Weeknight Meals

If you can't find haricots verts--thin French string beans--buy the slenderest green beans you can find. Pack the prepared potatoes and beans separately, then arrange them on a platter when you reach your destination.

A great side dish for chicken or fish.

Pass warm biscuits, or stick with tradition and mound some cooked white rice in the center of each bowl of soup. For a nice go-with, toss shredded lettuce with artichoke hearts, sliced mushrooms and creamy buttermilk dressing. Stay with the southern theme by ending with pecan pie.

UPDATE: Seeing this message in the iPhone app? If this is not the recipe you were looking for, please update to version 4.7 of the app from the App Store. You must be on iOS version 8.2 or above to upgrade.

You can also "grill" the steak in a ridged heavy-duty skillet set on the stove top.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. For a side dish, serve couscous mixed with sautéed red bell pepper, carrots and dill. Buy a strawberry tart to finish.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

For a more substantial salad, add one cup chopped cooked chicken breast or one cup drained flaked tuna.

Michael McLaughlin, cookbook author, says, "Green beans amandine used to be the festive vegetable of choice at any number of my family's holiday celebrations. Over the years, a few of us have improvised here and there, resulting in this easy side dish, a real family heirloom. For a change of pace, orange peel can replace the lemon."

The leftovers make outstanding sandwiches.

Honey and mint are the special ingredients in this lovely lamb dish.

Brushed with garlic oil, grilled over the fire and stacked onto crusty buns with plenty of burger trimmings, portobellos are this season's snazziest alternative sandwich filling.

If you can't find fresh sea scallops, use peeled large shrimp, leaving the tails on. Rice pilaf or orzo would be a good accompaniment.

(POULET AUX ARTICHAUTS)