Easy

I found this recipe while working with a lady who is gluten intolerant. At that time there weren't many recipes for her dietary needs and I wanted to make a special cake for her birthday. It's quite large, always popular and well suited for dessert. It's also great for Passover—a bonus!

This chicken takes about 10 minutes to pull together and then about a half hour of mostly hands-off time in the oven. In theory, you could time things so the chicken is ready as soon as the kids go to sleep. But if you can't for the life of you figure out a way to steal the few minutes needed for prep while the kids are awake, then just take care of step 1: Preheat the oven.

I love Jim Lahey's crust because it's thin, crispy, and so very reliable. I can't ever remember a night where it didn't work. When we're feeling healthy, we replace the white flour with whole wheat flour-if you want to be sneaky about it with the kids, you can start by just replacing half with whole wheat flour. We usually use one ball of dough for one dinner and then freeze the extra for another dinner later. To thaw, remove from freezer about two to three hours before using and work it with your hands if it's still stiff.

This Bloody Mary ditches traditional bottled tomato juice for the freshly pressed stuff made from Sun Gold or yellow tomatoes.

This recipe comes from New York chef Deuki Hong's father and has origins in North Korea, the ancestral home of mandu. (Sharing a border with China, it is no coincidence that mandu sounds a lot like the Chinese word for steamed bread, mantou.) Unlike versions stuffed with finely chopped kimchi, Deuki grew up eating mandu with kimchi on the side. The star in this recipe is the very generous quantity of butter, which is mixed in with the pork, garlic and ginger and adds a real-deal richness to each bite. Not typically used in East Asian cooking, butter is a fully Americanized, fully awesome way to rethink the mandu.

A raw creamed corn sauce takes the place of the traditional eggs in this silky, summer-fresh "carbonara."

Sweet and smoky flavors make this quick and easy pizza a new favorite.

Creamy ricotta cheese, herby pesto, and roasted cherry tomatoes give these French bread pizzas bright flavor and a fresh look.

Forget the freezer aisle! This classic is just as easy to make from scratch. Bonus: it's tastier, too.

Balsamic-marinated steak cooks over the broccolini and white beans in this sheet-pan dinner, flavoring them with its tasty juices.

The juices from cumin-rubbed chicken thighs soak into grapes, fennel, and squash as they all roast together in this simple, flavorful one-pan dinner.

Rather than pasta, this vegetarian version of the classic Southern Italian dish is tossed with spaghetti squash "noodles" for a delicious dinner that cooks entirely on just one sheet pan.

This classic Spanish dish comes together in a snap when cooked on a baking sheet.

If king trumpet mushrooms aren't available, use shiitake caps, which will also take well to the sweet-salty glaze.

This entire Italian-inspired dinner is cooked on two baking sheets, making clean-up a breeze.

A knife-and-fork situation, with plenty of crunch and gooey, melty textures going on.

"Oven-fried" fish fingers, coated in panko and pumpkin seeds, are the perfect taco filling.