Simplicity shines on this list, because simplicity always shines in home cooking — the promise of a recipe that is more magic than chemistry, greater than the sum of its stewed, seared or sautéed parts.

Roasted Chicken With Fish-Sauce Butter

Roasting chicken thighs in a hot oven is a hands-off way to achieve two of life’s greatest pleasures: crispy skin and golden schmaltz. And you want that chicken fat because it will crisp hand-torn bread into croutons. This meal is made even more lovely thanks to a bold but balanced fish-sauce butter that you whip up on the stovetop while the rest of the meal takes care of itself in the oven. Be sure to start with cold butter; the gradual melting of the fat helps thicken the sauce without breaking it. — Eric Kim

Yield: 4 servings. Total time: 45 minutes.

Ingredients

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)

Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 pound bread, crusts removed, bread torn into bite-size pieces (about 4 cups; see tip)

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, kept whole

Cilantro leaves with tender stems, for serving

directions

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. 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 sheet pan and drizzle the oil over the chicken skin, coating it evenly. Roast until the chicken is light gold and the sheet pan is pooling with hot, rendered chicken fat, about 25 minutes.

2. Take the sheet pan out of the oven, scatter the bread around the chicken and toss gently to coat in the chicken fat. Place the pan 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 cilantro 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.

Cheesy, Spicy Black Bean Bake

Black beans shine in a deep-red mixture of fried garlic, caramelized tomato paste, smoked paprika and cumin. The whole skillet gets coated in a generous sprinkling of sharp cheddar or manchego cheese, then baked until melted. The final result is what you hope for from a really good chili or stew, but in a lot less time. For a spicier rendition, add a pinch of cayenne with the paprika, or douse the final skillet with hot sauce. Serve with tortillas, tortilla chips, rice, a baked potato or fried eggs. — Ali Slagle

Yield: 4 servings. Total time: 15 minutes.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

5 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 (14-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup boiling water

Kosher salt and black pepper

directions

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar or manchego cheese (from about a 6-ounce block)

1. Heat the oven to 475 degrees. In a 10-inch ovenproof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high. Fry the garlic until lightly golden, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste, paprika, red-pepper flakes and cumin (be careful of splattering), and fry for 30 seconds, reducing the heat as needed to prevent the garlic from burning.

2. Add the beans, water and generous pinches of salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top then bake until the cheese has melted, 5 to 10 minutes. If the top is not as browned as you’d like, run the skillet under the broiler for 1 or 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Coconut Curry Fish

Jamaican curry powder plays a major role in this deeply savory weeknight dish, giving the sauce its unique flavor and golden hue. The traditional spice blend is heavy on the turmeric, and benefits from being toasted, which brings out its notes. This recipe calls for frozen whiting, which doesn’t hold up to frying but shines here, simmered in a sauce studded with red and green bell peppers. If whiting is unavailable, cod is also a good choice. — Millie Peartree

Yield: 4 servings. Total time: 30 minutes.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium red bell peppers, deseeded and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick strips

2 medium green bell peppers, deseeded and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick strips

1 medium onion, sliced

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons Jamaican curry powder (hot or mild)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon grated ginger

4 (6-ounce) fillets frozen fish, such as whiting or cod

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk

1 lime

2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced, for garnish

Fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, for garnish

White rice or couscous, for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat a medium (10-inch) saucepan with deep sides over medium-high. Drizzle in olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add red and green bell peppers and onion, and sauté until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Add the curry powder to the pan, and toast for about 1 minute, stirring often to keep the curry from scorching. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the grated ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Place fish on top of cooked vegetables, or nestle them into the vegetables, if your pan is becoming too full. Pour coconut milk over fish and vegetables.

4. Cover and simmer over medium-low until fish is cooked and starts to flake, about 20 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Squeeze lime to taste over the top and garnish with scallions and cilantro. Serve with white rice or couscous.

One-Pot Tortellini With Meat Sauce

This no-chop, one-pot wonder comes together in 45 minutes with just a handful of pantry staples. Refrigerated or frozen tortellini plump in a meat sauce that’s brawny with hot or sweet Italian sausage and garlic. Finish the dish with a grating of Parmesan, or even a blanket of melted mozzarella, if you would like to turn it into more of a baked pasta. — Ali Slagle

Yield: 4 to 6 servings. Total time: 45 minutes.

Ingredients

4 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 pound hot or sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

1 (28-ounce) can whole or crushed tomatoes

Salt and pepper

About 1 pound fresh or frozen cheese tortellini (no need to thaw)

Finely grated Parmesan, for serving

1/2 cup/4 ounces grated mozzarella (optional)

directions

1. Finely grate the garlic into a large Dutch oven or skillet. Add the olive oil and tomato paste and set over medium-high heat. When it sizzles, stir until the oil is a rusty red, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sausage, breaking it into small pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is starting to crisp, 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomatoes. (If using whole tomatoes, break them up with your spoon.) Season with salt and pepper and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Simmer over medium until thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Stir in the tortellini, cover and cook until tender, 7 to 10 minutes, stirring halfway through and scraping any that might be stuck to the bottom of the pot. If the sauce looks dry, add 1/4 cup water. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve topped with Parmesan.

4. If you’d like a melted-cheese top like a baked pasta, heat the broiler with a rack in the upper third of the oven. Sprinkle the tortellini with the mozzarella. Broil until melted and browned in spots, 2 to 4 minutes.

Classic Potato Latkes

This recipe is for a classic, unadorned latke; no kohlrabi or cumin here. Serve them hot and make more than you think you need. They go fast. — Melissa Clark

Yield: About 3 dozen. Total time: 45 minutes.

Ingredients

2 large russet potatoes (about 1 pound), scrubbed and cut lengthwise into quarters

1 large onion (8 ounces), peeled and cut into quarters

2 large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon fine sea salt), plus more for sprinkling

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Safflower or other oil, for frying

directions

1. Using a food processor with a coarse grating disc, grate the potatoes and onion. Transfer the mixture to a clean dishtowel and squeeze and wring out as much of the liquid as possible.

2. Working quickly, transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the eggs, flour, salt, baking powder and pepper, and mix until the flour is absorbed.

3. In a medium heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, pour in about 1/4 inch of the oil. Once the oil is hot (a drop of batter placed in the pan should sizzle), use a heaping tablespoon to drop the batter into the hot pan, cooking in batches. Use a spatula to flatten and shape the drops into discs. When the edges of the latkes are brown and crispy, about 5 minutes, flip. Cook until the second side is deeply browned, about another 5 minutes. Transfer the latkes to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and sprinkle with salt while still warm. Repeat with the remaining batter.