But How Do You Make Dinner?

Deluxe Fried Rice, Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs and Lemon Parm Broccolini, the Easiest Salmon and Coconut Rice, and Cheater Chicken Tikka Masala.

I had a delightful conversation with Emily Zicherman last week—check out her substack Oven Window. She was lovely and we’re both just trying to help busy people eat well. One thing she asked me was, “but HOW exactly do you make dinner?” What she meant was what happens when you walk in the door at 6:30pm with the kids everyone is starving? What are your kids doing while you make dinner on a normal night?

Here’s the answer: for eight years or so, our kids watched television from 5-6pm while I made dinner. It worked for our family—I got to make dinner in peace (we can talk about cooking with kids another time) and obviously they were happy. Then this year our oldest started fifth grade and his homework ramped up and we had to shift things around. Now most often our kids come home from their practices and activities and playdates and sit at the kitchen counter and do their homework while I make dinner. This does not mean they all sit there quietly with their heads down to the tune of pencils scratching. It’s loud, sometimes there’s whining, there are always questions (What are we having? Can you help me with my math? Where’s my folder? Can you sharpen my pencil? Can I have a snack? Why can’t I have a snack?), and our four-year-old doesn’t have homework, so there’s that. And then there are the nights when we’re all walking in the door at 6:30pm and dinner has to happen fast.

I realized over the course of this conversation that I very rarely cook from a recipe on a typical weeknight. I fall back on the meals I can make without paying too much attention, because frankly, I can’t really follow a recipe I’ve never made before when there’s so much going on. It stresses me out. Does that feel disingenous to this whole project where I give you recipes? I think really I just want my recipes to be your recipes. I want you to make them and make them and make them so you can make them without thinking about what you’re doing. All the recipes in this whole newsletter are things I make all the time, but this week’s recipes are ones I make with my eyes closed, without measuring anything, with three kids asking, ‘mama, mama, mama.’ Make them enough so you can internalize them and make them without having to pay too much attention to them, so you can keep your cool, pay attention to your kids, and get dinner on the table when you feel up against the clock.

A note: we do order in, but we live in the suburbs, with limited delivery options. We also spent nine months renovating our kitchen last year, so we ordered from the places that we like so often that it feels even more important to have some very quick dishes in my back pocket.

Another note: these recipes rely on some of my hero ingredients—things I always have stocked in my pantry—Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce, Maya Kaimal Indian Simmer Sauces, Rao’s Tomato Sauce, grated parmesan cheese, peeled garlic. It’s infinitely useful to have these shortcuts around.

Quick: Deluxe Fried Rice

I’m putting this recpe first because I think everyone should have a fried rice recipe in their back pocket. Like rice bowls (with my favorite peanut dressing), it’s the best way to use up all the random bits of things in your fridge. You should make this at the end of the week when you have leftover coconut rice and a stray piece of pan-roasted chicken and maybe half a head of cabbage and some leftover cauliflower lingering on the shelves. Just learn the technique and have it ready to go whenever you need it.