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to find bai phaa hom outside southern Thailand, and khaao yam made without it will still be tasty, but it, admittedly, won’t have the same unique fragrance.
Serve this as a southern Thai–style breakfast or as lunch.
This widely loved snack in India, which is famed in Mumbai as batata vada, is customarily sold in a soft bun with a garlic and chilli chutney. Its popularity has spread and it’s now available in many Indian restaurants worldwide. Where I come from, these delicious potato balls are called alu banda and are sold in small shops and street stalls in the mornings for breakfast with chai. So why not serve this with some Coriander Peanut Chutney and piping hot masala chai?
For my cookbook "Better Baking," I took inspiration from my American Chinese upbringing for sweets like almond cookies and coconut mochi, but I can eat only so many desserts and rely on this savory recipe almost daily. I learned it from an auntie in my church community on the far east side of Los Angeles, where many families made some version of this dish. It evolved from Taiwanese dan bing, where egg is cooked and rolled into a thin, chewy dough. Flour tortillas, readily available in Southern California during my childhood and now everywhere, are an approximation -- not necessarily a close one but an ideal one for busy cooks. This is the simplest version, the one that comes together under 5 minutes for a satisfying meal when there's no time to cook. The egg can be cooked with stir-fried scallions and the wrap stuffed with crispy wontons, shredded lettuce and more seasonings, such as hoisin, sesame seeds and sesame oil.
The joy of a crumpet lies in the little holes that cover the surface which, when toasted, hold the melted butter that is slathered over. Crumpets are not always something we consider making from scratch, but they’re incredibly easy and, as with most things,
so much better when homemade.
Hot or cold, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner—things don’t get much more versatile than this fiber-filled frittata. Mix up the veggies to keep it seasonal and interesting for endless weekday options. It’s earned a regular spot on my menu.