Every week, Executive Food Editor Keith Dresser pairs each main dish with a side to give you a complete, satisfying dinner without the guesswork. Look for the game plan section to learn tips on how to streamline your kitchen work so that dinner comes together quicker.
Weeknight Cooking
Dinner This Week: Grilled Salmon
This week’s menus include Moroccan-Style Turkey Meatballs; Grilled Salmon; and Pasta with Beans, Chard, and Rosemary for dinner in about an hour.
By Published June 14, 2023.
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Dinner 1: Grilled Salmon and Cucumber-Dill Salad
Game Plan: Start by salting the cucumbers. While the cucumbers sit, dry the salmon fillets, preheat the grill, and make the dressing. Toss the cucumbers with the dressing while the salmon cooks.
Our method for Grilled Salmon can be applied to other firm-fleshed fish of a similar thickness, including snapper, halibut, sea bass, or grouper. If grilling one of these fish, shoot for an internal temperature of 140 degrees. Cucumber-Dill Salad calls for English cucumbers, but regular cucumbers will work just fine; peel and seed them before salting. Parsley can be substituted for the dill.
Printable Shopping Lists: Grilled Salmon and Cucumber-Dill Salad
Recipe for charcoal-grilled salmon fillet
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Dinner 2: Moroccan-Style Turkey Meatballs and Couscous
Game Plan: Start this pairing by focusing on the meatballs and sauce. Once the meatballs are simmering in the covered skillet (step 3), make the couscous. As the couscous steams, the meatballs should be cooked through and you can finish reducing the sauce.
We like 93- or 85-percent lean turkey in Moroccan-Style Turkey Meatballs, but ground chicken with a similar fat content will also work. We don’t recommend using 99-percent lean ground poultry. We prefer to add individual spices, but 1 tablespoon of garam masala can stand in for the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The pilaf method allows Couscous with Shallots, Garlic, and Almonds to cook up fluffy and separate. Half of a minced onion can be substituted for the shallots, and feel free to try a different nut—almonds and pistachios are good options.
Printable Shopping Lists: Moroccan-Style Turkey Meatballs and Couscous with Shallots, Garlic, and Almonds
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Dinner 3: Pasta with Beans and Chard with Green Leaf and Radicchio Salad
Game Plan: Prep all of the ingredients for both dishes. Prepare the pasta dish and then toss the salad right before serving.
Pasta with Beans, Chard, and Rosemary calls for two types of beans—cannellini and pinto—but other varieties of white beans can be substituted. Bacon can be used in place of pancetta. Spinach can be swapped for Swiss chard, but we suggest using mature spinach rather than baby spinach. Our Green Leaf and Radicchio Salad with Grapefruit and Fennel combines soft, mineral-y green leaf lettuce with bitter, crunchy radicchio. Other types of lettuces and greens can be used; we suggest a mix of mild and bitter choices for balanced flavor. Thinly sliced celery can stand in for the fennel.
Printable Shopping Lists: Pasta with Beans, Chard, and Rosemary and Green Leaf and Radicchio Salad with Grapefruit and Fennel
To view more quick weeknight dinner ideas, check out the rest of the Dinner This Week series.
- Dinner This Week: Farrotto with Asparagus
- Dinner This Week: Spaghetti with Clams
- Dinner This Week: Grilled Tuscan-Style Steak
- Dinner This Week: Chicken Souvlaki
- Dinner This Week: Grilled Chicken Thighs
