Chicken and Spring Veggies

Enjoy portable potpie with extra veggies and hearty whole grains. Both family- and freezer-friendly, these hand pies deliver a hearty meal to go.

Simple and bright, this is the kind of main that puts us in the mood for spring. If you’ve never thrown fresh lemons on the grill, try it: The slight edge of char intensifies their tartness, and they look gorgeous. The marinade is more of a wet rub since the chicken goes straight to the grill, though you could refrigerate up to a day ahead. This salad is endlessly adaptable for spring and summer vegetables: Try shaved carrot and summer squash ribbons, haricots verts, or even just a shower of fresh herbs.

Here, pesto acts as a binder, helping the crispy panko topping stick to the chicken. Serve with green beans tossed with lemon rind. Garnish with any extra basil you have on hand.

Quality meets convenience in this speedy springtime main. This salad fits right into your weekday lineup with minimal effort and maximum flavor. Prewashed greens let you grab a handful and go. Build a salad, wilt into sautés, or blend into a pesto. Look to Buitoni pasta packs for quick meals on their own or to help you elevate salads and soups. Rotisserie chicken is one of your best supermarket allies for fast and fresh weeknight meals.

If ketchup goes with every chicken dinner in your family, try these saucy, sweet, and tangy chicken thighs instead. The meat becomes incredibly tender in the slow cooker so you can easily slip out the bones and cut the chicken into bite-size pieces for kids. Bone-in chicken thighs are pan-seared before being basted with sticky-sweet sauce and slow cooked to fork-tender perfection. Sear the chicken thighs in batches to avoid over-crowding the pan and hindering browning. Though we swoon over the superiorly moist meat, the real magic lies within the sauce, which masters the balance of savory and sweet. For a burst of freshness, we add a simple cabbage slaw that rounds out the meal with a satisfying crunch. For an extra dose of veggies, pair it with sugar snap or snow peas. Our recipe requires little legwork and saves 300 calories and 250mg of sodium over the classic.

This verdant pasta salad signals a fantastic start to spring with a shower of fresh herbs. Mini shell pasta and peas are a perfect pair—the pasta serves as a kind of catcher's mitt for the sweet, bright green peas. You could also use orecchiette, an ear-shaped pasta that serves the same purpose.

Naan breads are the secret to instant pizza-style flatbreads (no rolling or baking of dough required). Look for whole-grain naan, such as Stonefire, and treat as you would a prepared pizza crust.

The high ratio of vinegar in the marinade doesn’t make the chicken sour. Instead, it acts as a brine, tenderizing and gently infusing the meat as it refrigerates overnight. The marinade is used again to braise the chicken, and again as the cooking liquid is reduced to a sauce. The chicken packs so much punch on its own that it doesn’t need much accompaniment, just crisp cucumbers, crunchy carrots, and a side of brown rice. Thai chiles, also called bird’s eye chiles, are about pinky length or smaller and range in color. If you can’t find them, substitute one serrano chile.

A bright citrus kick is just the thing for cold nights. This sheet pan supper gets a double dose from thin lemon slices roasted until tender, and fresh lemon juice added to a quick herb dressing that’s spooned over the finished dish. Sumac has a tart, lemony quality as well. It’s fantastic as a rub here, but is also delicious in vinaigrettes or sprinkled over dips. If you can’t find sumac, you can substitute 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind. If you want a little extra browning, pop the pan under the broiler for about 5 minutes, being careful not to let the vegetables get too dark.

Rotisserie chicken speeds up prep for this quick weeknight meal, which features last night’s beans as well as bacon, red onion, and collard greens.

A very hot oven quickly roasts the potatoes and finishes the chicken without overcooking. You can substitute fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise, for the small Yukon gold potatoes. Tarragon and mustard are a perfect pair—the herb's slightly sweet anise notes balance the mustard's pungency. Serve with Chile and Lime Roasted Carrots.

The torn romaine lettuce wilts just slightly in the soup and has a lighter, fresher, less earthy flavor than heartier greens like spinach or kale. Slice the carrot the same shape and thickness as the leek so you get a balance of both vegetables in every spoonful.

This main-dish salad features juicy strawberries at their seasonal peak.

Flecked with peppery watercress, these soft chicken dumplings make for a slurpy-good appetizer soup. Be sure to use regular ground chicken (not chicken breast) for the best flavor and texture. For this recipe, you'll be making the nurse's cap dumpling shape. The sauce, all the fillings, and the broth for this soup can be made a day or two ahead of the party. If making dumplings just for you and your family, you can double up and freeze a batch of uncooked dumplings. No need to thaw before cooking—just add an extra minute or two to the cook time.

The skillet is used in a few clever ways: Chicken and vegetables get a head start on the stove, finish in the oven, then come out briefly so a simple cream sauce can pick up all the roasted flavors in the pan. Using ingredients that you probably already have, this easy chicken dinner is a great weeknight meal that comes together effortlessly. Roasted carrots add a hearty crunch that's perfect for fall, and the kids won't be complaining about getting their vegetables.

This piquant herb sauce gets depth from anchovies and brightness from lime juice. To tone down the contrast, start by using less of each and taste and add as you go. If your grill is large enough, you can cook the vegetables and chicken all at once. Serve with a scoop of brown rice, and you're all set.

The deep, meaty flavor of chicken thighs stands up to its bold pairings, like mustard-white wine sauce and pungent herbs such as thyme in this recipe. This dish pairs early spring produce with cold-weather comfort.

Spring onions look like oversized green onions. Since they’re picked before full maturity, they have a milder flavor than pungent full-grown onions. Look for spring onions at farmers’ markets or in the produce section of major supermarkets. If you can’t find them, substitute leeks.

Distinctive morel mushrooms grace this dish with their nutty, woodsy flavor and unique texture. Because of their spongelike crevices, wash them well to remove dirt. If you can’t find fresh morels, look for one ounce dried, then rehydrate them in hot water before adding to the sauce.

Contrary to popular belief, baby artichokes are not immature. In fact, they are fully grown but simply positioned low on the stalk. Choose those that are olive green with tightly closed leaves. Because they have a tendency to discolor, place them in acidulated water after cutting.

The term new potato refers to any thin-skinned potato harvested in early spring while the plant is still thriving, regardless of its skin color or variety. (Fully mature potatoes are harvested after the plant dies.) If you can’t find true new potatoes, use small red- or white-skinned potatoes.