Recipes We Loved This Week

Why we saved it: because salmon does not need another complicated marinade to become interesting.

Justine Doiron coats pieces of salmon in Greek yogurt, Calabrian chilli, lemon and salt before roasting them at high heat. The yogurt helps the exterior brown while the fish stays soft inside, giving you something much more interesting than the standard baked fillet without adding much work. The original recipe suggests serving it with farro and parsley, although roasted vegetables or a big green salad would work just as well.

Why it is useful: you get a protein-forward dinner that takes around fifteen minutes and still has proper texture and flavour. It also gives us a different answer to the recurring question of what to do with salmon this week.

“A way of eating well that cannot make room for an actual slice of cake was never going to be particularly useful to us.”

Why we saved it: because autumn salads should not feel like cold leaves eaten out of obligation.

This version pairs roasted squash with lentils and a lemony tahini dressing. The sweetness of the squash, earthiness of the lentils and richness of tahini make it substantial enough to be dinner rather than a side dish pretending otherwise.

We like it especially for the transition into colder weather, when you still want vegetables but perhaps no longer want everything raw.

Why it is useful: lentils bring fibre and plant protein, the squash makes the whole thing feel seasonal rather than virtuous, and the dressing gives enough richness that the plate does not need rescuing with twenty extras.

Why we saved it: because beans deserve a life outside the “healthy pantry staple” category.

Food Network’s version cooks cannellini beans with tomato, garlic, carrot, celery, onion, herbs and parmesan. The bean liquid helps create a creamy texture without turning the dish into a heavy cream sauce.

This is the one we would put in the middle of the table with very good bread and let everyone serve themselves.

Why it is useful: it is built largely from ingredients that can live in the cupboard, gives you fibre and plant protein, and feels considerably more like dinner than the phrase “beans for dinner” initially suggests.

Why we saved it: because this is exactly the kind of dinner we want when it gets dark earlier: warm, savoury and full of things, without being extremely heavy.

Sylvia Fountaine’s soba noodle soup combines buckwheat noodles, shiitake mushrooms, crispy tofu, vegetables and greens in a ginger-miso broth. It is flexible enough to absorb whatever vegetables are sitting in the fridge, which makes it more useful than a recipe that requires twelve exact ingredients you will never buy again.

Why it is useful: the tofu adds protein, soba gives the bowl substance, and mushrooms and greens make it feel like an actual meal rather than broth with aspirations.

Why we saved it: because our healthier recipe edit still needs cake.

Suzy Karadsheh’s Italian apple olive-oil cake is a rustic, not-too-sweet version filled with apples, golden raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg. Olive oil replaces butter, but we are not interested in pretending that transforms cake into a health intervention. It is simply a very good autumn cake with fruit, warm spice and the kind of texture that belongs beside coffee.

This is the weekend recipe in the group. Make it because people are coming over, because it is raining, or because making a cake is what you actually feel like doing.

Why it is useful: it keeps the edit realistic. A way of eating well that cannot make room for an actual slice of cake was never going to be particularly useful to us.