“This is now a family favorite made by all siblings!”
Cooking
August 30, 2025

Good morning. Today we have for you:

  • A pollo asado you’ll want — need — to make a lot of
  • A calm, gentle fish dinner for when your taste buds need a reset
  • And, everything you’ve ever wanted to know about olive oil (but were too shy to ask)
A white plate holds charred pollo asado sprinkled with cilantro and garnished with lime wedges.
Ham El-Waylly’s pollo asado. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Let’s go, pollo asado

By Mia Leimkuhler

I am incapable of making just enough of anything. I knowingly exceed recipe yields so that there’s no chance anyone leaves the table hungry. (Ask me about the time I cooked two packages of pasta for three adults. My man of honor worked it into his wedding toast.)

This is especially the case with chicken. We’re a household of two, and yet I routinely buy and cook the “family pack” of thighs or breasts, or select the plumpest whole bird. Leftover cooked chicken is a gift; leftover pollo asado is a blessing.

Citrusy, hummingly spicy pollo asado is a treat right off the grill, set on a sturdy paper plate next to a tangle of pickled onions and a couple of warm tortillas (or slouching piles of beans and rice). But, please, do yourself and everyone you feed a favor and make extra, so that you have pollo asado to tuck into Monday burritos, Tuesday nachos, Wednesday soup, Thursday grain bowls, Friday salad. There’s no such thing as too much pollo asado.

Featured Recipe

Pollo Asado

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More meal-prep chicken

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Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Simon Andrews.

Miso Chicken

By Sam Sifton

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

12,804

45 minutes

Makes 4 servings

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Matt Taylor-Gross for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Yogurt-Marinated Roast Chicken

By Ali Slagle

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarUnfilled Star

455

2 hours

Makes 4 to 6 servings

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David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Kai Yang

Recipe from Sheree Sarabhaya

Adapted by Alexa Weibel

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47

About 1 1/2 hours, plus overnight marinating

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Today’s specials

Pasta al pomodoro: I made this Eric Kim stunner earlier this summer, when cherry tomatoes burst onto the scene and all I wanted was to go all in on that sweet, acidic flavor. I promised myself I’d make it again before the tomatoes go away; perhaps you’d like to join me.

Soy butter fish and peas: Every once in a while, I need a calm, quiet meal to balance out the riot of flavors I’m usually pelting my palate with (I go through a lot of hot sauce and chile crisp). This one-pan superfast dish from Andy Baraghani is such a dinner, and I’m going to take his suggestion to swap in bok choy for the snow peas.

Baked oatmeal cups: I tend to do all my breakfast baking at night so that I can sneak a little as dessert. (Quality control! It’s important!) A banana- and coconut-flecked muffin, split while warm and slathered with salted butter or labneh? Yes, please.

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A serving of pasta al pomodoro is shown in a wide, shallow beige bowl with a red rim, a fork twisted in the noodles. A glass of red wine sits just at the edge of the frame.

Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas.

Pasta al Pomodoro

By Eric Kim

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarUnfilled Star

1,568

1 hour 10 minutes

Makes 4 servings

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Joel Goldberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.

Soy Butter Fish and Peas 

By Andy Baraghani

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

187

20 minutes 

Makes 4 servings

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Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.

Baked Oatmeal Cups

By Lidey Hueck

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarUnfilled Star

105

1 1/2 hours

Makes 12 servings 

And before you go

For someone who goes through a lot of olive oil, I don’t know too much about it. (I know to look for dark glass bottles or metal tins because those keep out light better, and to save the expensive stuff for drizzling and dressing.) But Andy knows a lot about olive oil, and he’s generous with his knowledge in the newest episode of Cooking 101. Click here or on the image below for Andy’s shopping tips and three new recipes.

A diptych shows dishes of olive oil next to an image of Andy Baraghani, bearded and wearing a blue shirt.
Ready the crusty bread. The New York Times

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