Start the year off right with these recipes that will leave you feeling refreshed and energized.
Becky Hughes’ Vegan Caesar Salad. Linda Hsiao of the New York Times. Food stylist: Monica Pierini.
Published on January 2, 2025 Updated on January 3, 2025
Eating well at the beginning of each year can be a daunting task, with unfamiliar cooking methods and potentially monotonous meals. But sometimes, all you need to get creative is a board of new recipes. So let’s consider the following 14 items. It’s fresh, voluminous, and full of deliciousness. Tested and vetted by recipe developers and editors, as well as readers. Healthy can look different to different people, but the purpose of these dishes is to help you cook and create something that you feel is nutritious. Read this article to gain confidence in cooking, and above all, to introduce you to dishes that taste truly delicious.
Check out more easy and healthy recipes at NYT Cooking.
Johnny Miller of the New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
This Andy Baragani recipe is a great example of how several ingredients can bring out the best in each other. The grapefruit zest and juice (I used orange, though) sings when combined with honey, miso, and ginger. The butter leek rice is also amazing. You won’t believe you made it yourself!
Kerry Marshall of the New York Times. Food stylist: Roscoe Bessil. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Ground chicken is much easier to eat than thighs or breasts, and this weeknight banger from Keichun adds flavor to the seasoned Korean short ribs. Some are springy noodle dishes, some are salads, and require little cooking. Vermicelli is very important for its lightness and is much more enjoyable to chew and slurp than noodles made with eggs or wheat.
Linda Hsiao of the New York Times. Food stylist: Monica Pierini.
You only have to try this Becky Hughes recipe once to understand the hype. Comment sections are filled with fervent converts, but perhaps no fan is more vocal than my colleague Natasha Janardhan. he told me: It’s the perfect balance of salty, crunchy, creamy, and flavorful, and the dressing is amazing. ”
Christopher Testani of the New York Times. Food stylist: Simon Andrews.
Each ingredient in this five-ingredient Ali Slagle recipe (including the juices from the kimchi container) provides great flavor. It only takes 20 minutes, so it’s easy to wrap up at the end of a long day.
Christopher Testani of the New York Times. Food stylist: Simon Andrews.
Made with firm tofu, raw garlic, sugar, and five spices, Hetty Louis McKinnon’s luscious sauce goes great with just about anything, but perhaps its best use is as a drizzle over chewy Chinese noodles. It’s creamy even without fresh cream, and has the added protein and texture of fresh tofu.
Brian Gardner of the New York Times. Food Stylist: Greg Loft.
If you’re boiling frozen dumplings and calling it dinner, consider doing what Hetty Louis McKinnon did and turning them into a great dinner with just a few tweaks. Smash a Persian cucumber with a handful of coriander and drizzle with a garlicky peanut soy sauce to turn these easy dumplings into a meal, worthy of proper silverware and cloth napkins.
Julia Gartland (Photography and Styling) for The New York Times
The best part about this Liddy Huke recipe is that you can get it as thick as you like (soup-thick, rich, or somewhere in between) by varying the amount of Parmesan and the length of time you cook the beans. It will take at most 30 minutes, but it will be shorter if you commit it to memory (which is very easy).
David Marosh of the New York Times. Food stylist: Simon Andrews.
Take a look at Sohla El-Wayly’s Spoon Salad, or salad eaten with a spoon, for a different perspective. Packed with exciting textures from fresh broccoli, pecans, dried cranberries, and cheddar cheese. It’s quick and filling and adds a spot of brightness and punch to your day. Broccoli doesn’t need to be parboiled or cooked, as its raw texture pairs perfectly with other ingredients.
Andrew Purcell of the New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburn.
Sue Li’s steamed chicken dish proves you don’t need much for a protein-rich diet. It can be made in one pot and steams to perfection, but best of all, it’s very filling. The recipe uses boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but you can also use thighs or whole chicken breasts with the skin on to bring it closer to the dish’s Chinese origins.
Andrew Scrivani of the New York Times
Braised together with pinto beans, elbow macaroni, chopped tomatoes, and a bouquet of herbs, it’s hearty and satisfying. This classic Italian soup recipe by Martha Rose Shulman calls for cooking the beans from scratch, which gives them more flavor and weight, but canned beans are perfectly fine.
Con Plos of the New York Times. Food Stylist: Jerry-Joy Redman-Lloyd.
Hetty Louis McKinnon’s vegan version of Lao cuisine is lively, punchy, and meaty, thanks to crumbled firm tofu. As a bonus, this recipe is almost entirely assembly-friendly and requires very little actual cooking. A lime juice dressing lends a bold tartness to an already bright recipe, but for an extra flavor boost, try dipping the finished wraps in the dressing.
Kerry Marshall of the New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
This recipe from Priya Krishna can be made into anything you want. Feel free to choose your favorite protein (paneer, halloumi, tofu, etc.) and your favorite leafy vegetables. The result is a dish that’s fragrant, flavorful, nutritious, and can be seriously whipped up whenever you’re in need of some joy.
Yoshi Arefi for The New York Times (Photography and Styling)
If you don’t like raw salads, Yossy Arefi’s warm salads are perfect. Equal parts sweet from the potatoes and nutty from the toasted brown butter vinaigrette with sage and boiled lentils, it’s perfect for fall, but delicious year-round. A hint of funk from the goat cheese is optional, but highly, highly recommended.
Armando Rafael of the New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
Tagine on a weekday night? You can do that with this simplified recipe of Nargis Venkabu. From start to finish, it takes just an hour to enjoy the fruits of your labor thanks to preserved lemons, turmeric, ginger, olives, and onions. Making preserved lemons at home is easy and very rewarding, but in a pinch regular lemons will do too.
