It’s no secret that Bon Appétit editors cook a lot for work. So it should come as no surprise that we cook a lot during our off hours too. Here are the recipes we’re whipping up this month to get dinner on the table, entertain our friends, satisfy a sweet tooth, use up leftovers, and everything in between. For even more staff favorites, click here.
July 3
A salmon lover’s dream
I’m a lover of all things salmon so when I tried my colleague Jesse Szewczyk’s newest drop with a vibrant dill chimichurri, I beamed. This will be my go-to recipe for the season. Grilling the fillets on top of lemon slices eliminates the risk of the fish sticking to the grill (and therefore losing my beloved salmon skin), plus charred citrus adds biting acidity. No dill? Parsley works. No serrano? So does jalapeño. The only non-negotiable is the lemons…and I guess the salmon too. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations manager
Staff-fave broc salad
This broccoli salad from Beverly Kim is a longtime BA staff favorite. Of course you need broccoli. But from there, you can adjust depending on what you have around. Instead of ras-el-hanout, I used curry powder. Instead of white balsamic, sherry vinegar. Instead of honey, maple syrup. It was a dream as always. To round out the meal, I broiled some Halloumi until golden and bubbly. The next day, I had the leftovers with burrata. Yes, I love cheese. —Emma Laperruque, cooking director
This salad puts all the best textures on a spoon: crisp, raw broccoli; chewy, sticky dates; and crunchy toasted pistachios. The ras-el-hanout, a Moroccan spice blend featuring aromatic and warm spices, adds a smoky depth to the bright citrusy dressing, which soaks into the broccoli as it sits. Don’t have ras-el-hanout? Garam masala, baharat, or curry powder will also work. And if you’re a meal prepper, this is a great make-ahead salad—it only gets better with a little time.
Homemade zucchini blossom pizza
Thanks to Olivia, my colleague from the shopping team, I recently came into a pizza oven (yeah, I know I’m blessed). I mixed up a batch of 70% hydration dough and, after watching a series of videos on how to throw pizza (these two were the most helpful), I felt ready. I reckon it’s a bit of beginner’s luck that both my pizzas came out reasonably well—recognizably pizza-shaped, with no tears or ungainly sticking. We made a white pie with zucchini blossoms and jalapeño. Next week it’ll be sausage and broccoli rabe. —Shilpa Uskokovic, senior Test Kitchen editor
The gift of steak
Instead of rolling the dice on a birthday gift, my boyfriend’s best friend did something smart: He got a stunning ribeye from the butcher. And that meant his gift was also my gift, so thank you, Stephen. As the steak whisperer, I’ve gotten my method down to a T. I loosely follow this recipe from Carla Lalli Music, covering every centimeter with salt and pepper, then searing the cut in a hissing cast-iron, rotating the steak every two minutes. Once it develops a crackly crust, I’ll lower the heat slightly, add in a fat knob of butter, and a few garlic cloves. Baste, baste, baste then rest, rest, rest. Carla says 15 minutes but I couldn’t wait more than 10. —Nina Moskowitz, associate editor, cooking
Rich marbled meats are extra-delicious when served with cool, crunchy, acidic vegetables.
Well-reviewed grilled chicken
I rarely cook meat at home, but I could no longer resist the gravitational pull toward Sheldon Simeon’s Miso-Peanut Hibachi Chicken. A hit with readers since it published, it kept popping up during my workdays. You marinate chicken thighs in—you guessed it—a mixture of miso and peanut butter. (Plus soy sauce, brown sugar, and beer.) Then you grill them until deeply, deliciously charred. I served mine with a juicy cucumber-onion salad (just those ingredients plus seasoned rice vinegar), steamed white rice, and some sambal oelek to spoon on top with abandon. —E.L.
The magical combination of miso and peanut butter beautifully caramelizes when it hits the grill.