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.
Dinner This Week: Grilled Flank Steak
Dinner 1: Latin Spice-Rubbed Grilled Flank Steak and Grilled Corn
For our Latin Spice-Rubbed Grilled Flank Steak, we use a heady spice rub to give the steak a rich, flavorful crust. We cook the steak over high heat for a short period of time to develop substantial char on the exterior while keeping the interior rare or medium-rare. Grilled Corn with Flavored Butter starts with browning the corn on a hot grill. We then transfer it to a roasting pan containing flavored butter. We cover the pan with aluminum foil and continue to cook the sweet, toasted ears until they pick up flavor.
Printable Shopping Lists: Latin Spice-Rubbed Grilled Flank Steak and Grilled Corn
The Best Grill Tongs
What qualities separate the best grill tongs from the pretenders?Dinner 2: Broiled Shrimp Skewers and Green Bean Salad
Broiled Shrimp Skewers start by crowding the shrimp onto the skewer, which prevents them from overcooking. We remove the shrimp from the heat before they are completely cooked and finish them in a sauce waiting on the stovetop. To ensure the beans in Green Bean Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Feta are tender, bright green, and deeply flavored, we blanch them in highly concentrated salt water (¼ cup of salt to 2 quarts of water). This quickly softens the pectin in the beans' skins, so they become tender before losing their vibrant color; it also seasons them inside and out.
Printable Shopping Lists: Broiled Shrimp Skewers and Green Bean Salad
The Best Saucepans
The saucepan is a kitchen essential, used to make everything from soup to custard. Which is best?Dinner 3: Fish Meunière with Browned Butter and French Potato Salad
Our Fish Meunière with Browned Butter produces delicately crisp and golden brown fillets that are moist and flavorful on the inside. To create the lightest coating, we dry the fillets, season them with salt and pepper, allow them to sit for five minutes, then dredge them in flour. We then cook the fillets in a mixture of oil and butter in a nonstick skillet to prevent sticking. To eliminate torn skins and broken potatoes in our French Potato Salad, we slice creamy red bliss potatoes before boiling them in heavily seasoned water. To flavor the slices through and through, we pour a vinaigrette flavored with mustard and garlic over the warm potatoes.
Printable Shopping Lists: Fish Meunière with Browned Butter and French Potato Salad
View more weeknight dinner ideas below, or check out all of the Dinner This Week menus.