Good morning. I fixed and filled the bird feeder and Mr. Cardinal was on set within the hour, bullying the grackles away and getting on the seed. He hung out while I worked on a lawn wrecked by dogs, on a wood pile that needed stacking, on the piles of stuff that’ll have to go onto the boat before fishing can commence. It was a weekend of promise and anticipation, the start of the season, a time for regrowth.
For dinner: broiled salmon with asparagus and herbs (above). I use a thawed plank of Alaskan king salmon from last summer’s harvest, fished out of the deep freezer, along with new asparagus and tender herbs. I like the rhyme of that — a taste of what’s left from months ago and what’s come from the spring — but the meal is powerfully good even if you don’t have access to wild salmon. (If you’re not feeling fish, make one of these other fantastic springtime dinners instead.)
Featured Recipe
Broiled Salmon With Asparagus and Herbs
View Recipe →
And with Sunday sorted, we can turn to the rest of the week. …
Monday
I love Eleanore Park’s new recipe for miso rice cakes with spinach and peas for how the spongy tteok soak up the sauce and provide a salty heft against the sweet vegetables and herbs. It’s glossy and verdant (and vegan) and very, very good.
Tuesday
Here’s Eric Kim with a terrific new recipe for cauliflower Alfredo pasta, with the thick, creamy, cheesy sauce amped up with a musk of nutmeg. He tops the dish with chives and a dollop of ricotta, and serves it with a lemon-dressed arugula salad. I’ll do the same.
Wednesday
There are probably as many different recipes for three-cup chicken as there are ports and harbors in Taiwan, but this one is mine. And I’m sticking to it: ginger, garlic, scallions and red pepper flakes combined with brown sugar, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce, everything burbling along with chunks of boneless chicken thighs until it’s time to scatter basil over the top and serve with rice.
Thursday
Alexa Weibel, the new queen of minimalism, gave us this stellar five-ingredient recipe for gochujang shrimp pasta. She chops the shrimp so their shape mimics the halved cherry tomatoes that are also in the dish, which ensures that every bite of the finished meal delivers a pop of flavor. Superb!
Please write for help if you run into issues with your account: cookingcare@nytimes.com. (You do have an account, yes? Subscriptions are the wind in our sails. If you haven’t already, would you consider subscribing today?) Or you can write to me if you’d like to lodge a complaint or register a compliment: hellosam@nytimes.com. I cannot respond to every letter. But I do read each one I get.
Now, it’s nothing to do with fancy vinegar or enameled Dutch ovens, but I’m compelled to steer you in the direction of Emma Pattee’s debut novel, “Tilt.” (It’s not just me. Here’s Alexis Schaitkin’s assessment, in The New York Times Book Review.)
Gossip! Here’s Michael Wolff on David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, in New York Magazine.
I liked David Marchese’s interview with the comedian Nate Bargatze, in The New York Times Magazine.
Finally, here’s Julien Baker and Torres with a new album, “Send a Prayer My Way”: love, drugs, religion. Country music, in other words. Listen to that while you’re cooking and I’ll be back next week.
