Quick, bright dinners for winter

Here in New York, it’s simmer-on-the-stove weather, heat-the-oven-and-melt-the-cheese weather, how-many-weeks-till-spring weather. I love the snow. I like to ski, and I’m good for a nice wintry walk, which is perfectly comfortable as long as you layer up; my colleague Mia Leimkuhler, who lives in Montreal, tells me it’s fittingly known there as technique de l’oignon. (If you prefer your layers with cheese, now is the time to perfect your lasagna, stuffed shells and other baked pastas.)