With April now upon us, spring is in full swing and the eponymous Spring Break is on the horizon; my family has become a blur of sports that have shifted outdoors, shirtsleeves have retreated to expose pale skin. In short, it’s Go Time for all, ready to burst. Fun family meals are in order – so I thought I’d offer up some of my family’s favorites.
Of course there’s pasta. I tend to make something like this Spaghetti with Spicy Marinara and Zucchini, with the chili flakes kept out and sprinkled after, according to each family member’s spice tolerance. This Linguine with Lentil Ragu was in heavy rotation for a while, and is a wholesome veggie meal that everyone will rally for. I’m getting jazzed for grilling season – I start as soon as the weather allows—and I’ll probably start with these Grilled Kofta Meatballs, though classics like this Grilled Turkey Sausage and Pepper Pizza and Classic Barbecue Chicken won’t be far behind. And burgers—whether cooked in or out-of-doors, made of your favorite beef recipe, or of salmon, of turkey, of merguez, even of veggie – always delight.
Lean into what they love and twist it a little to keep them guessing, like this three-cheese mac and cheese, or these pork tacos with pineapple, these chicken meatballs with a secret (shredded zucchini) for moisture, crispy Chicken Milanese. Or make breakfast for dinner: my pick would be these Buckwheat Abelskiver, complete with the side of apples sautéed in butter, with a side of Provençal Sausage. Eggs, in context of breakfast or not, are a dinnertime hit whether served on a dreamy sandwich with spinach like this Croque Madame, or simmered in sauce like this Shakshuka and served over rice (ours, most often this Charred Cauliflower sort).
What am I forgetting? Chicken! Soup! As for chicken, you can’t go wrong with Roast Chicken with Potatoes (classic) or this Roast Chicken with Agrumi Sauce (a bit more daring) or this Dutch Oven Roasted Chicken (a crowd-pleaser). This 15-Bean Soup that clears out the dregs of my pantry that my kids love. This Indian ground lamb dish called Kheema that is always in my freezer. Oh, and not to forget these chocolate and seed Protein Cookies that I’m preparing to make a batch of at this very moment and my kids take to school every day. (At 13 grams of protein per giant cookie—my oldest son did the math as an argument to have a cookie every day with his lunch—I don’t feel one bit bad about it.)
Thank you for supporting my work. In addition to becoming a paid subscriber – a big deal to me, it adds up to help support my family and give me the time and space to cook all the random things that inspire me and put them on my blog – you can buy my books! Twenty Dollar, Twenty Minute Meals (has an entire section on next-level grilled cheeses that will wow the whole fam); Cake Magic! (a book of from-scratch cakes to gather the troops around); Catalan Food (whose Catalan Tomato Bread you’ll find yourself making again and again without a recipe once you know it); Soup Club (whose black bean soup is legend, and we eat every week with all manner of toppings and in all manner of ways); and SECONDS (whose Tomato-Basil is a standby for us through all seasons).
To all, thank you for reading here – next time I see you, school will almost be out for summer (certainly true for me as a soup lady heading into her final month of soup season) and we’ll be looking forward to a whole new meal vibe! In the meantime, soak up the sun and the start of the spring veggies, and squeeze the people you love most a little extra just because the sun is (finally) out.
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