Cutlet

The ubiquitous boneless, skinless chicken breast can be the quickest yet most boring, driest meal. Liven up this dinner staple with a bit of lemon zest, moisten it with butter, and crisp it with crumbs.

These breaded cutlets are usually made with veal, but I’ve found that it’s an excellent treatment for pork chops. As kids, my siblings and I loved this dish—what kids don’t love fried meat? And it makes for a tasty sandwich the next day (see page 184).

Can’t decide whether you prefer spaghetti sauce or Alfredo sauce? With this double-sauced casserole, you get to enjoy both.

I love making turkey cutlets, especially when I’m in a hurry, because they generally require very little trimming and cook exceptionally quickly. Whether you pan “fry” them or grill them, as I have done here, they take only a couple of minutes per side. After basic preparation, I always like to add a simple sauce. I could have thrown together another salsa suggestion here, but wanted to be a bit more creative with this one. And I’ve gone to upscale sandwich shops and cafés and ordered turkey sandwiches spread with cranberries and sweet mustard or mayonnaise, so I thought that might be a great place to start. I was very pleased very quickly, and I think you will be too.

Make a Thanksgiving dinner, Southwestern style, any night of the year with this stuffing shortcut.

This one is good for B, L, D: brunches, lunches, or dinners.

This meal is a combo of two favorite preparations: francese and piccata. Francese are egg-battered cutlets or fillets, and piccata are simply flour-dredged or plain cutlets or fillets sautéed with lemon and wine. I was never good at making decisions, especially regarding dinner, so I made up this two-for-one dinner. Serve with wilted fresh spinach or green salad.

This dish is one buttery, delicious, edible ode to spring. (Also, the flavor is so sexy, it could bring on some serious birds-and-bees action!)

Adding bocconcini, bite-sized mozzarella balls, to the tomato-basil salad makes it a Caprese salad!

This is a fun spin on traditional roasted turkey. It cooks evenly, slices beautifully, and cooks much more quickly than the whole bird. We’ve even used it on Turkey Day with great success. The Jaccard is a spring-loaded meat tenderizer that has fifteen, sixteen, or forty-eight blades, depending on the model you purchase. It creates tiny, evenly spaced holes throughout the flesh, shortening the muscle fibers. This allows seasonings to penetrate to the interior of the meat, speeds the cooking time, and helps it cook more evenly. It may seem counterintuitive, but it actually works very well. You can skip this step if you don’t have a Jaccard, but we really recommend keeping one in your kitchen. It’s a very handy tool to have around.

These crispy tofu cutlets are another favorite in our home. Enlist your kids to help with the breading and shaking—they’ll have fun with it, and they’re more likely to eat anything they’ve helped make. If you’re serving more than four, the recipe doubles easily, but be sure to use two baking sheets as well.

Tonkatsu—deep-fried breaded pork—is a European-inspired dish that evolved during the late 19th century in Japan. Here, the pork is pounded thin and simply panfried. Pickled carrots offer a cool bite.

Frozen frenched green beans don't need any washing or chopping, and when simmered with cream, white wine, and sage, they become a surprisingly indulgent accompaniment.