Recipe: 2 easy to make summer snacks for the pan | Food

This is part of The Post and Courier’s Monday Meal Prep series, a monthly column about accessible weeknight recipes.

School may be out this time of year, but everyone is still hungry. The heat makes cooking in the kitchen even less fun. Take some advice from author Ali Slagle, who offers 150 “low-effort high-reward recipes” in her new cookbook, such as the two below,”I dream of dinner (so you don’t have to)† These are recipes to “meet you wherever you are: hungry, in a hurry, happy.”

Limited ingredients. Fast. Simple.

Frying Pan Chicken Thighs With Peas And Pickled Chiles

For 4 persons

With bone and skin on chicken thighs

Salt and pepper

Fresh Chili Peppers: Red Fresno or Thai

Sugar

rice vinegar

Peas

Mint or dill

frozen peas

Creamy cheese: feta, Cotija or ricotta salata

Pat 2 pounds with bone, skin on chicken thighs dry and season with 1 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven. Add the thighs, skin side down, and set to medium. Cook, undisturbed, until the skin is a deep golden brown and separates from the pan, about 15 minutes. If your stove splatters, cover the pan with a baking sheet. Turn the thighs and cook until the meat is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, thinly slice 2 fresh chiles (red Fresno, Thai). Add to a medium bowl with 1 tablespoon sugar, 3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar, and 2 teaspoons salt. Pour ¼ cup boiling water over the chiles and stir to dissolve the sugar. This makes a quick pickle.

Trim 4 cups snow peas and then thinly slice them on a very sharp diagonal so they are almost shredded. Pick 1 cup mint and dill leaves.

Place the chicken skin side up on a plate, leaving the fat behind. Still on medium, add 2 cups frozen peas (10 ounces) and the pickled chili mixture to the pan. Cook, scraping bottom of pan for browned bits, until peas are tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the green peas and herbs and crumble ½ cup of crumbly cheese (feta, Cotija, ricotta salata) on top. Stir only once or twice to coat.

More vegetarian choices for chicken in skillet:

• Asparagus + corn + turmeric + cumin seeds

• Escarole + white beans + honey + chili flakes

• Peppers + onions + za’atar

• Cauliflower + dates + dill

Swordfish With Asparagus And Beans

For 4 persons

Olive oil

lemons

red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper

Swordfish (or mahi mahi)

Canned white beans: Navy or Great Northern

asparagus

Garlic

Mint, dill, basil, parsley or a combination

Pour ½ cup of olive oil into a liquid measuring cup. Peel and squeeze 2 lemons into the cup (about 6 tablespoons juice). Add 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper.

Cut and discard the skin from 1½ pounds (1-inch-thick) swordfish steaks (or mahi mahi). Pat dry, then cut into 1-inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain and rinse 2 (15-ounce) cans of small white beans (Marine, Great Northern). Peel and thinly slice 1 pound asparagus and 1 garlic clove. Pick a cup of mint, dill, basil, parsley or a combination of leaves.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the beans, asparagus, garlic and cup of water. Season with salt and pepper and cook until beans are hot and asparagus crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and mix in a few tablespoons of lemon dressing. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat 2 more tablespoons of olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the fish and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fish flakes easily, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the herbs and fish to the beans and stir once. Season with salt and pepper and the lemon dressing. Nice warm or at room temperature.

• Delicious with orzo, Israeli couscous, bulgur or toasted breadcrumbs.

• Thinly slice your asparagus this way works for young, medium and thick spears.

Reprinted from I Dream of Dinner. Copyright © 2022 by Alexandra Slagle. Photos copyright © 2022 by Mark Weinberg. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.