Here’s some good news worth shouting from the rooftops: Yewande Komolafe is back! After a serious illness that kept her out of the kitchen for more than a year, she’s sharing her creative, soulful words and recipes in her column once again.
First up is her Ghanaian light soup, a popular dish across West Africa.
“Impossibly rich but never heavy or thick,” Yewande writes in The New York Times, the soup is traditionally made from dried fish or meat simmered with tomatoes, ginger, chiles and other aromatics. But in her take — inspired by Afia Amoako of “Eat With Afia” — Yewande substitutes a mix of dried and fresh mushrooms to make a plant-based meal. Intensely flavored and supremely comforting, it’s both a balm and a delight.
Featured Recipe
Light Soup With Mushrooms
But wait! I have even more thrilling news to share. After nearly a year of interim restaurant critic duty after Pete Wells stepped down last summer, Priya Krishna and I are returning to our regular roles. Tejal Rao and Ligaya Mishan have been named co-chief restaurant critics, and we’ll see an ambitious expansion of our restaurant reviews in New York and across the country. I cannot wait to read what these two brilliant writers have to say.
More food for thought
Lemon-miso tofu with broccoli: Here’s Hetty Lui McKinnon’s vegetarian version of Cantonese-style lemon chicken, swapping in tofu for the meat. A touch of miso in the sauce adds umami notes and tones down the usual sweetness. Hetty fries the tofu in a skillet until it’s golden and crisp, but you can use an air-fryer if that’s more convenient.
One-pot bean and tomato stew with cod: Kay Chun offers yet another excellent destination for all your canned beans in this low effort, complexly flavored dish. Fresh oregano and butter give loads of herby richness, and make it perfect for scooping up with torn flatbread or hearty sourdough.
Creamy artichoke and charred scallion pasta: You’ll need 50 (yes, 50!) scallions to make Carolina Gelen’s smart new recipe. By deeply charring them until blackened on the outside and sweet and soft within, she transforms these humble alliums into a savory, caramelized pasta sauce studded with chopped artichokes and brightened with lemon and Parmesan.
Chicken meatballs with pesto: Pungent garlic and basil infuse Dan Pelosi’s snappy meatballs, which can be made with homemade or store-bought pesto depending upon your bandwidth. Either way, save some of that verdant sauce for dipping.
No-bake lemon custards with strawberries: I love this easy dessert, which can be stirred together in a saucepan. Based on a recipe for traditional British possets, these soft custards are set with lemon juice instead of gelatin or eggs. Velvety, jiggly and barely sweet, they’re full of lemon zest and topped with sugared strawberries.
To get these and the thousands and thousands of other recipes at New York Times Cooking, you’ll want to subscribe. If you’re waylaid by a technical snag, email the smart people at cookingcare@nytimes.com for help. And I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com if you want to say hi.
That’s all for now. I’ll see you on Monday.
