Broccoli Cheddar Soup and More Recipes We Made This Week

It’s no secret that Bon Appétit editors cook a lot for work. So it should come as no surprise that we cook a lot during our off hours too. Here are the recipes we’re whipping up this month to get dinner on the table, entertain our friends, satisfy a sweet tooth, use up leftovers, and everything in between. For even more staff favorites, click here.

Recipes December 6

Double-batch pancakes

This past weekend I tried these Sour-Cream Pancakes With Sour-Cream Maple Syrup. They were towering and fluffy and had the right amount of tang. Creamy syrup was the ideal accompaniment, and the leftovers are in my fridge now, waiting to be poured over an apple galette. As for the pancakes, I made a double batch so I could freeze some. I like to pop them in the toaster like store-bought frozen waffles for pancakes on busy mornings. —Carly Westerfield, associate manager of audience strategy

Very verdant cod

After my very Dollar General Thanksgiving (we ate bags of tater tots and soda), I needed some quick nourishment for the week. Enter commerce writer Alaina Chou’s Green Curry Coconut Cod. I started by frying off the aromatics with curry paste. In a rush to eat, I accidentally dumped in the whole can, so I spent the next few minutes scooping out what I could until there were two generous (emphasis on generous) tablespoons in the pan. From there it was smooth sailing, blending my mixture with a clamshell of spinach, coconut milk, and sugar until a luscious sauce formed. I returned the sauce to the stove, poached my fish until tender, and feasted. A bowl of green was just what the doctor ordered. —Nina Moskowitz, associate editor, cooking

Cast-iron skillet chicken thighs

I made this Pumpkin Meringue Pie (which uses coconut milk instead of the usual evaporated milk) for Thanksgiving and had a deli container of coconut milk left in the fridge. A quick search yielded a recipe for Spicy Coconut Grilled Chicken Thighs, which I opted to make indoors in a cast-iron skillet instead of a grill. The chicken gets a marinade of coconut milk, spicy sambal, lime juice, and brown sugar, which is then cooked out over the stove and brushed onto the thighs. I served it with rice, baby bok choy, and scallions for greenery. I may have been missing the grill marks, but it was plenty flavorful. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations manager

Broccoli cheddar soup

Faced with a crisper drawer full of broccoli, I turned to Sarah Jampel’s recipe for Broccoli Cheddar Soup With Cheesy Croutons. It’s creamy without using cream, vegetal and bright, and filling without being heavy. I just love it. First, you’ll cook the aromatics, potatoes, and broccoli stalks together before adding florets in batches. Some get blended into a slurpable purée that adds body to the soup, and some stay intact and crisp-tender. While the whole thing simmers, you’ll top some thick slices of country bread with grated cheese and pop ’em under the broiler to quickly become a crispy-gooey topper for each bowl of soup. A final flourish of shredded cheddar and Greek yogurt (I actually used sour cream and it worked great) transforms the soup into a delight. —Kelsey Jane Youngman, senior service editor