Shrimp Cocktail for Dinner

I happen to live near a small but great seafood market, where the fish is impeccably fresh. Their poached shrimp is plump and juicy; the housemade cocktail sauce has just the right zing. I bought them once or twice as a starter for a special meal. But one day I realized that I was holding back: What I really wanted was to eat shrimp cocktail for dinner. And so I did. And it was great.

There is a problem, though: This place is open only a few days each week, for a few hours in the middle of the day, which is precisely the time I can’t go seafood shopping. So when I have a craving, I turn to recipes like Melissa Clark’s new roasted shrimp cocktail, which I can make anytime, no trips to the store, with frozen shrimp. (Always keep a bag of frozen shrimp in your freezer. It’s cost-effective and very useful.)

That recipe, along with four others I’m excited about, are below. Questions? Suggestions? Need some recipe advice? Email me at [email protected]. And if you like the work we do at New York Times Cooking, please consider subscribing.

2. Sheet-Pan Roast Chicken With Tangy Greens

To make this sheet-pan supper from Sarah Copeland, you first roast chicken leg quarters — which include both the drumstick and thigh, a feast for dark meat lovers — then toss and quickly roast kale and olives in the juices from the chicken. The effort-to-reward ratio is superb.

View this recipe.

3. Black Pepper Stir-Fried Tofu and Asparagus

This inspired stir-fry from Kay Chun combines tofu with spring asparagus and snap peas in a gingery, peppery sauce. You can swap in frozen peas (or more asparagus) for the snap peas if you’d like, which also saves you a slice of prep time.

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4. Salmon Teriyaki

This is Ali Slagle’s one-skillet take on classic salmon teriyaki. It checks all the boxes: crisp skin, silky flesh and a balanced sweet-and-salty teriyaki sauce.