Weeknight Meals

This soup is very thick; it can be thinned with additional chicken broth, if desired.

The perfect accompaniment to grilled fish, chicken or meat. Try cooked bell peppers, mushrooms and onions over the coals, too.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

(Grilled Beef Salad) The following grilled beef salad has as many versions as there are cooks in Thailand. The success of the dish depends upon starting with good-quality tenderloin and achieving a balance of hot, sour, and salty. Before serving, be sure to sample the salad and adjust the amount of chili, lime, fish sauce — and, if desired, sugar — to your taste.

For a casual supper, broil rounds of prepared polenta roll, and toss romaine lettuce with oil and vinegar; end with cheesecake. For a special dinner, have broccoli spears with browned butter and orzo pilaf with Parmesan. Buy a hazelnut dacquoise or other fancy cake from the bakery for a great dessert.

This recipe is from Winnie Spazano, my second mom/housekeeper, who by day ran an elementary school cafeteria and by night cooked "something special" for my brothers and me. The following is a standout. As it was placed in front of my nine-year-old face, I thought, "I can't each something this large!" To this day, I don't understand the name.

For this recipe you may use whatever mushrooms you happen to have on hand. Serve the dish as an accompaniment to grilled or roasted meats, seafood, or chicken or with soup as a light lunch or dinner.

Jeanne Thiel Kelley, a contributing editor to Bon Appétit, says, "Every year, my family gets together for a big buffet, and soup is always the appetizer. The host greets the rest of the family at the door with a small cup of soup and a glass of wine. Each year the soup changes, but this one is particularly nice. It has lots of flavor and a creamy texture, yet isn’t so rich that it spoils the appetite."

To my way of thinking, the traditional way of serving hanger steak is the best. The steaks are quickly pan-roasted—they're best served medium-rare (although in France they're often served "bleu," so rare that they're almost blue and only just warm in the center)—and sauced with shallots that have been cooked to a compote's consistency with red wine and vinegar and then tossed with butter and herbs. Whether you sauce the steaks or not (sometimes small bistros in France will serve the steaks with just a spoonful of butter and some sea salt or a pot of strong mustard), I hope you'll serve them with the greatest and most classic accompaniment: pommes frites, French-fried potatoes.

Butter melting over a pan-fried steak mingles with its rosy juices, creating a luscious sauce right on the plate. For smaller appetites, these large steaks can be cut in half to serve four.

Extra milk makes these potatoes silky-smooth, and truffle oil adds luxurious flavor.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Most of the work on this dish is done the day before, leaving plenty of time in the morning for opening presents or simply sleeping in.

If you can't find fresh chervil, use fresh parsley instead.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 15 min