I happen to live near a small but fantastic seafood market where the fish is impeccably fresh. Their poached prawns are plump and juicy; the homemade cocktail sauce has just the right zest. I bought them once or twice as an appetizer for a special meal. But one day I realized I was holding myself back: What I really wanted was to eat shrimp cocktail for dinner. And I did. And it was fantastic.
There’s one problem though: This place is only open a few days each week, a few hours in the middle of the day, which is exactly the time I can’t shop for seafood. So when I’m in the mood, I turn to recipes like Melissa Clark’s new Roasted Shrimp Cocktail that I can make anytime, without going to the store, with frozen shrimp. (Always keep a bag of frozen shrimp in your freezer. It’s cost effective and very useful.)
That recipe, along with four others I’m excited about, are below. Questions? Proposals? Need some recipe advice? Email me at [email protected]. And if you like the work we do at New York Times Cooking, consider subscribing.
2. Sheet pan fried chicken with tangy greens
To make this plate food dish from Sarah Copeland, you first roast the chicken thigh quarter—which includes both drumsticks and thighs, a feast for dark meat lovers—then quickly toss and sauté kale and olives in the juices from the chicken. The ratio of effort to reward is excellent.
See this recipe.
3. Black pepper stir-fried tofu and asparagus
This inspired stir-fry from Kay Chun combines tofu with spring asparagus and snap peas in a peppery sauce. You can replace frozen peas (or several asparagus) with the snap peas if you like, which also saves you some preparation time.
See this recipe.
4. Salmon Teriyaki
This is Ali Slagle’s one-pot version of classic salmon teriyaki. It checks all the boxes: crispy skin, silky meat and a balanced sweet and salty teriyaki sauce.
