Dinner

Every dinner entry in the Typed recipes library. Each one is a full page: what it does, stage by stage, and what the evidence says.

• Baked Cod with White BeansA lean white fish sat on beans that soak up everything in the pan.
• Baked Portobello with FetaA mushroom big enough to be the main thing on the plate.
• Baked Salmon & BroccoliOne tray, one temperature, dinner in under half an hour.
• Barley Mushroom RisottoPearl barley does everything arborio rice does, with more fibre and far less stirring.
• Barramundi with Bok ChoySteamed fish and greens, finished with ginger and almost nothing else.
• Beef & Barley StewNinety minutes, mostly unattended, and it is better reheated the next day.
• Beef BologneseA sauce that only gets good after the first twenty minutes, so give it the full forty-five.
• Beef BulgogiThe marinade has grated pear in it, which is a tenderiser, not a sweetener, and it genuinely works.
• Beef GoulashPaprika is not a garnish in this dish — it is measured in tablespoons and it is the whole flavour.
• Beef Kofta with YogurtSpiced mince pressed onto skewers, with a cold yogurt sauce doing the cooling.
• Beef with Roasted VegetablesA classic combination that leans on the oven to do most of the work.
• Bison BurgerLeaner than beef, which means it needs a hotter pan and about two minutes less on it.
• Black Bean EnchiladasRolled, sauced and baked. Assemble it in the morning and it goes in the oven untouched at seven.
• Butter ChickenThe marinade is the recipe. Everything after it is thirty minutes of stirring a pan.
• Calamari with Rocket & LemonSquid is either cooked in two minutes or in forty. There is nothing in between.
• CarbonaraFour ingredients, no cream, and the entire difficulty is in not scrambling the eggs.
• Chicken & Chorizo RiceOne pan, and the chorizo fat is what everything else gets cooked in.
• Chicken & Okra GumboThe roux takes twenty minutes of continuous stirring and decides whether the whole pot is worth eating.
• Chicken & Vegetable Stir-FryHigh heat, a few minutes, and everything stays crisp instead of turning to mush.
• Chicken CacciatoreHunter’s chicken: browned thighs braised in tomato, olives and wine until the meat comes off the bone.
• Chicken Coconut CurryA weeknight curry that tastes like it took an afternoon.
• Chicken FajitasOne hot pan, and everyone builds their own at the table.
• Chicken Katsu CurryA Japanese curry that is mild, thick and faintly sweet, and nothing like an Indian one.
• Chickpea & Spinach StewTwo tins and a bag of spinach, and dinner is twenty-five minutes away.
• Clams with LinguineNo cheese, no cream, and no tomato. The sauce is clam juice, oil and pasta water, and that is enough.
• Crab LinguineThe crab is barely cooked at all — it is warmed through by the pasta and nothing else.
• Duck Breast with CherriesStart the duck in a cold pan. All the fat renders out and the skin ends up like glass.
• Eggplant ParmigianaRoast the eggplant instead of frying it and the dish stops being a sponge for oil.
• FeijoadaBrazil’s national dish. Two hours of nothing happening, and then the best pot of beans you will eat.
• Fish TagineA North African braise where the fish goes in at the very end and poaches in the sauce.
• Goat CurryThe most eaten red meat on the planet, and it needs two hours before it is worth eating.
• JambalayaOne pot, three proteins and rice cooked in the middle of it all. Do not stir it once the rice goes in.
• Jerk ChickenThe marinade is genuinely fierce and the allspice is what makes it Jamaican rather than merely hot.
• Kangaroo Stir-FryOne of the leanest red meats there is, which means it wants high heat and a short cook.
• Kung Pao ChickenThe sauce is mixed in a cup before anything is cooked, because the whole dish takes four minutes in the pan.
• Lamb & Chickpea CouscousA cinnamon-warm braise spooned over couscous, which takes five minutes and no skill.
• Lamb Cutlets with GreensCutlets take four minutes a side, so everything else has to be ready before they hit the pan.
• Lamb Rogan JoshNinety minutes, almost all of it unattended, and the lamb ends up falling apart in the sauce.
• Lemon Garlic Chicken ThighsSkin-on thighs, a whole head of garlic, and a tray that needs no attention for forty minutes.
• Lentil Shepherd’s PieThe lentils do not pretend to be mince. They are just good in their own right under mashed potato.
• Liver & OnionsThe most nutrient-dense food in the library by a wide margin, and it takes four minutes to cook.
• Mapo TofuSilken tofu in a fierce, numbing sauce, and it is on the table in twenty-five minutes.
• Massaman Beef CurryThe mildest Thai curry and the only one with potatoes and peanuts in it, which is the Persian influence showing.
• Miso-Glazed CodFour ingredients and eight minutes of work, and it is the best-looking plate in the library.
• MoussakaAn hour and a half of work for six dinners, and it is better reheated on the second day.
• Mushroom StroganoffMushrooms browned hard enough to taste like something that was never meat.
• Mussels MarinièreTen minutes, one pot, and about 40g of protein a serving for the price of a sandwich.
• Ostrich Steak with GreensA red meat from a bird, leaner than chicken breast, and ruined by anything past medium rare.
• Oven-Baked Fish & WedgesFish and chips without the deep fryer, and no worse for it.
• Pad ThaiTen minutes of cooking and twenty of preparation, in that order, because there is no time to chop once the pan is hot.
• Peri Peri ChickenSpatchcock it. A flat bird cooks in forty minutes instead of ninety and the skin crisps everywhere.
• Pork & Cabbage Stir-FryCabbage, cooked fast and hot, stops being the vegetable nobody wanted.
• Pork & Fennel MeatballsFennel seed and pork is the combination every good sausage is already using.
• Pork & Pineapple TacosThe pineapple is not a garnish — its enzymes tenderise the pork while it marinates.
• Pork Belly with GreensTwo and a half hours, of which two are the oven doing nothing and you doing nothing either.
• Pork SouvlakiMarinated pork on skewers. The only real skill is not cooking it until it is dry.
• Prawn Green CurryPrawns go in last and cook in ninety seconds — everything else is ready before they see the pan.
• RatatouilleEvery vegetable cooked separately before they meet, which is the whole argument between a good one and a bad one.
• Red Lentil DahlLentils, spice and coconut milk — the cheapest hot meal in the library, and one of the best.
• Roast Chicken with Root VegetablesOne tray, one oven, and the vegetables cooked in the chicken fat.
• Roast Pork with ApplePork and apple, together for the reason every classic pairing exists: the acid cuts the fat.
• Saffron RisottoTwenty minutes of standing over a pan stirring, which is the entire recipe and cannot be shortened.
• Salmon en PapilloteFish steamed in a paper parcel, which means no pan to wash and no way to overcook it.
• Salmon FishcakesThe mix has to be chilled before it is shaped. Skip that and they fall apart in the pan, every time.
• Scallops with Pea PuréeScallops take ninety seconds a side. Everything else on the plate should be finished before they go in the pan.
• Seafood PaellaDo not stir it. The crust on the bottom of the pan is the best part of the dish.
• Shrimp with Zucchini NoodlesA lighter, lower-carb take on shrimp scampi.
• Spaghetti PuttanescaAnchovies, olives and capers — a sauce built entirely from things that live in a cupboard.
• Steak with ChimichurriA raw herb sauce that takes five minutes and outperforms anything you can buy in a jar.
• Stuffed Cabbage RollsFiddly for half an hour, then an hour in the oven where nothing can go wrong.
• Swedish MeatballsThe bread soaked in milk is what makes them tender. Skip it and you have made small burgers.
• Teriyaki Salmon BowlA glaze you make from two ingredients you already own.
• Tofu Noodle Stir-FryGet the tofu properly crisp first and the rest is four minutes of tossing.
• Tofu Vegetable CurryA fully plant-based curry that still hits a real protein target.
• Tuna & Tomato PastaFour store-cupboard tins and a packet of pasta, twenty minutes, no shopping.
• Turkey Meatballs with PastaA lighter meatball, built from ground turkey instead of beef or pork.
• Turkey Stuffed PeppersPeppers used as the dish as well as the vegetable.
• Vegetable LasagneA lasagne that does not miss the mince, provided you roast the vegetables first.
• Vegetarian Bean ChiliA big batch that tastes better the next day — freezes well too.
• Venison with Root VegetablesOne of the leanest red meats there is, which is exactly why it has to be cooked slowly or not at all.

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