An easy five-day family meal plan

think I am having a sauce moment with our newest recipes. Last night, I made Eric Kim’s chicken with fish-sauce butter. Then there is Hetty McKinnon’s tahini sauce with her roasted carrot salad.

They can be paired with chicken, tofu, grains, fish, vegetables, eggs and/or steak. This is a meal format I love – protein plus sauce – remarkably flexible in every way and a gift to cooks who just want to make something easy, then douse it with flavour.

Roasted chicken with fish-sauce butter

This recipe from Eric Kim is extremely delicious and not much work either. He takes baking tray chicken, toasts croutons in the schmaltz and – this is the brilliant moment – serves it with that sauce, made with fish sauce, brown sugar, lemon and butter. You could skip the croutons if you wanted, but they add a fun crunch.

Makes: 4 servings

Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 900g)

Salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

340g bread, crusts removed, bread torn into bite-size pieces (see tip below)

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, kept whole

Coriander leaves with tender stems, for serving

Method

1. Heat oven to 230C. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season lightly with salt and pepper (the fish-sauce butter is plenty salty, so don’t overdo the salt here). Arrange the chicken skin-side up on a baking tray and drizzle the oil over the chicken skin, coating it evenly. Roast until the chicken is light gold and the tray is pooling with hot, rendered chicken fat, about 25 minutes.

2. Take the tray out of the oven, scatter the bread around the chicken and toss gently to coat in the chicken fat. Place the tray back in the oven and roast until the chicken is golden, crispy and sizzling (you’ll hear it), about 15 minutes.

3. While the chicken roasts, combine the brown sugar, fish sauce and lemon juice in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, occasionally swirling the pan or stirring the sauce with a wooden spoon, until bubbling vigorously and the mixture has reduced by about half, 2 to 3 minutes. This part is fun: turn off the heat and add the butter, constantly swirling the pan or stirring with a wooden spoon, until all of the butter has melted and incorporated into the fish sauce mixture.

4. To serve, scatter the coriander all over the chicken and bread and spoon some of the fish-sauce butter over each chicken thigh, reserving some to add to each plate for dipping the chicken and croutons while eating (which is divine).

Tip: Many breads will work here, especially stale loaves that you’re trying to use up. Crusty sourdough lends pleasurable tang for instance, while chewy tender milk bread tastes comfortingly sweet.

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Baked spanakopita pasta with greens and feta

Ali Slagle bakes pasta with mozzarella, feta, a creamy sauce and a whole lot of greens, an inspired tribute to spanakopita, the Greek spinach pie. Highly recommended, especially if you love the combination of dill and feta.

Makes: 4 servings

Total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

Salt and black pepper

30g chopped spinach, Swiss chard or other mild greens (tough stems removed)

25g chopped rocket, watercress or other peppery greens

25g chopped fresh dill or parsley leaves and tender stems, or a combination

6 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced, whites and dark green parts separated

450g tubular or curvy pasta, like rigatoni or fusilli

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

225g cream cheese, cut into 1.3cm cubes

113g mozzarella, grated

113g crumbled feta

Ingredients

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat the oven to 230C.

2. In a 2.8L/22cm-by-33cm baking dish, toss the chopped spinach, rocket, herbs and spring onion greens with 2 teaspoons salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Squeeze the mixture with your hands to wilt, then set aside.

3. Cook the pasta in the boiling water until 2 minutes shy of al dente; reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain pasta and set aside. Return the pot to the stove.

4. Melt the butter in the pot over medium heat. Add the spring onion whites, garlic and a pinch of salt, and sauté until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the cream cheese and pasta water and stir until smooth. Stir in the wilted greens, half the mozzarella and half the feta until combined. Stir in the pasta until combined. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

5. Transfer the pasta to the baking dish, then top with remaining mozzarella and feta. Bake until the sauce has thickened and turned bubbly and the top has browned in spots, 10 to 15 minutes. If you like a crisper top, broil for a few minutes.

Seared prawns with chard, chillies and ginger

Fast to cook and humming with flavour, this recipe from Melissa Clark is essentially a stir-fry, and a good reason to keep frozen prawns on hand. They cook up as plump and juicy as fresh ones, as long as you defrost them properly.

Makes: 4 servings

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

680g cleaned large prawns

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more for seasoning the shrimp

2 bunches red or rainbow chard, rinsed (about 450g)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 hot chilli, seeded if desired and thinly sliced

1 long mild or sweet chilli, thinly sliced

1 shallot, chopped

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root

2 teaspoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar, to taste

60g coriander leaves

Method

1. Season prawns generously with salt. Wash and trim chard, thinly slicing the stems.

2. In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil, then add prawns and sear until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer prawns to a plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the pan, let heat for a few seconds, then add garlic, chilli peppers, shallot and ginger and sauté until slightly browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in sugar, pepper and salt and cook for 1 minute longer. Stir in chard stems and sauté until they start to soften, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the greens to the pan along with 2 tablespoons water and immediately cover the pan. Keep it covered for 2 to 3 minutes to allow the greens to wilt. Once the greens have cooked down, remove the lid and continue cooking for a few more minutes to allow the water to evaporate. Add the prawns and any liquid accumulated on the plate and cook just until the prawns are heated through, about 1 minute longer. Drizzle with the sherry vinegar and gently toss to coat. Serve hot, garnished with the coriander.

One-pan roasted fish with cherry tomatoes

I love a cherry tomato that has collapsed and sweetened in the pan. Lidey Heuck roasts them with garlic, shallots, sherry vinegar and a drizzle of honey, and pairs them with fish fillets for an easy, lovely meal.

Makes: 4 servings

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

300g cherry tomatoes, halved

80g thinly sliced shallots (about 1 large)

2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 large cloves)

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing

1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

½ teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste

4 (170g) skin-on mild white fish fillets, such as cod or halibut

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest (from about ½ lemon)

Chopped fresh basil, for serving

Chopped fresh mint, for serving

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C. Place the tomatoes, shallots and garlic in a 22cm-by-33cm nonreactive baking dish. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Pour over the tomatoes and toss to combine. Roast until the tomatoes have collapsed and the shallots are translucent, about 15 minutes.

2. While the tomatoes roast, pat the fish dry with paper towels, brush all over with olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper.

3. Toss the tomatoes, move them to the sides of the dish and place the fish fillets, evenly spaced, in the center. Roast until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 12 minutes.

4. Sprinkle the entire dish with the lemon zest, basil and mint. Serve the fish with the tomatoes, spooning any remaining juices on top.

Warm roasted carrot and barley salad

In the Before Times, when people came over for dinner, I often roasted carrots, allowing them to nearly blacken in the oven; I served them on a platter with swoops of seasoned yogurt and piles of herbs. Hetty McKinnon’s new recipe makes those carrots the base of a filling meal, pairing them with barley, a rich tahini dressing and almonds for crunch. I can’t wait to try this one.

Makes: 6 servings

Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup pearled barley

Salt and black pepper

900g carrots, washed, trimmed and cut into 7.5cm-long, a scant 1.3cm-wide batons

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons runny honey, such as clover honey

½ teaspoon fresh lemon zest (from ½ lemon)

25g rocket

A handful of parsley

24g cup toasted sliced almonds

For the spiced tahini:

65g tahini

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from ½ lemon)

1 teaspoon ras el hanout

1 small garlic clove, grated

Method

1. Heat oven to 220C and place a rack on the lowest shelf. In a medium saucepan, combine barley with 4 cups water; season with ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. If the barley hasn’t absorbed all of the water, drain off the excess.

2. Meanwhile, place the carrots on a sheet pan, drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat, spreading into an even layer. Season with salt and pepper. Place on the bottom oven rack and roast until tender and starting to turn golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, toss and return to the oven for 5 to 7 minutes until completely tender.

3. While the carrots roast, make the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, ras el hanout, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it is smooth and has a pourable consistency.

4. When the carrots are ready, remove them from the oven, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with lemon zest. Season with a pinch of salt and toss to coat.

5. In a serving bowl, combine the carrots with the barley, rocket and parsley. Drizzle with the spiced tahini and sprinkle with almonds.

© The New York Times