Light-lift dinners with Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTin Eats

With recipes for Singapore Chili Shrimp and Eggplant Parmigiana Boats

When I recorded this week’s episode of The Dinner Plan with Nagi Maehashi, weeks ago now, the light stretched into evening. Talking about quick and easy dinners made sense, because Nagi, who writes one of Australia’s most popular food websites, RecipeTin Eats, focuses on low-stress weeknight meals—and has recently published a new book Delicious Tonight, that’s full of them.

But today I find myself struggling to get out of bed, and I’m glad to have this conversation to listen back to, because I know it’ll help me keep putting one foot in front of an another, at least in terms of figuring out what to do with what’s in the fridge.

As Margaret Eby writes, you gotta eat. And the more I talk to cookbook authors about the dinners they love most, the more I remember that the small, quiet act of cooking can be a balm, even a source of strength for tomorrow and the next day.

My favorite section of Nagi’s new book, Delicious Tonight, highlights roasted vegetables that aren’t stuck in a rut. Squash or sweet potatoes wear a crown of crunchy maple bacon pecan crumble and goat cheese. Nagi tops roasted baby potatoes with a salsa verde flavored with basil, parsley, capers, anchovy, and chopped dill pickles; asparagus gets a tangy mix of yogurt, tahini, lemon drizzled on top, and a veritable mountain of toasty parmesan panko. 

Photo: Nagi Maehashi. Recipe below!

Nagi has a knack for transforming elaborate meals into speedy weeknight-friendly recipes. In her hands, Hainanese chicken and rice becomes a one-pot feast, Singapore chili crab gets reimagined as a flavor-packed shrimp dish (scroll down for the full recipe!), and eggplant parm starts with halved eggplant boats that cook in the oven. (I snagged that recipe for you, too!) To help along the way, every recipe in the book has a QR code that’ll lead you to a tutorial video.

We chatted about why she doesn’t have an air fryer in her kitchen, the ingredient she considers “a highway to flavor,” and the hidden gem recipe in this book that might become the meal you need right now.

---

Win the book!

If you’re reading this via email, you may need to click “view entire message” at the very bottom to read the whole thing and get both recipes.

I have one copy of Delicious Tonight to give away. Here’s how to enter:

1. Subscribe to this newsletter.

2. Scroll down and hit the “like” button + leave a comment on this post telling everyone here about one of your go-to low-lift dinners. We love a recipe link!

Rules: U.S. and Canada addresses only, 18+, no purchase necessary. Giveaway not sponsored or administered by Substack. Ends Friday Nov 15. Winner will be alerted via Substack message and email.

---

Nagi’s favorites to follow for food inspiration

Smitten Kitchen
J. Kenji López-Alt
Ben Tish
Neil Perry
Danielle Alvarez
Karen Martini

Cookbooks Nagi loves

Australian Women’s Weekly back to the 1970s
The Woks of Life (especially the salt & pepper pork chops!)
The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt
Always Add Lemon by Danielle Alvarez 

Ideas for whatever’s in your fridge

Baked Vegetable Frittata
Quiche With Hash-Brown Crust

---

Eggplant Parmigiana Boats

Excerpted from Delicious Tonight © 2024 by Nagi Maehashi, reprinted by permission of Countryman Press, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

SERVES: 4

PREP: 15 minutes + 30 minutes sweating

COOK: 55 minutes

These eggplants are everything you cherish about eggplant parmigiana: creamy and juicy eggplant, garlicky Italian red sauce sandwiching gooey melted mozzarella, all blanketed with a crunchy bread crumb crust. However, by baking the eggplant as halves, we save on a load of work! Weeknight eggplant parmigiana just became a reality. Each half also makes the perfect serving size for one—ideal for entertaining, especially as they’re meat-free.

NOTES

1. You’ll get the best flavor grating your own parmesan, but for this recipe it’s okay to use parmesan that you buy grated.

2. Not all canned tomatoes are created equal. Better quality are sweeter, while economical ones can be quite sour. If your sauce tastes a little sour, add the sugar.

3. No time for salting? Skip it. Bake as per the recipe (expect to add another 5–10 minutes —salting also reduces the cook time). Drain and discard any excess salty water, then proceed with the recipe.

4. I usually just eat the flesh out of the skin, but feel free to eat the skin if you wish (though bear in mind that sometimes the skin of older eggplants can be a little chewy).

Eggplant
2 x 14 oz. eggplants
½ tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve

Crunchy topping
⅓ cup panko bread crumbs
⅛ tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Cheese
4 oz mozzarella, shredded 
2 oz parmesan, grated using a box grater (see note)

Sugo (tomato sauce)
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
Half yellow onion, finely chopped
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup basil leaves, plus extra to serve (recommended but
not critical)
½ tsp granulated sugar, if needed (see notes)

1. Sweat eggplants: Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise, then use a small sharp knife to score ¾ inch diamonds in the flesh—take care to not cut through the skin. Rub the flesh of each eggplant with the salt, opening the cuts to get a bit of salt into the crevices. Set aside for 30 minutes, then squeeze gently like a sponge to remove any excess water. (See note 3 to skip the salting.)

2. Make toppings: Mix the crunchy topping ingredients in a bowl. Mix together the shredded cheeses in another bowl.Preheat the oven to 400°F.

3. Bake eggplant: Place the eggplant in a baking pan, flesh-side up. Pat the flesh dry using paper towels. Drizzle with the oil, then bake for 30 minutes or until the flesh is soft (larger and older eggplants will take longer).

4. Make sauce: Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan* over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook until light golden. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, except the sugar, then stir and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium–low and cook, stirring regularly, for 20 minutes, until the sauce becomes thick and chunky. Halfway through, taste the sauce and, if it seems sour, add the sugar.

5. Assemble: Spread the sauce on the surface of each eggplant. Cover with the cheese, then the panko mix. Bake for a further 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

6. Transfer to a serving plate. Drizzle with an extra swirl of olive oil and sprinkle with fresh basil leaves, if desired, then dig in!

Leftovers will keep for 3 days, but this is one of those dishes best made fresh. Not suitable for freezing.

Photo: Rob Palmer

Singapore Chili Shrimp

Excerpted from Delicious Tonight © 2024 by Nagi Maehashi, reprinted by permission of Countryman Press, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

SERVES: 4

PREP: 15 minutes  

COOK: 20 minutes

Singapore’s famous chili crab is a dish for special rather than everyday occasions. So here’s a version with the signature chili sauce, using shrimp instead. Note I’ve deliberately left the shells on the shrimp, so you still get the same shell-sucking, finger-licking feasting experience and the soul of the dish remains intact, plus the sauce needs all the juices from whole shrimp! All that’s left to do now is gather a stack of napkins and a bunch of your favorite people…

NOTES

1. Traditional Singapore chili crab sauce is made with taucu paste, which is a sweet and savory soybean paste that you can find in Asian grocery stores. The miso paste version has become my base recipe because miso is sold so widely these days. You can use red or white (shiro) miso paste.

2. Belachan paste is a dried shrimp paste sold in crumbly blocks.

3. I like to use large-ish shrimp around 3½–4 inches long, though this recipe works with smaller or larger shrimp.

4. Mantou are soft, white, steamed rolls that are sold in the freezer section of Asian grocery stores. Don’t freak out if you can’t find them! You just need any soft white bread to dunk into the sauce. I usually just use small brioche buns.

Chili paste
5 long red (cayenne) chiles, deseeded and roughly chopped
2 Tbsp miso paste (red or white), or taucu paste (see note 1 above)
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
¼ cup roughly chopped ginger

Shrimp and sauce
¼ cup canola oil
1 Tbsp dried belachan paste (see note 2 above) chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup tomato passata
½ cup sweet chili sauce
2 Tbsp ketchup 
1 cup water
3 Tbsp white vinegar
2½ lb large tiger or jumbo shrimp, whole, raw (see note 3 above)

To serve
2 Tbsp roughly chopped
cilantro leaves
2 Tbsp finely sliced green onion 
12 mantou, heated as per the package directions, or small brioche buns

1. Make the chili paste—Place the chiles, miso or taucu paste, garlic, shallot, and ginger into a jar wide enough to fit the head of an immersion blender. Blitz into a paste for about 10 seconds on high, then set aside.

2. Toast belachan—Heat the oil in a large pot over medium–high heat. Add the belachan and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. The smell will not be pleasant at this stage but have faith! I wouldn’t put you through this if it wasn’t worth it! 

3. To make the sauce, add the chili paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes, until it changes from red to crimson. Add the passata and stir for 2 minutes. Add the sweet chili sauce, ketchup, water, and vinegar and stir to combine. Once it comes to a boil, add the shrimp. Toss to coat in the sauce, then put a lid on the pot. Cook for 5 minutes (for medium shrimp) or 8 minutes (for very large shrimp). 

4. Transfer all the shrimp and sauce into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with the cilantro and green onion. Pile the mantou buns in a bowl and serve on the side. To eat, spoon some shrimp and plenty of sauce into a bowl. Use your hands to remove the shrimp head and shell, then dunk the shrimp meat into the sauce and eat! Use the mantou to mop up the sauce in your bowl.

Book links are affiliate links. Want to help out the show without spending a dime? Send us a voice memo telling us what you’ve got in your pantry/freezer/fridge and we’ll use it as a jumping-off point for our guest! Email the mp3 sound clip (a minute is great!) to thedinnerplanpod@gmail.com