Weeknight Meals

Use any salsa you like in this dish: mild, medium, or hot. For the best flavor, buy the fresh variety sold in the refrigerator section of grocery stores. To add more heat, cook 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes with the corn and garlic in step 3.

Experiment with different combinations of your favorite herbs to coat the snapper, but remember to balance strong herbs, such as dill and thyme, with milder ones, such as parsley.

Filled with Caribbean flavors, this dinner is made to be enjoyed outdoors. You will need twelve metal or wooden skewers. To keep them from scorching on the grill, soak wooden skewers in water while preparing the ingredients.

Tzatziki, a traditional Greek dressing made from cucumber, yogurt, and mint, lends a cool complement to the burgers.

In this recipe, lemon wedges caramelize on the grill, making them slightly sweet. When serving the skewers, squeeze the lemon juice over the lamb for added flavor.

Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce flavor these burgers before they’re cooked. We like them with lettuce, tomato, and mayo on one side, and grilled onions on the other, but try any of the accompaniments listed below.

Croutons can be made 3 days ahead and stored in a resealable plastic bag, at room temperature. Chicken can be cooked and stored, covered, overnight in the refrigerator. Bring the chicken and dressing to room temperature before serving.

When you find yourself with day-old bread, make this Tuscan salad, known as panzanella. Coarse-textured, good-quality bread works best. Feel free to improvise by adding olives, anchovies, or canned tuna.

Mint is a traditional accompaniment for lamb, but in this recipe we use a fresh herb sauce instead of mint jelly.

The combination of mustards in this recipe produces an especially piquant sauce to serve with the pork. Use any leftover pork to make sandwiches the next day.

This hearty salad contains many ingredients and flavorings commonly found in Thai cuisine, including lime juice, chile pepper, mint, bean sprouts, and peanuts.

Radish and avocado are traditional Mexican toppings for tacos. Here they are combined in a salsa that can be served with tacos or as an appetizer with tortilla chips.

This recipe is based on a Mexican dish created to use up leftovers. For an authentic touch, use fresh Mexican cheese (queso fresco) or aged (queso añejo) in place of feta. Look for both in specialty food stores and Mexican markets.

Look for hoisin sauce and rice vinegar in the Asian foods section of your supermarket. Although ingredients vary, hoisin is generally made with soybeans, chiles, and spices. It’s used as a seasoning at the table and in cooking.

You can mix and match the listed ingredients to create your own version of this main-course salad. We used store-bought roasted turkey, but chicken also works well.

This classic French sauce also makes an excellent topping for fish, such as seared salmon or trout. For four servings, steam 1 1/2 pounds trimmed asparagus until crisp-tender, toss with butter, and season with salt and pepper, as desired.

One day I was looking through my cupboard trying to decide what I would have for dinner and came upon a can of coconut milk. The truth is, I only bought it because it sounded fun and exotic, but I had no idea what to make with it. After a little more digging I came up with the coconut-curry combination and the rest, as they say, is history. All right, that might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but it is very tasty-—definitely impress-your-date material.

This is the best cheese fondue I’ve ever had—Megan got the recipe when she was in France. You can use most kinds of hard white French or Swiss cheese, but be sure not to use store-bought grated cheese. Those cheeses are tossed in cornstarch so the pieces don’t stick together. If you use them in cheese fondue, the cornstarch forms a hard lump in the pan. Note that this recipe uses a cup of wine—it’s very French to cook with wine—which is one of the things that makes this fondue classic.

Oh my gosh, this artichoke dip is so good! I know that everyone and their mom is making artichoke dip nowadays, but one bite of this and you’ll agree it’s something special. Even my mom, who doesn’t like the two main ingredients—cheese and artichokes—likes it. It’s actually a recipe I got from my cousin, with a couple of tweaks. She makes it for any get-together she has at her place and it’s always a hit.