Recipes! Sheet Pan Chicken and Vegetables for One, Banana Pecan Muffins, Turkey and Sweet Potato Meatloaf, and more

What to cook during the week ahead, from Post Food editors.

If you think you see a lot of advertisements for unnecessary kitchen tools, imagine being me. The numerous press releases that drop into my inbox every day are too many to count. While I've been converted to the wonders of such tools as the Instant Pot and air fryer, I firmly believe that you can still do the bulk of your cooking very well with the basic equipment.

This week's crop of new recipes is a great example. First up is Aaron Hutcherson's Sheet Pan Chicken and Vegetables for One (the kind of small-scale recipe a lot of you keep asking for), which features chicken drumsticks, sweet potatoes and broccoli, though you can mix up what you roast and how you season everything. Use any size sheet pan you like, but the 9-by-13-inch quarter-sheet is ideal. If you haven't acquired one of these small pans, I highly recommend you do. They're just the thing for dinners for one, as well as toasting nuts, prepping ingredients and, in my experience, reheating a single slice of pizza. Nordic Ware is the gold standard for durable and affordable sheet pans. And, yes, it's okay if your sheet pans look well-loved!

Olga Massov's Matzoh Brittle, a Passover-friendly confection that layers butterscotch and chocolate on top of the unleavened bread, also employs a sheet pan, in this case the 18-by-13-inch half-sheet. Olga literally wrote the book on sheet-pan cooking, and having tested this recipe, I can tell you it's an irresistible delight. I also pulled my sheet pan out for another holiday recipe, Matzoh Pizza.

While we're talking about sweet treats, let's move right into Ellie Krieger's Banana Pecan Muffins. This whole-grain recipe leans on ripe fruit and date sugar for natural sweetness. A muffin tin is no one-trick pony, either. Ellie recently used one for her savory egg bites, and we have recipes for mini pizzas, lasagna, meatloaf and cobblers, in addition to a bevy of muffins. Nonstick muffin tins are especially helpful. I've been loving my Oxo nonstick pan I've had for a few years.

Julia Turshen's Turkey and Sweet Potato Meatloaf relies on another standby, the trusty loaf pan. This Thanksgiving-anytime dish features a confetti of grated sweet potato for moisture and color, as well as a sweet, tangy mustard-maple syrup glaze. Especially for baking, I prefer metal loaf pans, which have straighter sides and bake through more evenly than glass. USA Pan and Williams-Sonoma offer good options.

I couldn't imagine my kitchen without a food processor, which makes quick work of cookbook author Joan Nathan's Apple and Nut Haroset, a beloved Passover side/condiment. Also nice to have: a steamer basket, an important tool in Joe Yonan's Asparagus Mimosa.

Want to talk more about tools and gadgets? Join Aaron and me for our live weekly chat Wednesday at noon Eastern. You can submit your questions now, then come back once we kick things off in real time.

Until we meet again, happy cooking!