We asked four of our favorite chefs to share their best quick-and-easy recipes that make enough to feed a crowd, but can also be enjoyed alone, in the dark, with Bob’s Burgers holiday episodes on loop.

Roasted Cabbage with Horseradish and Parmesan 

Aislinn McManigal

Chef at Marjorie

Heat your oven to 450. Place a large cast iron pan or sheet tray in your oven to warm. Cut one small cabbage into quarters through the core and then cut the quarters into 1-inch thick wedges. I leave a small piece of the core in to keep the wedges intact. 

Coat the bottom of your pan with a thin layer of olive oil and lay your cabbage pieces down. They can be touching but don’t overlap. You may have to work in batches if using a cast iron, but the sear is worth it! Drizzle the cabbage with an even coat of olive oil, trying to get some in between the leaves. Sprinkle with salt and return to the oven for 35 minutes or until the cabbage is tender and crispy on the edges. 

While your cabbage is roasting, mix 1 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 4 tablespoons horseradish (play with this amount to suit your spice intake), 2 teaspoons black pepper, and juice of half a lemon in a small bowl. Salt to taste. Prepare your serving plate and spread a thick layer of your sauce over the bottom of the plate. I like to serve extra sauce on the side. 

Flip your cabbage over so the caramelized bottom layer is facing up on top of your horseradish sauce. Squeeze lemon juice over the top and grate a generous amount of parmesan cheese. 

This recipe is also great with the addition of roasted walnuts!


Roasted Beet Hummus

Becky Selengut

Chef and cookbook author

Becky Selengut Mark Henesy

This comes from my newest book, Misunderstood Vegetables. [Editor’s note: This book is lovely, and it makes a great gift for anyone who eats food.] Everyone loves hummus, it’s the quintessential potluck dish. I’ve been to more than one party where there were multiple bowls of it, all a little different.

So... make hummus, but make it different. Roast exactly 1 medium beet with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, wrap it in foil, and throw it in a 400 oven until tender. Peel it and add it to the blender or food processor as you make your hummus. You can even cheat and buy hummus and then add the roasted beet. The beet turns the dish into a festive magenta. Serve it with grilled or toasted pita, get fancy and sprinkle some dukkah on top. Or not. Call it beetmus. Or not.


Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Garlic, and Tomatoes

Melissa Miranda

Founder of Musang and Kilig

Melissa Miranda Andrew Imanaka

This is one of my go-to dishes that I make at least once a week. If you’re like me, you have half-cut onions that need to be used, garlic that’s almost over, and any kind of tomato (like cherry) that are giving their last breath. 

Doesn’t sound like much, but trust that it will hit that craving you don’t know you’re craving.

Slice up your onion into thin strips and mince up your garlic. Cut your tomatoes in half, if they’re cherry, or dice them up if they’re a different kind of tomato. If you have leftover bacon or pancetta, dice that up too! Find whatever leftover pasta you have laying around and get a large pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil. Salt it like ocean water. In a saute pan, heat up some olive oil and toss your onions and garlic in the pan, and if you’ve got that bacon, add that too. Let it caramelize and get golden and then add your tomatoes. Add a ladle of that boiling water and let it simmer. Cook up your pasta like they say to, and when it’s ready, throw it into your saute pan. Save a ladle of liquid, just in case you feel like it needs it. Swish it around and if you’re feeling spicy, add some red pepper flakes and a knob of butter. Crack some black pepper on top and you’ve got yourself a warm hug to feed your soul.”


Cookie Dough Balls

Rachael Coyle

Owner of Coyle’s Bakeshop

Rachael Coyle Courtesy of Rachael Coyle

My key to the holidays is having a good-sized stash of Cookie Dough Balls in my freezer. 

Cookie dough balls (let’s just call them CDBs so I don’t have to keep typing balls over and over) don’t need to be thawed before baking, so you can produce freshly baked cookies with little effort or time. 

Almost any cookie recipe can be given the frozen CDB treatment. If the recipe starts with creaming butter & sugar together (as 99.9% of cookie recipes do), it will freeze beautifully—and I guarantee that your favorite bakery is doing exactly this. 

Getting yourself to this enviable state of CDB-preparedness means making your dough NOW. Grab your favorite recipe and mix up the dough. Chill it in the fridge (it’s much easier to shape dough that’s cold and not too sticky). Next, sit down in front of the TV and roll the dough into balls. If the cookies get rolled in sugar or some such thing before baking, also do that now. Lay the CDBs on a tray so that they are not touching and put them in the freezer; when completely frozen, bag them up, or put them in airtight containers. 

Your frozen CDBs are ready to bake as needed. Throw them in a pretty box and pretend you didn’t forget someone’s gift. Bake some and bring them with fancy ice cream to a party. Eat them unbaked, alone in your kitchen, while you stare into the abyss.Â