Tonight's meal was inspired by White Castle, a regional fast-food chain known for its tiny, onion-flecked burgers that are easy to eat by the bag-full. The meat mixture is steam-baked on a sheet pan, so there's no burger-flipping required. You may be tempted to make extras for lunchboxes and late night snacks! Smarts: The temperature and time listed is based on store-bought crinkle-cut fries. If your fries are different, adjust cook times accordingly.
Throwback alert! We've revived this Black Pepper Tofu from one of our earliest meal plans from 2013 and given it a fresh makeover. Loads of vegetables and a fragrant, peppery sauce will make you want to skip the takeout tonight. Smarts: As the name suggests, this dish traditionally contains a lot of black pepper. Feel free to adjust the amount to suit your taste. Coarsely ground pepper is highly recommended here, so if you're using a finer grind, reduce the total amount.
The sky is the limit when it comes to building your own charcuterie and cheese board. This one, which we first featured in 2021, gives you a blueprint that you can adapt however you'd like. This meal is great if you're looking for something to set out around the holidays. It can stand on its own as a DIY meal and can be a fun (still celebratory) break from cooking. Check out this video to see how we build our board! Smarts: To give this a Cook Smarts feel, we wanted a homemade element, and Muhammara is a savory spread that goes well with crackers and cheese. Feel free to buy it pre-made, substitute hummus or baba ganoush, or just skip it. Anything goes here!
This spicy and creamy pasta is loaded with colorful vegetables. It got great reviews when we last featured it in 2021. Smarts: The bell peppers are added at the end of cooking so that they retain some crunch. If you’d like them more tender (or if they are in large pieces), you can add them at the beginning of cooking with the garlic.
Cook Smarts
James Bartlett 
