The Dinner Plan ― Mastering Weeknight Meals and More

Between juggling work, after-school activities, mismatched schedules, and often bare refrigerators, there are all sorts of situations that make weeknight cooking a universally challenging—and frustrating—experience. The Dinner Plan offers five meal strategies—Make-Ahead, Staggered, One-Dish, Extra- Fast, and Pantry—that will make weeknight dinners easier. The 135 recipes, from main dishes to sides to salads and “lifesaver” condiments, provide lots of practical options whether time is super-tight, the fridge is empty, or everyone is coming home at a different time. And all of the recipes are “keepers”—brag-worthy, reliable, crowd-pleasing preparations that you’ll confidently turn to again and again. Shrimp Scampi, Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas, Foolproof Carbonara, and Mexican Skillet Lasagna are just a few examples of doable recipes that will earn their place in any busy cook’s repertoire.

Rounded out with plenty of tips and a bonus section on healthful snacks, The Dinner Plan is every home cook’s indis­pensable weeknight dinner guide.

Kathy Brennan is a food/cookbook editor and writer. A winner of the Bert Greene and James Beard Journalism Awards and a graduate of New York's International Culinary Center, she was a senior editor at Saveur and also worked at Gourmet and Food Arts.
 
Caroline Campion is a freelance writer and the creator of the award-winning food blog DevilAndEgg.com. She was also a senior editor at Saveur, GQ, and Glamour and has contributed to the New York Times, Martha Stewart, Redbook, and Cherry Bombe.
Their first book together, KEEPERS: Two Home Cooks Share Their Tried-and-True Weeknight Recipes and the Secrets to Happiness in the Kitchen, won the International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Award for General Excellence in 2014 and was chosen by NPR as one of its Good Reads of 2013. The Boston Globe also called it possibly "the best-value weeknight cookbook around".