Week of August 9th

Halloumi Souvlaki Bowl

Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Servings: Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 cup water
¾ teaspoon dried oregano
¾ teaspoon dried thyme
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt
2 (8-ounce) packages halloumi, cut into ½-inch slices
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and dried
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ cup plain yogurt
1 medium garlic clove, finely grated
2 cup cherry tomatoes (about 11 ounces), halved
4 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
4 lemon wedges

Directions:
Rinse and drain the white rice. Place in a small pot with a fitted lid and cover the rice with 1 cup water. Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the rice has come to a boil, cover with a lid and immediately reduce the heat to low. Cook the rice until plump, 10 to 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep the lid on while you make the halloumi and chickpeas.
Combine the oregano, thyme, cumin, crushed red pepper and about ½ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Add halloumi and toss to coat.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium. Add the halloumi and cook until golden brown on both sides, 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the same skillet and add the chickpeas and paprika, toss to coat and cook until the paprika is toasted and the chickpeas are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt. Set aside.
Fluff the cooked rice and fold in the yogurt and grated garlic; season to taste with salt.
To serve, divide the rice among 4 bowls, top with the halloumi, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. Serve with lemon wedges.

So, just a warning. Halloumi is tasty, but not cheap. At least it wast cheap at the Giant Eagle here in Appalachia. You could use tofu for this, too.

Also- This recipe has you mix the yogurt sauce into the rice, I think it's better if you just keep it separate and use it like a dressing over the who dish. Mix in a little lemon and salt.

Lentil Soup with Greens and Rice

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
½ cup finely chopped herbs (such as cilantro, parsley, and/or dill)
2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more
5 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 medium onions, thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Freshly ground pepper
⅔ cup basmati rice
⅔ cup French green lentils
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

Directions:
Wrap one 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, in a clean kitchen towel and twist and squeeze towel tightly over the sink to expel as much liquid as possible.
Melt 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter in a medium Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add spinach and ½ cup finely chopped herbs (such as cilantro, parsley, and/or dill) and season with kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up spinach, until mixture is combined and spinach and herbs are slightly darkened in color, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
Heat 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in same pot over medium-high. Add 3 medium onions, thinly sliced, and season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and frizzled around the edges, 9–12 minutes. Add 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, and cook, stirring often, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 1 Tbsp. ground coriander, 2 tsp. ground cumin, ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring often, until combined, about 1 minute.
Add ⅔ cup basmati rice, ⅔ cup French green lentils, 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 6 cups water; stir to combine. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat so soup is at a simmer and cook until rice is cooked through and lentils are tender (they will still retain a bit of bite), 30–35 minutes.
Stir spinach mixture into soup and cook, stirring often, until combined and heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add juice of 1 lemon and remaining 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter; stir until butter is melted. Taste soup and season with salt and black pepper.
Mix 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt, a big pinch of salt, and remaining 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a small bowl to combine. Ladle soup into bowls and top each with a spoonful of yogurt mixture to serve.

Well, this is just one big pot of lentils and rice. It's fine, if thats what you're in the mood for. I had petite french lentils left over from last week, so there's that. Get some bread from the bakery or make some kind of flatbread to go with it. Four onions is getting into "extreme onion" territory. I think two is just fine. Take the 12 or so minutes to cook them down properly.

Rigatoni with Marinated Tomatoes and Burrata

Cook Time: 50 minutes | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:
Ingredient check list
1½ pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into ½-inch pieces
1½ teaspoons table salt, plus salt for cooking pasta
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon sugar
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound rigatoni
8 ounces burrata cheese, room temperature
½ cup fresh basil leaves, torn

Directions:
Combine tomatoes, salt, pepper, and sugar in bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and garlic in 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until garlic just begins to turn golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour hot oil mixture over tomatoes and toss to combine. Let sit for at least 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Drain pasta and return it to pot.
Drain tomatoes in colander set over bowl. Add tomatoes and ½ cup drained tomato juice to pasta and toss vigorously until liquid is mostly absorbed. Adjust consistency with extra tomato juice as needed. Transfer pasta to serving bowls. Cut burrata into 1-inch pieces, collecting creamy liquid. Sprinkle burrata over pasta and drizzle with creamy liquid. Drizzle with remaining ¼ cup oil. Season with pepper to taste and sprinkle with basil. Serve.

This dinner is exactly as good as the tomatoes you use. We happened to have kick ass tomatoes on hand so the dinner was equally as kick ass. I would not make this during the winter with waxy tasteless hothouse tomatoes.

Also, I'm picking up that burrata is becoming the "it cheese" of the summer of '26. It's showing up everywhere all of a sudden. If you're not familiar, it's like a creamy, yolky Italian cheese that is quite good and rich if you can find it. Whole milk fresh mozzarella is fine here, too.

Grilled Barbecue Chicken and Peach Salad

Cook Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:
Ingredient check list
6 (3- to 5-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon table salt, divided
¾ teaspoon pepper, divided
6 tablespoons barbecue sauce, divided
2 peaches, halved and pitted
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
10 ounces (10 cups) mesclun and baby spinach mix
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (1 cup)
½ red onion, sliced thin and rinsed

Directions:
Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle with paprika, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Grill over hot fire (covered if using gas) until chicken is browned all over and registers 175 degrees, 12 to 16 minutes. Brush chicken all over with ¼ cup barbecue sauce and grill until sauce is sticky and charred, 1 to 2 minutes, flipping halfway through grilling. Transfer to cutting board and tent with foil.
Grill peaches cut sides down over hot fire until lightly caramelized, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to cutting board.
Slice chicken ½ inch thick and cut peaches into ¾-inch pieces. Whisk oil, vinegar, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce together in large bowl. Add mesclun, goat cheese, onion, and peaches and toss to combine. Top salad with chicken. Serve.

I used check breasts and mixed in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the rub. Don't get too hung up on finding mesclun. You can get a 5 oz bag of baby spinach and mix it with 5 oz of arugula or escarole. Or spring mix.

In general, I try to avoid sounding like those commenters in NYT cooking who insist on suggesting all the ways they completely re-did the entire ingredients list, but here we go. I apologize in advance. I added toasted, sliced almonds (left over from the lemony farro pasta salad) and sliced avocado to this.

Oven Risotto with Mushrooms

Cook Time: total time 50 minutes | Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. mixed wild, shiitake, and/or crimini mushrooms, broken into pieces or sliced ¼" thick (about 4 cups)
3 garlic cloves, peeled, thinly sliced
6 thyme sprigs
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1¾ tsp. (or more) kosher salt, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup arborio rice
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ cup dry vermouth or white wine
3 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth, divided
2 oz. finely grated Parmesan (about 1 cup)
2 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
½ tsp. finely grated lemon zest
⅓ cup coarsely chopped parsley leaves
Lemon wedges (for serving)

Directions:
Place racks in bottom third and middle of oven; preheat to 350°F. Toss mushrooms, garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes, ¼ cup oil, and ½ tsp. salt on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast on bottom rack, tossing halfway through, until deeply golden brown and crisped, 25–30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large ovenproof Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened and slightly translucent, 3–5 minutes. Stir in rice; season with pepper and ½ tsp. salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until some grains are translucent, about 2 minutes. Add vermouth, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until pan is almost dry, about 2 minutes. Add 2½ cups stock. Bring to a simmer, then cover and bake in oven until liquid is mostly absorbed but rice is still slightly firm in the center, 16–18 minutes.
Return pot to stove and heat over medium. Add remaining ½ cup stock and cook, stirring constantly, until rice is tender but still has some bite and sauce is creamy, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan, butter, and lemon zest; season to taste with salt, if needed. Add a little bit of warm water, if needed, until risotto is thick but still pourable.
Transfer risotto to a platter. Top with crispy mushrooms and parsley. Drizzle with oil. Serve with lemon wedges alongside.

If I can't find decent wild mushrooms in the grocery store to use for this, I just grab 3 or 4 portobellos, slice them up and grill them using the same spice rub above.

Also- there is no need to cook risotto in the oven. You can do this whole thing on the stovetop keeping the rice at a controlled simmer.

Finally, there is a version of this recipe floating around using polenta instead of rice, FYI. Seems reasonable.