Victoria Granof
Contributor
Victoria Granof is a food stylist who was classically trained at Le Cordon Bleu. She has worked as a cooking instructor and as a chef and pastry chef at several restaurants in Los Angeles and has done recipe development or food styling for numerous cookbooks as well as for Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Vogue, and InStyle and film and television. She lives in New York City and Taormina, Sicily.
Planked Salmon with Coconut Rice
Why reserve cedar planks for the grill? They work just as well in the oven.
Fried Rice
Feel free to use leftover rice from last night's takeout. The secret to good fried rice is starting with cold cooked grains.
Quick Paella
The ideal summer dinner—without the labor required for the traditional Spanish version.
Grilled Potato Smash
If you don't have assorted potatoes, just use regular Idahos. Scrub and cut them into 1 1/2-inch chunks.
Tandoori-Style Grilled Meat or Shrimp
The yogurt in this lightly spiced marinade results in extremely tender lamb, chicken, or shrimp.
Yogurt Granita
The best thing about this icy, tart-and-sweet treat might be how little forethought it requires. You can use any flavored yogurt on hand.
Shrimp and Mango Salad
This salad is delicious served immediately at room temperature. It's even better after being chilled for an hour to combine the flavors.
Fish Cakes
Bake the potato in the microwave to save time. You can use any mild white fish instead of cod.
Arepas
Serve these South American cornmeal cakes with a side of pico de gallo or fresh corn salsa.
Vegetable Latkes
This lighter take on the classic recipe will be gobbled up as quickly as the original—and is still best served with applesauce and sour cream.
Bibimbap
It's delicious, but even better, it's deconstruct-ible. (You can remove any offensive elements for the kids without sacrificing your own dinner.)
Avgolemono
A classic Greek soup that's thickened with eggs and spiked with lemon. Add some shredded rotisserie chicken and call it a meal.
Scrambled Egg Pasta
This simple take on carbonara is the ideal postwork fallback dinner.
Orecchiette
Protein-rich garbanzo flour can be found at health-food grocers (such as Whole Foods).
Colander Spaetzle
Don't worry if the batter for this traditional German staple seems a bit thin—it should be more liquidy than a normal dough.
Egg Noodle
For a nutrition boost, replace one of the eggs with 1/2 cup of pureed beans or vegetables. (That's two 2-ounce jars of baby food.)
Quick Coq au Vin
Julia Child's world-famous coq au vin recipe calls for the dramatic lighting of cognac. Traditional ones simply call for chicken, the contents of your crisper, and drinkable wine.