The online culinary destination Food52 has become somewhat of a secret weapon for foodie obsessives and regular home cooks alike since its launch in 2009. Now those delightful, beautifully photographed and composed dishes from the site have been translated from digital to print in founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs’s new cookbook, Food52: A New Way to Dinner—A Playbook of Recipes and Strategies for the Week Ahead. “Our book is for anyone trying to balance lots of different priorities and who wants to eat well,” explains Hesser. “It’s not the cooking itself, but the planning and grocery shopping that present the biggest challenge for people; our aim is to relieve them of that burden so that they can get in the kitchen and make it happen.”

A New Way to Dinner is more of a playbook than a cookbook, where the seasonal recipes for lunches, dinners, and desserts like warm chicken salad, red wine beef stew with parsnips and carrots, and crispy, crunchy oatmeal cookies make up just one piece of the larger idea—the strategies, if you will—of this new tome. As Stubbs says, the concept for the book was born out of personal experience: “As our business grew and we became more strapped for time, we realized that we both adapted our cooking habits along similar lines; we had started doing most of our cooking ahead on the weekends so that we could get great, satisfying meals on the table in just a few minutes on the weeknights.” And that’s the gist of A New Way to Dinner: easy-to-make meals that will stretch the entire week, from what is essentially one grocery list. Here, Hesser and Stubbs preview their bold new book with two delicious recipes that incorporate leftovers. So get cooking—the meals you whip up may surprise you.

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Photo: Courtesy of James Ransom/Food52

Fish Baked in Foil

This is an adaptation of a dish my husband and I had at a beachside resort in Kenya during our honeymoon. We were completely spoiled by impeccable seafood fresh off the boat every day. With a little cajoling, the chef agreed to give me a couple of his recipes. In this one, fish fillets get friendly with lime juice, olive oil, and cilantro before they’re blanketed in onion and lime slices and then baked in foil packets. It works best with thinner fillets of fish, like striped bass, snapper, and branzino. I’ve also included a tip for preparing it with whole fish.

Serves 4, with leftovers for Fish Salpicon and lunches

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. finely grated lime zest
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and stems
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large red onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 limes, thinly sliced
3 lbs. fish fillets, such as striped bass, snapper, or branzino
2 T Dijon mustard
2 T unsalted butter, in small chunks

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Whisk together the lime juice and zest, cilantro, and olive oil in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Stack two long pieces of heavy-duty aluminum foil, with the non-shiny sides facing each other. Make a 1/2-inch pleat along one of the long sides, then fold the foil over twice more so that you join the two sheets securely together into one big sheet. Unfold and place the shiny side down on a flat surface. Repeat to create two more large foil sheets. Arrange several of the onion and lime slices down the center of each sheet, along the crease, creating beds roughly the same size as a fish fillet.

4. Lay a fish fillet on top of a bed of onion and lime, and brush lightly with mustard. Place a couple of onion and lime slices on top of the fillet, followed by another fillet and a little more mustard. Repeat until you’ve used up one-third of the fish, finishing with a last layer of onion and lime. Do the same with the remaining 2 pounds of fish on the other two foil sheets.

5. Start to fold up the edges of the foil, then drizzle 1/3 of the marinade over the top of each stack of fillets and dot with the butter. Fold and crease the foil into neat packages, leaving a little air between the foil and the fish. Place the packets on a rimmed baking sheet.

6. Bake until the fish is just cooked through, about 30 minutes. Serve half of the fish right away, storing the rest (minus the juices that collect in the packets) in the fridge for up to three days.

Foil Is Your Friend
Baking in foil is a great way to capitalize on the even heat of the oven without falling victim to its dryness. The packet traps the moisture of whatever is inside it, which is especially handy for delicate, quick-cooking proteins like fish fillets or chicken breasts. To make the recipe with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, form individual packets for each breast instead of stacking them and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 to 30 minutes, until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

One Fish, Two Fish
For a more dramatic dinner, try this with whole fish. Look for two fish that are the same size, about 1 1/4 pounds each. Ask your butcher to gut and scale them. Spread the insides of the cavities with mustard and stuff them with the extra onion and lime and the butter after creating the beds. Wrap them up and bake them as you would the fillets. Whole fish take a little longer to cook, 45 to 55 minutes.

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Photo: Courtesy of James Ransom/Food52

Fish Salpicon

This is a great way to breathe new life into leftover seafood. It’s similar to a cooked ceviche wrapped in soft corn tortillas and a dish my husband and I first ate at Fonda, one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants in Brooklyn. I love how quickly it comes together on a weeknight, and the self-assembly component is another plus—especially for the cook! I typically use a white, flaky fish, but something heartier like tuna would also be nice.

Serves 4

12 to 16 small corn tortillas
1 lb. cooked fish (leftover from Fish Baked in Foil; see separate recipe)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
4 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
1/2 to 1 small hot chile pepper (such as serrano or bird’s eye), depending on your heat preference, seeded and finely chopped
Kosher salt
2 limes
1 or 2 avocados
Hot sauce, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Wrap the tortillas tightly in aluminum foil and put in the oven to warm for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, flake the fish with two forks, leaving some larger chunks, and put in a large bowl.

3. Add the cilantro, scallions, chile, and a few pinches of salt. Squeeze the juice of one lime over the top. Fold gently to combine everything. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

4. To serve, peel, pit, and slice the avocados and cut the remaining lime into wedges. Let everyone assemble their own tacos at the table, passing the hot sauce.

Lunch: Noodle Soup With Fish, Ginger, Cilantro, Chiles, and Lime
I got this great idea from Sophie Missing and Caroline Craig, the authors of The Little Book of Lunch. Put 2 oz. of rice vermicelli in a 10- to 12-oz. jar with a tight-fitting lid. Add 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger; 2 thinly sliced scallions; 1⁄2 carrot, julienned; a few chopped fresh mint and cilantro leaves; and 1⁄8 tsp. soy sauce (or more to taste). Add 1⁄4 cup leftover fish in bite-size chunks. When you’re ready to eat, pour in enough boiling water to cover the other ingredients and let sit for 3 minutes. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime, stir, and eat.