This Meatloaf Recipe Makes the Best Leftovers

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Do you ever cook something just for the leftovers? I know that’s the idea behind cooking for the freezer — a smart and economical approach to meal planning. But here I’m thinking specifically of next-day leftovers, the awesome Monday lunch after the Sunday supper. I’m thinking, of course, about meatloaf.

A slab of Kay Chun’s freshly cooked meatloaf (above), tenderly nubby under its glossy ketchup glaze and leaning on a swoop of mashed potatoes, is a thing of beauty. But I’m most eager for the meatloaf sandwiches to come, the slices cold and salty between spongy white bread with just a thin smear of mayonnaise as spackling. Or a slice for breakfast, crisped in a pan next to a fried egg, while tater tots — joy of joys — brown in the oven. Meatloaf: uninspired name; terrific eating.

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While we’re riding the nostalgia train, here’s shake and bake chicken thighs, another Americana winner from Kay. Crushed shredded-wheat cereal mixed with garlic and onion powders makes for an extremely crunchy crust, and Kay combines buttered peas with egg noodles and grated Parm for a side that really sticks the childhood-favorites landing. (If your “Shake ’n Bake” reference point is less “home cooking” and more “Talladega Nights,” know that’s where my brain goes, too.)

Two things we can all agree on: Shrimp boils are fantastic, and baby corn is cute. Here, then, is Creole broiled shrimp with baby corn, a recipe from Vallery Lomas that takes the summer weekend staple and adapts it for May weeknights.

Melissa Clark’s creamy bucatini with spring onions and mint, a gorgeous spring dinner, goes all in on alliums. If you can’t get spring onions (they look like scallions that spend all their time in the gym), swap in regular or sweet onions, scallions, shallots or leeks. Also green — almost eye-poppingly so — is Rick Martínez’s roasted broccoli and chickpeas with mole verde, a vibrant vegan dinner or a lush side for a simple roast chicken.

And just like I make meatloaf for the leftovers, I make angel food cake for what I’m going to eat with it. Those early season berries and some softly whipped cream will be, well, heavenly on top of pillowy slices of fluffy, vanilla-scented cake.