Tofu With Peanut Sauce and More Recipes BA Staff Made This Week

It’s no secret that BA 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.

January 5

Midnight banana cake

My family and I have a couple New Year’s traditions. One is a full chaat spread for dinner on New Year’s Eve. The other is setting off fireworks in our driveway after the clock strikes midnight. A new tradition we just instituted was New Year’s Eve Cake, and the recipe we sliced into at midnight was this Buttermilk Banana Cake by associate food editor Kendra Vaculin. It’s plush, fragrant from cardamom, and just sweet enough to go great with Champagne. What made it an especially stellar New Year’s Eve winner: We started 2024 with banana cake for breakfast the next morning. —Antara Sinha, associate cooking editor

Quick white bean kale soup

This soup recipe has been a back-pocket go-to for years, and after an especially long day with an early-morning flight and a post-work grocery run, I found myself turning to it once again. There are no frills or flairs here—just a cozy, speedy meal that feels nourishing thanks to plenty of kale and veggies, and a can of beans. Skip out on the parm rind to make it plant-based. I sopped it up with some sourdough toast that I rubbed with garlic. —A.S.

Japanese curry with squash

I was craving katsu cutlets on New Year’s Day, and wanted a comforting Japanese curry to go with them. I always have instant curry blocks in my pantry for speedy dinners, but when the craving really hits and I have the time, I make this Japanese curry recipe from Bon Appétit contributor Christina Chaey. Chaey’s recipe creates a DIY curry base using butter, flour, and a mix of curry powder and garam masala. The finished product is deeply flavorful and spicy, made even better by the sweet squash. I’ve been enjoying the leftovers for lunch all week long. —Alma Avalle, digital operations associate

Perfect pie crust

I made food editor Shilpa Uskokovic’s Actually Perfect Pie Crust for Thanksgiving (filling it with cookbook author Rick Martínez’s also-actually-perfect pumpkin custard). Only a few months later, I needed it again. This time, I skipped the pan and turned my dough into a galette, filling it with a truckload of mushrooms. With a mustardy salad on the side, it was a much-needed reminder to make savory galettes for dinner more often. Whatever vegetables are in the fridge will happily settle down in this supremely flaky crust. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor

Crispy tofu with peanut sauce

It’s true—I’m jealous of the tofu that gets to bathe in this ethereal peanut sauce from associate food editor Rachel Gurjar. Boosted with shallot, ginger, and garlic, then treated to coconut cream, it is just the thing to make tofu feel like the only girl in the world. Though the recipe claims to serve four, my husband and I ate every cube on our own. Then we waddled around the block for our post-dinner stroll, a resolution we started in November and have kept up since. Well, mostly. —E.L.