Dinner

At Captiva Art Cafe on Captiva Island, Florida, chef Matthew Mitchell offers imaginative pasta and egg dishes as his meatless selections. We reduced the yolks in his frittata, but all the wonderful flavor is still there. Mitchell accompanies the frittata with toasted focaccia.

Sometimes, mid-cooking, I like to jettison my plan and make a new, better plan. The trick is knowing when it’s better. I’m not saying I randomly hobble myself, cruelty-cooking-show style, it’s just that it’s exciting to change it up sometimes. And it surprises the family. Historically, some of the best jettison dinners at my house have started out as regular old pasta night and ended up as gather-around-the-skillet-with-bowls-and-bread night. This was one of those.

Aillade's egglessness leaves it with a slightly weaker constitution than it's cousin aioli, so it can break more easily. Happily, it doesn’t matter if it breaks—carry on and it will all come together when it hits the hot cauliflower and a little water.

Roast halved sweet potatoes and spiced pork chops on one pan, then top with a lemony yogurt sauce, crispy radishes, and tart pomegranate seeds.

At Maydān the lamb shoulder is cooked sous vide until meltingly tender and then finished in the hearth until crisp and golden brown. We adapted their recipe for the oven to similar effect.

Searing scallops in the amber-hued fat rendered from cooking chorizo results in a gorgeously caramelized crust and gives the shellfish a wonderfully smoky flavor.

Toss green beans with tons of olive oil and aromatics and surrender the whole thing to your oven for an hour or two until it becomes impossibly soft and caramelized.

Cooking summer squash low and slow yields sweet, nutty, tender—but not mushy—results. Fold them into pasta, top toast, or serve beside any grilled main.

Fairy tale eggplants are sweet, creamy, and never too seedy. Use them if you see them. They get simply roasted here, then served over a creamy cashew sauce that’s brightened with lime juice—make the sauce once, and you’ll want to use it on roasted vegetables year-round.

Leave scallions in the oven for about an hour to draw out their sweetness for a low-maintenance side dish.

Douse ripe cherry tomatoes in lots of olive oil and slow-roast to golden deliciousness. Then use it as pasta sauce, a topping for bruschetta, a grain bowl addition, a side to scrambled eggs...we could go on and on.

How to pull off a weeknight roast chicken: set it over a bed of peppers laced with thyme and chiles for a two-for-one deal.

Douse squash in lots of oil and let it slow-roast to golden-deliciousness in this hands-off dish.

Bell peppers get sweet and silky when they slow-roast. Then use them to top ricotta toast, or serve as a hands-off side, or chop them up and mix into your lunch bowl.

Nduja, a spicy salami now produced domestically, blends cured pork fat and chiles in a spreadable, meltable consistency. Combining it with lobster is transformative, taking this basic pasta Pomodoro to the next level.

When all the flavors meld, the dried mint blooms and transforms this dish into a refreshing slaw that pairs well with fatty cuts of meat.

Cold noodles tossed in a bright citrus and chile sauce are the ideal canvas for jammy roasted tomatoes in this light summer dish.