YURA’S MEALS-TO-GO

Here are some highlights from this week’s Meals-to-Go:

Salmon-Kale-Potato Cakes are no ordinary croquettes; they’re full-on flakes of poached fish and buttery winter greens mingled with crushed potato. You can try to muffle the cakes’ toasted-panko crunch with a little Lemon Aioli. The tangy “Pickleback Slaw” is the perfect pick-me-up: shredded red and green cabbage, carrots, and sweet-tart Granny Smiths, in a dressing seasoned with, you guessed it, pickle juice. And, what about those Americana Baked Tomatoes? They’re everything you’d hope for, down to the heavenly Buttered-Crumb Topping.

Such a breezy elegance to this simple Roasted Chicken, thanks to Buddy’s flair with aromatics. With intention, he stashes thyme sprigs, quartered lemons, and split heads of garlic into the cavity—while making it seem like a casual gesture. Magic works out of sight while the birds get a good roasting, but there’s a visible transformation of the aromatics scattered around the pan. Mushrooms, Onions, Carrots, and Fennel make a sofa of sorts for the chickens, roasting in the open, and mingling in the drippings that caramelize around them. Clearly, the makings of great Pan Gravy (that just begs for a scoop of Simple Mashed Potatoes).

Bolognese has a lot of purchase with hungry readers of this newsletter. Pin that word to a MTG and it invariably sells out fast. So, pay close attention to the unique attributes of this one—a vegetarian version with many of the hallmarks of the traditional meaty sauce. Eggplant-Mushroom Bolognese Lasagna is layered with that textured “ragu” of well-roasted mushrooms, silky-smooth eggplant, carrots and tomatoes, between sheets of supple egg pasta and fresh basil. Shaved ricotta salata gives a concentrated kick to the ricotta custard, and the dish is topped off with a deep layer of shredded mozzarella.

We’ve mastered a pan sauce usually made à la minute: Tomato, Shallot and Caper “Vinaigrette” that we drape across Pan-Roasted Salmon. Step aside, rice pilafs and potato permutations, Italian Gnudi are the accompaniment of the day. Think feather-weight little dumplings of Ricotta, Spinach and Goat Cheese sauced with toasty Sage Browned Butter. With this, nothing goes better than a fresh salad: Arugula and Shaved Mushrooms (to be tossed with the Lemon and Olive Oil and shaved Parmesan you get on the side).

If you grew up eating meatloaf as a kid, chances are your mom had her go-to. Then one fateful sleepover at a friend’s house and the jig’s up—meatloaf comes in all different stripes! Week over week, our MTG menus are one endless meatloaf crawl, as our chefs reveal every style and spin from a hundred and one homes. Perhaps Monday’s will remind you of that first eye-opener you coveted as a kid: Maple-Dijon Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf served with Parsnip-Mashed Potatoes and Thyme-Buttered Leeks, Baby Peas and Carrots.