Start the chicken in a cold pan

Makes one full skillet in about 50 minutes, half of it in the oven: dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow, or one big dinner if that is where your appetite lands today. The whole skillet holds roughly 120g of protein.

Pat the thighs dry and salt both sides. If you can do this the night before and leave them uncovered on a plate in the fridge, the skin comes out even crisper.

Heat the oven to 425°F. Lay the thighs skin side down in a cold 12-inch oven-safe skillet with no oil, then turn the burner to medium. Leave them alone for 12 to 15 minutes, until the skin is deep golden and lets go of the pan on its own. Move them to a plate skin side up and pour off all but two tablespoons of the fat.

Apples and onion go into the fat cut sides down with a pinch of salt. Five minutes, until they brown. Stir the broth, mustard, vinegar and thyme together, pour it in, add the beans, and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.

Set the thighs back on top, skin side up and sitting above the liquid. Roast 20 to 25 minutes, until a thermometer in the thickest thigh, away from the bone, reads at least 165°F.

Why this works: in a cold pan the fat under the skin melts out slowly before the surface has a chance to brown, so you get thin, crackly skin instead of a dark crust over a rubbery layer. Keeping the skin above the liquid in the oven keeps it that way.

Everything keeps 3 days in the fridge. Reheat the thighs skin side up in a 400°F oven for about 10 minutes so the skin crisps again. The microwave turns it soft.

No recipe, just an order of operations. Spoon three-quarters of a cup of plain whole-milk Greek yogurt into a wide bowl and spread it out a little with the back of the spoon. Scatter a big spoonful of pomegranate seeds over it, then a small handful of shelled pistachios, chopped rough. A thin drizzle of honey and a pinch of flaky salt.

Buy the seeds already out of the fruit, in the little cups in the produce section, and skip a messy ten minutes. Keep the pistachios at a real handful rather than a garnish, because they carry a good share of the protein here. Roughly 20g of protein, depending on the yogurt.

Two hard-boiled eggs, halved, with a dab of mayo and a few drops of hot sauce on each half. It is a lazy deviled egg, and it carries about 12g of protein.

Where a baked potato or a bowl of chili wants sour cream, blend cottage cheese smooth with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt. It is tangy and rich, and it brings much more protein than sour cream does. Check the tub, since brands vary.

In the freezer aisle, look for shelled edamame in a steam-in bag. A few minutes in the microwave, a little salt and a few drops of sesame oil, and you have a bowl of soft green soybeans to eat with your fingers or fold into rice.

Thighs and breasts cook differently because the muscles do different jobs. Leg muscles work all day, so they carry more fat and more connective tissue than the breast. Heat slowly melts that connective tissue into gelatin, which keeps the meat moist well past the point where a breast would dry out. USDA sets 165°F as the minimum for all poultry, thighs included. A thigh taken a little past that is usually more tender, not less, which is why it is the cut that forgives you.

For the day this week when the stove is not going to happen: beat two eggs in a mug with a splash of milk and a pinch of salt, and microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each, until just set. A small handful of shredded cheese on top while it is hot, a few saltines on the side. Soft, warm and done in two minutes.