What the editor in chief of NYT Cooking actually makes for dinner

Get the recipes Emily Weinstein comes back to over and over

Emily Weinstein worked at Jane magazine and The Village Voice before finding her way to The New York Times, where she was first tasked with fact-checking the restaurant database and taking out restaurants that had closed. She stuck around as part of the team that launched NYT Cooking ten years ago, and now is the editor in chief of New York Times Cooking and Food.

She’s a big coffee drinker and always has an impressive stash of condiments on hand; I spoke to her about what she cooks on weeknights when time is short, and how recipes go from idea to NYT Cooking app—including a testing process that doesn’t go down in the kitchen you see in their cooking videos. 

Tune into our conversation on The Dinner Plan to find out about the recipe newsletters Emily has found inspiring lately, the treasured cookbook Melissa Clark gave her as a wedding gift, and the reason she’d never turn a galley kitchen into an open space. 

We dug into Emily’s gorgeous new book, Easy Weeknight Dinners, which brings together 100 hits from the food section. (You can see the full recipe for one of Emily’s favorites—Kay Chun’s juicy, tender pork meatballs with ginger and fish sauce—if you scroll down.) 

Emily’s go-to recipes

Melissa Clark’s Sheet-Pan Chicken Thighs With Spicy Corn (NYT)
Francis Lam’s Kimchi Fried Rice (NYT)
Ali Slagle’s Crispy Gnocchi With Burst Tomatoes and Mozzarella (NYT)
Colu Henry’s Blond Puttanesca (Linguine With Tuna, Arugula and Capers) (NYT)
Hetty McKinnon’s Silken Tofu With Spicy Soy Dressing (NYT)
Ali Slagle’s Beans and Greens Alla Vodka (NYT)
Molly Stevens’s Braised Escarole with Beans (adapted from All About Braising on Orangette)

Recommended newsletters

Emily’s newsletter Five Weeknight Dishes (NYT)
Dinner Tonight (NYT)
Clare de Boer The Best Bit on Substack
David Lebovitz Newsletter on Substack

Pantry staples

Momofuku noodles
Brooklyn Delhi’s sauces

Books

The Last Course (original edition; new edition) (Claudia Fleming with Melissa Clark)
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (Samin Nosrat)
The Food Lab (J. Kenji Lopez-Alt)
Dessert Person (Claire Saffitz)
All About Braising (Molly Stevens)
Plus: The Artist’s Way (Julia Cameron)

Book links are affiliate links that help support this newsletter.

Photograph: Julia Gartland

Pork Meatballs with Ginger and Fish Sauce

Excerpted with permission from Easy Weeknight Dinners, copyright ©2024 by The New York Times Company. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

These nuoc cham–inspired meatballs are perfect to fill lettuce cups topped with fresh basil or cilantro. (Add steamed rice for a more substantial meal.) The Ritz crackers here make for a juicier meatball, but feel free to substitute plain dried bread crumbs. To make the Ritz crumbs, place the crackers in a resealable plastic bag and lightly crush them with the back of a wooden spoon or the bottom of a measuring cup. For an easy dipping sauce, spike ¼ cup mayonnaise with 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil or soy sauce. And save any leftover meatballs: They’re great simmered in chicken stock the next day. The ginger and garlic in them release their aromatics into the stock for a deeply flavorful soup base. —Kay Chun

2 tablespoons peeled, minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic (from about 3 large cloves)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
½  teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup finely crushed Ritz crackers (12 crackers)
1 pound ground pork

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine the ginger, garlic, fish sauce, pepper, salt, crackers and pork and use your hands to mix gently.

3. Shape the meat into 12 golf-ball-size spheres (about 2 inches in diameter) and arrange on a greased rimmed baking sheet.

4. Bake until golden and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Serve warm. 

Tip: Leftover meatballs freeze well and can be reheated in the oven at 375 degrees until warmed through (about 20 minutes)