It’s no secret that BA 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, to entertain our friends, to satisfy a sweet tooth, to use up leftovers, and everything in between. For even more staff favorites, click here.

June 16

Velvety veggie ragù

“This is a fun recipe because I couldn’t have guessed what the final product would taste like,” one reviewer wrote about this Pierce Abernathy recipe. I couldn’t agree more. You start by pulsing a raw beet, canned chickpeas, fresh garlic, and shitake mushrooms into a rice-like texture in the food processor. “Where is this going?” you’ll wonder, staring at the shockingly red medley. After cooking it into an aromatic mush with Aleppo-style pepper, miso, and butter, you’ll taste a spoonful and nod with satisfaction. Then you’ll toss it with spaghetti, pasta water, and a shower of parm—stirring vigorously until the sauce is vibrant and glossy. You’ll fork a velvety, savory, smoky tangle of noodles into your mouth and think to yourself, “No further questions.” —Ali Francis, staff writer

Maximalist mezze spread

For my cousin’s birthday, I knew exactly what to make for lunch: associate food editor Kendra Vaculin’s gorgeous mezze spread from BA’s June issue. Taking all of her maximalist party wisdom in stride, we made every component, including pickled onions, harissa-mashed chickpeas, lemony chicken skewers, Greek yogurt swirled with sizzled spices, and my favorite, tahini-brushed charred eggplant. Pocketed into warmed pita with fragrant herbs, my whole family devoured the spread in minutes. —Antara Sinha, associate cooking editor

Riffable noodle salad

I don’t eat chicken but I was tempted enough—a lot—by the “peanut sauce” and “noodle salad” components of this recipe that I made it anyway. I poached a block of firm tofu using the method deputy food editor Hana Asbrink spells out for chicken, and otherwise followed the recipe as written. The result is a spicy-creamy noodle with crisp lettuce and cucumbers that hold up beautifully. Which means it’s great for meal-prepping weekday lunches, so I know I’ll be making it again and again all summer long. —Sonia Chopra, executive editor

Pantry-friendly beans on toast

On a truly dire work-from-home day (fridge: empty, Zoom meeting calendar: full), I raided my pantry for a late lunch. Armed with some canned tomatoes, beans, and some crusty bread from the freezer, this beans on toast recipe checked off all the boxes: easy, speedy, and most importantly, filling. I cut a few corners and nixed the sausage and cheese, making it accidentally vegan—but with plenty of aromatics and herbs, I didn’t miss them. Now, when that grocery run is just a day away, this recipe is my go-to. —AS

Speedy, lemony orzo

Weeknight dinners are my achilles heel. I’m far more likely to head to a restaurant on a weekday when it’s easier to snag a reservation; then I’ll spend my weekends cooking laborious meals for friends at home. But, being reasonable, I can’t eat out five days a week, so I was eager to try Kendra’s Spring Orzotto. This dish hit all the spots. It was remarkably creamy, truly rivaling the texture of classic risotto, but the pasta didn’t fall apart. The peas popped and kept their crunch, and the juicy pop of lemon at the end brought everything to life. —Carly Westerfield, recipe production assistant

June 9

Freezer-friendly buttery corn

It’s “how do we have so much frozen veg in our freezer” season in my household and last night’s dinner used up not one but two different half-opened bags of corn. I can’t believe I haven’t made this recipe before because it checks all the boxes for me: easy, fast, pantry staples. Corn and scallions are cooked in a soy-and-mirin sauce that finishes with a swirl of butter. Tofu (I cubed and baked mine versus pan-frying planks of it) gets nestled in, and that’s dinner, folks! We served ours with salmon and salad but I’ll be taking leftovers to work over farro. —Sonia Chopra, executive editor

Strawberry coffee cake with matcha 

I had a few farmers market strawberries rounding the corner from overripe to mush, so I put them to good use in this gorgeous strawberry matcha coffee cake from King Arthur Baking. The tender cake is shot through with a green ribbon of matcha filling and topped with macerated berries, buttery crumbs, and a pastel pink glaze. I swapped in a bit of barley and buckwheat flour for some subtle nuttiness that played nice with the matcha. Note that you’ll have a bit of sugary strawberry juice left over—don’t toss it! Mix it with seltzer or, as I did, hibiscus iced tea. —MacKenzie Chung Fegan, senior commerce editor

Herby, bright pasta salad

Call it the most delicious form of peer pressure, but when I noticed everyone on my feed posting about Kendra Vaculin’s Broken Lasagna Pasta Salad the minute the weather got nice, I just had to make it too. The recipe comes together nice and easy: Break lasagna noodles into pieces, boil ’em, and toss in a dressing that comes together well before your water’s done boiling. I didn’t have enough olives, I used roasted almonds instead of toasting my own, and I couldn’t find radicchio so I used a bagged romaine-and-radicchio mix (why don’t I do this more often?). Even still, my husband called the end result a “top-five dish.” And it’s vegan! —SC

Radish leaf stir-fry

How many bunches of radish leaves have I thrown out? I don’t know and, if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. It’s embarrassing! Shameful. Reprehensible. That’s why I was so grateful to read Michelle Tchea’s love letter to radish leaf stir-fries. The hardest part is washing the radish leaves—do not skip this, they are filthy—and then you are minutes away from lunch or dinner. With wisps of scrambled eggs, the greens are a little garlicky and a lot savory, just asking to be plopped on top of rice and dotted with chili crisp.  —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor

Potluck-ready quiche 

I attended my first baby shower this weekend and was asked to bring a dish for the 1 p.m. spread. I hemmed and hawed about cute thematic cookies or delicate pastries, but my partner insisted quiche was the move and (as usual, please keep this between us) he was right. BA’s Best Quiche Lorraine requires a deep dish pie plate, which I don’t have. Instead I made two regular-depth crusts and one batch of the eggy custard. One crust got the classic bacon-and-gruyere combo, while the other was a springy asparagus, pea, and goat cheese number. The custard was exactly the right amount to fill both, which I wedged inside a pizza box to safely transport to the party. —Kendra Vaculin, associate food editor

June 2

Speedy chicken lettuce wraps

Every Asian-ish restaurant in the suburbs had some sort of lettuce wrap appetizer, so I never really ate them growing up, assuming it wasn’t “authentic” or whatever. But lettuce wraps are good. And bonus: They are so easy to make on a weeknight. I used this simple Christina Chaey recipe for Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wraps; the only thing I needed to pick up from my corner store was ground chicken and butter lettuce. I went extra hard on fish sauce and added some sliced, raw red onion at the end for an additional pungent kick. Usually, I’d eat a ground meat dish like this with rice, but by using lettuce, I didn’t even have to wait for my Zojurushi to get dinner on the table. Speedy! —Serena Dai, editorial director

Sole meunière

I cook for myself often, but hands-down the best meal I’ve made so far this year is classic sole meunière, credited as the dish that made Julia Child fall in love with French cuisine. I assumed it would be way more difficult to make than it actually was. The thin sole fillets cook in approximately three minutes, perfect for when it’s 8 p.m. and you’re already starving. But what really makes it special is the brown-butter-lemon pan sauce, glossing the fish with a nutty, speckled sheen. If it can make Julia Child fall in love, well, let’s just say that I plan to cook this very impressive, very low-effort dinner for all my future suitors. —Zoe Denenberg, associate cooking & SEO editor

Plush, citrusy loaf cake

I am not exaggerating when I say I’ve thought about baking Molly Baz’s Earl Grey Yogurt Cake probably 200 times—more than once a week since the recipe published in early 2020. This weekend I finally made it and my only question is: Why did it take me so long? It’s a plush and citrusy loaf cake that comes together fast. I used Rishi’s bagged Earl Grey, listened to the comments that recommended cutting the oil down to ¾ cup, and ignored the ones that skipped the vanilla. It hung out on the kitchen counter for snacking the entire long weekend —Sonia Chopra, executive editor

Ina’s roasted shrimp cocktail

I absolutely love retro party food: pimento cheese dip, baked oysters, pigs in a blanket, I could go on and on. Luckily, Ina Garten and I have that in common. My love of this type of party appetizer may stem from her ability to redo these classics, updating them to reflect the way we eat today. So when I was recently invited to a potluck-style dinner, I was already thinking of her roasted shrimp cocktail. Instead of poaching the shrimp, she roasts them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, which results not only in more flavor, but a warm style of the classic dish. Her cocktail sauce that accompanies the shrimp is punchy and textural thanks to a heavy dose of horseradish—exactly what I need to wake up my appetite before digging into dinner. —Carly Westerfield, recipe production assistant

Garlicky, tangy som tum thai

For my mom’s birthday, we decided to go full Thai-takeout-inspired for dinner: pad see ew with stir-fried shrimp and those delightfully squishy broad rice noodles; Thai tea with boba from those easy-to-assemble packages from the Asian grocery store; and this som tum thai recipe, that I put my younger brother and cousin to work on, including shredding the green papaya. It’s so sour and garlicky, fishy and herby, sweet and nutty, but somehow, completely balanced. It’s rare that a side salad outshines the main dish, but it somehow managed. —Antara Sinha, associate cooking editor