Easy Weekday Recipes

Dede Sampson prepared this frittata for the Oliveto staff when she applied for a pastry position at the restaurant. This recipe gets its extra-creamy texture from fromage blanc, an extremely soft cow's-milk cheese with a sour cream-like tang. Sampson buys hers from San Francisco's Cowgirl Creamery.

This recipe evolved from a soupy, thin chili F&W's Grace Parisi had been served at a recent party that was lacking in texture and flavor. Determined to strike a balance between a soup and a stew, she started with the basic recipe and added a bit of tomato paste and flour to thicken the broth, then gave it a kick of flavor with cumin, chile powder and chipotle powder.

Make this easy weeknight dish using leftovers from Mom's Meat Loaf.

Grace Parisi steals the flavors from a classic French pan sauce (mustard, tarragon, white wine and cream) for this quick chicken sauté.

This gorgeous, lightly sweet salad is terrific with roasted chicken and great for a buffet.

When making an Italian frittata, don't limit yourself to traditional ingredients. The Asian flavors that fill this version offer a real change of pace. Cook the eggs on top of the stove or in the oven—but be sure to use moderate heat so they don't turn rubbery.

Bob Chambers, a private chef and former F&W staffer, created this delectable butter-fried sea bass with an easy, lemony sauce.

Quinn Hatfield stuffs pickled ginger into slits in the salmon to infuse it with flavor. To keep the sliced fish intact and the ginger in place, he cleverly skewers the fillets before cooking.

Jalapeños not only garnish this sweet-smoky grilled salmon but also infuse the oil used to sauté the tomatoes.

In this faster version of a steak salad, charred tomatoes add their warm, tangy juices to an arugula salad served alongside quick-grilled veal scallopine.

Large nonstick skillets that can create a sear are ideal for stir-fries. For this recipe, Grace Parisi creates layers of flavor with Chinese chile-garlic sauce and matchsticks of fresh ginger.

Zach Brooks adores this sweet-spicy Chinese-American restaurant staple. The version here is lighter than take-out because the chicken is only lightly coated in cornstarch and is pan-fried rather than deep-fried.

The flavors of Italy are tied together neatly here with garlic and rosemary inflected stock, making this weeknight meal extra-special.

Think of this mayonnaise as a fast, refrigerator-ready version of aioli.

Simmering the reserved chicken bones in the milk increases the chicken flavor of this casserole.

This Asian-inspired tilapia makes a fast and delicious weeknight meal.

Corn and poblano become a tasty sauce as well as a salsa for juicy skirt steaks.

Some cooks are surprised when Grace Parisi tells them she mixes pesto into meatballs to add flavor quickly. If you're pressed for time, good store-bought pesto works too.

Using sausage in burgers is a smart shortcut, because the meat is already seasoned.

This chicken-cashew stir-fry is a lighter take on a dish that Stéphane Vivier orders at Rin's Thai in Sonoma, California. Its Asian flavors come from a bright mix of fish sauce, oyster sauce and basil—and just a little oil.

Milk-and-cream-soaked breadcrumbs and an egg are the secrets to these supertender meatballs from Swedish star chef Magnus Nilsson. Serve them as he does, with lingonberry jam and mashed potatoes.