roasted broccoli in air fryer 5 1 4 1 2 1 . Did you happen to get one for the holidays?

Here are recipes for pork chops, chicken breasts, broccoli and more. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. The next time you want an impressive and simple side dish, try Melissa Clark’s air fryer brussels sprouts. David Malosh for The New York Times. Sure, feeding a family is no joke, but have you tried cooking for yourself lately?

Think of it as a more space-efficient convection oven that slashes the cooking time for comforting dishes like pork chops, roasted vegetables and even cheesecake. Fans already understand its appeal, as illustrated by the legions of Facebook groups dedicated to exchanging tips, tricks and recipes. Below are 10 recipes — some of which I had the pleasure of developing — that require very little prep time and result in a tasty meal for one or two. And, not only are they perfect for air fryer newbies and power users alike, they will, perhaps, convert even the biggest skeptics.

Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Though they’re cooked in an air fryer, which runs at very high heat, these boneless pork loin chops don’t dry out, staying moist through and through. The crackly crust from a brown sugar, salt and spice blend that seasons the pork chops ahead of time. Air fryers work wonders with dry spices, so feel free to experiment beyond the cumin and coriander here. Nearly 2,000 five-star ratings don’t lie: Readers love this Melissa Clark dish, in which balsamic vinegar reduces and combines with soy sauce and lime juice for a gorgeous, glossy sauce that drapes over air-fryer-crisp brussels sprouts. The next time you want an impressive side dish of roasted vegetables, give this recipe a whirl. Could this be the easiest chicken breast recipe on our site?

It borrows from Eric Kim’s near-scholarly knowledge on the topic of chicken breasts, and uses brown sugar and salt to draw out moisture. Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. It may not immediately make sense, but it is possible to bake a gorgeous cake in the air fryer, using a smaller springform pan or cake insert that fits into the device’s basket. Smothered in sour cream and rice vinegar before they cook, these chicken thighs still manage to brown beautifully and crisp up in record time. You could, of course, make a single thigh for a quick, easy dinner. Or, you could cook off as many thighs as can fit in the basket: They make excellent leftovers.

But Melissa Clark has you covered with these air-fryer spicy chicken wings, which get a jolt from a chile-based sauce. For some recipes, the only rules are that there are no rules. Take the notes left on this endlessly flexible one, for example: One reader added a dollop of Dijon, while another tossed the green beans with honey and dried thyme. Even without any parboiling, the centers turn wonderfully creamy. And, if you don’t have dried or fresh parsley on hand, any chopped fresh herb or spicy seasoning like cayenne could work deliciously here.

Broccoli is tossed with olive oil and soy sauce, but you can go in any direction from there: Add a whisper of fish sauce for some umami, or some chile crisp for heat and flavor. Or make a double batch of this recipe for those times when your body craves greens. Oven, air fryer, slow cooker or hob? How much it costs to cook is at the forefront of everyone’s minds this winter. To get definitive answers, we pitted a range of kitchen appliances against each other to cook popular foods. We picked a range of popular food items that could reasonably be cooked in a variety of different appliances – a whole chicken, chips, soup, a sponge cake, steamed vegetables and a jacket potato.

Our lab testers used several smaller kitchen appliances for each dish, choosing the obvious appliances you’d cook each item in. Our test kit included a microwave, an air fryer, a slow cooker, a pressure cooker and a halogen oven. These were compared against either a built-in electric oven or an induction hob, depending on the type of food. We recorded how long each dish took to cook, how much electricity it used and, crucially, how much it cost.

We also rated the final dishes out of five on the quality of the cooking. We chose the models we used as typical examples of each type of appliance from our lab tests. When it comes to cooking ability, other models may perform better or worse than the ones we tested here. In terms of energy costs, our results should be a useful guide. Is it cheaper to use an air fryer? Our research found that you can make considerable energy savings with an air fryer compared to an oven or hob, particularly if you’re only cooking small amounts.