With months of quarantine, stuck at home with not much to do, I’ve decided to make my way through my backlog of bookmarked recipes. I religiously scroll the New York Times recipes and my busy schedule sometimes kept me from making them. Now, with nothing but time on my hands (and the prospect of wearing a bikini this summer diminishing) I’ve been cranking out some amazing recipes. Read on to see what I’ve made and loved, with links to the recipes as well! Read on for our favorite quarantine recipes!
Green Goddess Roasted Chicken: We celebrated our first wedding anniversary in quarantine, so I wanted to make something special to commemorate it. For this, I made the New York Times Green Goddess roasted chicken recipe which was DELISH. The sauce (a mixture of cilantro, basil, other herbs and yogurt) keeps the chicken super moist and flavorful. I did them with roasted veggies, which worked really well. Recipe here.
Carnitas Tacos: We’ve been making tacos about once a week in quarantine because they are easy and a great way to clean out the fridge. The first part of quarantine was your standard ground beef taco, but I wanted to step things up and explore the tacos my husband and I would get at a great Mexican restaurant, such as Empellon. So, I turned to the New York Times for their pork carnitas tacos and this was SUCH a crowd pleaser. They are jam-packed with flavor from orange zest and cinnamon sticks. We did these in a slowcooker and finished them off in the oven to make them crispy. Recipe here.
Dutch Babies: I had only had Dutch Babies once prior to quarantine, at this incredible restaurant in Washington, DC, so when I started seeing it pop up in my Instagram stories from friends, I joined the bandwagon. These are super easy to make and visually stunning. On top of that, they are delicious. For the same effort of making pancakes, you can make these Dutch Babies and top them with your favorite fruits. We highly recommend. Recipe here.
Honey-Soy Braised Chicken: I took this recipe for the New York Times’ honey-soy braised pork and did it with chicken instead and it was delicious. I cooked it in the slow cooker to make the chicken moist and shredded, and then the key is to take all of the juices at the end and cook them down in a pan, carting an ooey-gooey sauce that reminded me of an elevated general tsaos chicken. I did these along with the NYT Greek Lemon potatoes, which is the ONLY way I will ever make potatoes again. This was absolutely delicious and a great excuse to cut up our home grown scallions to top the chicken. We’ll be keeping this recipe far beyond quarantine!
Scallion Pancake Challah Bread: OK, so this bread was a bit life-changing. It’s another one that I saw popping up in my Instagram stories that had me intrigued, especially since we’ve been growing our own scallions in water like the rest of civilization since quarantine started (Yes, we’re basic quarantine bitches).
This recipe from Molly Yeh combines the best of Jewish and Asian cultures in an airy, delicious bread with a slaty, savory scallion and spice filling. The entire process of making this bread, kneading it, letting the dough rise and braiding it was like therapy to me, and taking it out of the oven as it was the perfect golden brown was the instant gratification I so crave in quarantine. It is delicious and will now be a staple in our house.
Vinegar Chicken With Crushed Olives: This Alison Roman Vinegar chicken was the most popular recipe of 2019 for the New York Times, so I had to give it a try. First, let me say it’s super easy to make and was delicious. As a bonus, it’s Whole30 compliant, if you are watching your weight.
I amended the recipe slightly to slow cook the chicken in my Instantpot before transferring it to the over for 20 minutes before serving it. We did it with a salad and sweet potatoes and we were super pleased with the results. This will easily become a staple in my household.
Big Sur Bakery Scones:I’m a big fan of scones but they’ve always seemed too intimidating to make myself. But, when I saw a blogger I like raving about these scones from the Big Sur Bakery in California and how she made their recipe at home, I HAD to give it a try. (Spoiled: I’m really happy I did).
These super buttery scones are salty and decadent while also giving off fruitiness. They were fun to make and had an unconventional baking process. My whole family loved them. One note: eat them right out of the oven!
Banana Bread: Not to make myself anymore of a quarantine basic bitch, but banana bread was high on my list of recipes to make for the first time while we were on lockdown. For this, I turned to Sally’s Baking Addiction, because her recipe came highly recommended. This was moist and a great way to use all of our bananas that were going bad, so it was a win-win. Note, you’ll likely want a stand mixer, like this Kitchenaid one, for the recipe.
Check back as we will be updating this post frequently as lockdown in New York City continues and I turn to cooking as my therapy!
More of Our Quarantine Content:
Our Quarantine Skincare Routine
Quarantine, But Make It Fashion
My Favorite Books to Binge During Quarantine
Covid-19 Casualty: We Are Never Wearing Real Bras Again
