It’s no secret that Bon Appétit editors cook a lot for work. So it should come as no surprise that we cook a lot during our off hours too. Here are the recipes we’re whipping up this month to get dinner on the table, entertain our friends, satisfy a sweet tooth, use up leftovers, and everything in between. For even more staff favorites, click here.
November 8
Lemony mushroom pilaf
I’ve returned to recipe developer Asha Loupy’s lemony pilaf with brown butter mushrooms more times than I can count. I’ll be honest, if I had just come across it on the site, I’m not sure I would have made it. But because I got to edit the recipe in the test kitchen, I got to see first hand just how simple, cozy, and bright it is—and I haven’t stopped making it since. Sometimes I follow the instructions exactly as written, but more often I treat it as a template to use up whatever I have in the fridge. This week I cooked my basmati rice with frizzled red onion and chopped roasted red peppers, and finished each bowl with a showering of herbs and crispy garlic. —Kendra Vaculin, test kitchen editor
Comforting fish curry
I’ve been on a mission to cook with whole fish to be more sustainable and to challenge myself. After bringing home a large blue fish from the local fishery at Tompkins Square Greenmarket, I had to figure out what to do with it. I decided to make a coastal Indian curry to complement the fall weather and remind me of home. Food blogger Nagi Maehashi’s Goan Fish Curry was a comforting recipe. The familiar blend of Indian spices paired with nutty coconut, tangy tomato, and meaty fish made for the perfect pick-me-up on a cloudy day. —Ketaki Malaviya, research fellow
Squash soup with so much garlic
The weather in the Northeast may still be warm, but I’ve been craving soup. I agree with content creator Catherine Perez’s philosophy: Soup should always have garlic and plenty of texture. So when I saw her recipe for vegan butternut squash soup, I saved it to make for the week. Her soup starts with roasting a whole head of garlic—I doubled it. Then, I crisped up sage in olive oil, removed the leaves, and used that infused oil to sauté my other aromatics before adding in cubed butternut squash, and Baba’s Meat Curry Powder (which I used instead of coriander). Perez’s tip to blend some of the soup with miso paste layered the soup with umami and made it creamy without having to add any dairy. The rest of the soup stays chunky—so you get sweet bites of butternut squash with an occasional crumble of crispy sage. Best served with some toasted sourdough. —Urmila Ramakrishnan, associate director of social media
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Iconic miso-glazed cod
One of the first cookbooks I ever owned was Nobu: The Cookbook and 10-year-old me couldn’t get enough of the Miso-Glazed Black Cod. It’s deceptively simple to make for such an iconic dish. I always serve mine with a heaping portion of rice and baby bok choy. The bok choy gets tossed with a spoonful of extra marinade and oil before thrown on a sheet pan. For an indulgent election week feast, I made mine with the black cod from Seremoni, and it was among the most buttery and flavorful fish I’ve ever tasted. If you’re in the New York area (it’s available at Happier Grocery on Canal Street), it’s a very worthy splurge (and act of self-care) to buy some. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations manager
Trust-the-process chili crisp pasta
I had the joy of food editing this Creamy Chili Crisp Pasta and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. At first glance, the recipe is wild: You mix Greek yogurt with spaghetti, pasta water, and a little bit of salt. After a bit of tossing, the trio comes together to create a perfectly emulsified sauce, almost like mac and cheese. Truly magic. Then you just dish it up and top with heaps of chili crisp for the easiest dinner ever. I’ve riffed on the recipe a few times now, sticking to the yogurt base but swapping up the toppings. I’ve tried a sprinkling of Parmesan, and za’atar mixed with olive oil. You really can’t go wrong. —Jesse Szewczyk, senior test kitchen editor
November 1
Leftover noodle salad
In the past two weeks, the test kitchen has been cooking salmon for a very good forthcoming recipe. Lucky for me, that means I’ve been taking leftovers home. Last week, I turned my salmon scraps into a riff on this Hot-Smoked Salmon Noodle Salad. I love any salad where the base is soba (yes, there’s lettuce too), and the vinaigrette is made of toasted sesame oil and soy sauce. Since I had leftover roast salmon instead of the hot-smoked variety, I flaked it up and tossed it in for an easy swap. If you’re cooking for one, like me, you can easily halve or quarter the recipe, or make extras for lunch the next day. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations manager
A week of pancakes
The best weekday breakfasts are those I can prep on Sunday and take to work and heat up in the microwave easily. This past week I went down the rabbit hole that is pancake bowls. You prep a pancake batter in ovensafe bowls, add in toppings like berries or chocolate chips, pop them in the oven, and voilà, they’re ready to go for the week. The version I made this time was from social media creator Selma, but I swapped some of the all-purpose flour with a mix of millet and hazelnut flours. While I normally get tired of eating the same breakfast four days in a row, I found myself eagerly grabbing my container each morning. The bowls come out light and airy, even after a couple days in the fridge, and the berries offer bright sweetness. Add some whipped cream if you can make it ahead of time. —Urmila Ramakrishnan, associate director of social media
