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 dinner comes together quicker.
Weeknight Cooking
Dinner This Week: Crepes with Ham and Egg
This week’s menus include Buckwheat Crepes with Ham, Egg, and Cheese; Thai Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimp and Noodles; and Garlicky Shrimp, Tomato, and White Bean Stew for dinner in about an hour.
By Published Feb. 11, 2022.
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Dinner 1: Crepes with Ham and Egg with Green Beans
Game Plan: Mix and cook the crepes through step 4. Next, prep and cook the greens beans through step 2. Fill and bake the crepes, finishing the green beans while the crepes are in the oven.
Buckwheat Crepes with Ham, Egg, and Cheese, or Galettes Complètes, is a classic Breton dish that pairs buckwheat crepes with salty ham, nutty Gruyère cheese, and a runny egg. We assemble four filled crepes on a rimmed baking sheet and bake them in a hot oven, streamlining the usual approach of cooking them individually on the stovetop. For Green Beans with Sautéed Shallots and Vermouth, we first blanch the beans until they are tender-crisp. Then, to flavor the beans, we sauté thinly sliced shallots in butter until golden brown and finish with a splash of herbal vermouth.
Printable Shopping Lists: Crepes with Ham and Egg and Green Beans
Equipment Review
Measuring Spoons
Eight sets, 41 spoons, many runs in the dishwasher, and umpteen jars of herbs: We took the measure of measuring spoons, demanding accuracy, comfort, and sturdiness.Read Our Review
Dinner 2: Thai Hot and Sour Soup with Napa Cabbage Slaw
Game Plan: Cook the noodles and broth for the soup (steps 1 and 2), using any unattended cooking time to prep the remaining ingredients for the soup and the slaw (step 1). Finish the soup (steps 3 and 4), tossing the slaw right before portioning the soup into individual bowls.
Guay Tiew Tom Yum Goong (Thai Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimp and Noodles) contains generous amounts of shrimp and rice noodles—along with oyster mushrooms and cherry tomatoes—in a highly aromatic broth bursting with hot, sour, salty, and sweet flavors. We create vibrancy by smashing galangal, scallions, lemongrass, makrut lime leaves, and Thai chiles to release their flavorful oils and then simmering them in store-bought chicken broth. Napa Cabbage Slaw with Snow Peas and Mint offers a more tender, delicate texture and a sweeter flavor than traditional green cabbage slaw. To avoid a bland, watered-down slaw, we make a potent dressing with a high ratio of vinegar to oil. After tossing the cabbage with the dressing and letting it sit for about 5 minutes, moisture from the cabbage dilutes the dressing slightly, so the slaw reaches the perfect level of bright acidity.
Printable Shopping Lists: Thai Hot and Sour Soup and Napa Cabbage Slaw
Equipment Review
The Best Dutch Ovens
Dutch ovens do it all. But which pot makes “it all” easiest?Read Our Review
Dinner 3: Shrimp and White Bean Stew with Green Leaf and Radicchio Salad
Game Plan: Start by brining the shrimp (step 1), then prep the remaining ingredients for the stew. Cook the stew, using the simmering time to prep the salad ingredients. Toss the salad right before serving.
To give our Garlicky Shrimp, Tomato, and White Bean Stew a full seafood flavor, we make a quick concentrated stock with the shrimp shells and use it to simmer the beans. To season the shrimp and keep them plump and juicy, we brine them briefly, add them late in the cooking process, and then reduce the heat so they gently simmer. Plenty of basil provides herbal freshness; lemon juice and zest contribute acidity and aroma. Our Green Leaf and Radicchio Salad uses a combination of soft, mineral-y green leaf lettuce and bitter, crunchy radicchio. Sweet, peppery grapefruit and grassy fennel both counteract the bitterness of the radicchio and add brightness. Parmesan cheese contributes richness that helps round out the flavors.
Printable Shopping Lists: Shrimp and White Bean Stew and Green Leaf and Radicchio Salad
To view more quick weeknight dinner ideas, check out the rest of the Dinner This Week series.
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