July 12
For a cookout with friends, I wanted a side salad that had a lot of produce and very little work. This recipe from Anna Stockwell, Tomato-Watermelon Salad With Turmeric Oil, checked both boxes. I used an assortment of cherry tomatoes for pops of color, and per a reader comment in the Epicurious app, I replaced coconut oil with olive oil, so there was no risk of the dressing seizing. Because I love their salami energy, I added some fennel seeds along with the peppercorns, coriander, and cumin. It was spectacularly refreshing alongside burgers and dogs—and somehow even better the next day. —Emma Laperruque, associate director of cooking
A couple of months ago, I bookmarked several crispy rice paper dumpling recipes on TikTok with the intent of making them. This week, I adapted a pork version from What Great Grandma Ate with a bunch of finely chopped broccoli, green beans, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms. The process is pretty simple: You par-cook ground pork with all of your veggies, fill moistened rice paper, double wrap, and pan fry in oil—I used sesame for an added flavor boost. I love how shatteringly crispy the pan-fried dumplings get. They also reheat well in the air fryer for an easy-to-meal-prep lunch during the week. —Urmila Ramakrishnan, associate director of social media
I didn’t think I needed another vegetarian meatball in my life. I have a bag of Gardein in my freezer at all times. But after one nibble of test kitchen editor Kendra Vaculin’s Tofu Meatballs, I knew my store-bought staple was about to be dethroned. You don’t need a food processor or any special equipment (just crumble the tofu in a bowl and mix in the usual suspects, like breadcrumbs and egg). Plus no need to stand over the stove (they bake in the oven until crispy and golden). You could serve them with tomato sauce, as in the recipe, or put them toward literally whatever dinner could use a blank-canvas protein. I paired mine with warmed-up matbucha, fluffy couscous, and a romaine-cucumber salad. —E.L.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, I was reminded how good, easy, and versatile an egg casserole is—not just for a holiday breakfast, but anytime. I used my family’s tried and true Cowboy Casserole, swapping out the sausage and spinach for other ingredients I had on hand (namely leftover slow-roasted yellow squash and onions with tons of black pepper and dried sage). Since there are only two of us enjoying it, it’ll be there for days of quick breakfasts. And in a heatwave, I can’t think of anything better than not standing over a stove. —Joe Sevier, senior SEO editor
Hana Asbrink’s One-Pot Salmon and Shiitake Rice has won me over. All I had to do was gently tuck my grains, mushrooms, and fish into a Dutch oven and let it do its thing (steam) while I did mine (retire on the couch). I like my meals saturated in sauce, so I may have tripled the scallion-soy dressing. And yes, I’m probably going to mix up more for lunch tomorrow. —Nina Moskowitz, editorial assistant
July 5
I’ll eat anything in the test kitchen, but at home I don’t cook meat. (More on this in last month’s edition of our new Feel-Good Food Plan.) Luckily, our Epicurious app has thousands of vegetarian recipes—and many of the non-vegetarian ones can easily be vegetarian-ified. Case in point: these grilled chicken thighs with tomato-corn couscous from deputy food editor Hana Asbrink. As Hana puts it, “Does this look like summer on a platter or what?” It does! I needed it. So instead of chicken, I simply grilled slabs of Halloumi until they were charred outside and juicy within. A downright delightful dinner to welcome July. —Emma Laperruque, associate director of cooking
My favorite way to eat summer squash? Yellow crookneck cut into rounds, plenty of butter, cooked until jammy. Second favorite? This Chocolate Zucchini Cake. A mound of the prolific summer produce goes into the batter, rendering the crumb so plush and moist, it may just be my favorite chocolate cake, full stop. Don’t skip the scattering of walnuts and chocolate chips (I use a chopped chocolate bar) on top. The nuts get deeply toasted as the cake bakes and the chocolate melts into little puddles for a bite that’s fluffy, crunchy, creamy, and rich: ideal for breakfast, dessert, or anytime snacking. —Joe Sevier, senior SEO editor
Roasted cauliflower? In July? I, too, was horrified at this unseasonal bent, but my husband had procured two incredibly beautiful heads of purple cauliflower, so pristine they looked like they’d walked off a stock image website. I settled on making this Whole Roasted Cauliflower Salad. Though we didn’t have basil, parsley, or golden raisins, cilantro, chives, and an underripe apricot proved to be suitable substitutes. There’s a fair bit of chopping involved, but the end result is so full of texture and so pretty, that the prep is more than worth it. An excellent and impressive vegetarian main, I’ve bookmarked it to make again when the weather turns. —Shilpa Uskokovic, senior test kitchen editor
You know when you’re at the supermarket and you see a jar of mustard and you’re like, Oh! We need mustard! And then you get home and you realize, Oh! We already had two jars of mustard! That happens to me not infrequently. And so I found myself with a surplus of fig jam (how? why?), which seemingly no number of PB&Js could make a dent in. The solution became clear over the weekend: Jam Diagonals from senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic. They’re crumbly-tender, fuss-free, and exceedingly buttery. Heed Shilpa’s advice to use cultured butter (I went with unsalted Kerrygold)—it makes all the difference in the why-are-these-so-good flavor. —E.L.
