This week leans hard on the grill and the salad bowl, with most dinners clocking in around thirty to forty-five minutes. The potato salad is the outlier: a two-hour project that pays you back with enough for a crowd, or enough to eat all week. Everything else fits a normal weeknight, though a couple ask you to stay close to a hot grate.
This Week's Recipes
- Dijonnaise Grilled Chicken Breasts
- Kale Salad with Cajun Spiced Chickpeas and Buttermilk Dressing
- 3-Ingredient Grilled Steak, Pineapple, and Avocado Salad
- Bacon Ranch Potato Salad
- Grilled Tofu Salad With Honey Chile Dressing
1. Dijonnaise Grilled Chicken Breasts
This is the kind of summer dinner that looks like you planned ahead even when you didn't. A simple marinade of mayonnaise and mustard clings to chicken breasts in a way oil-based marinades never quite manage, giving you a golden, slightly tangy crust on the grill. The whole thing comes together in about forty minutes, most of it hands-off while the chicken sits.
At Step 1, you make the Dijonnaise. Set aside a plain mayonnaise-mustard mixture for the kids before you add garlic to the rest. Both versions marinate for the same time and hit the same hot grill. For children under four, cut the cooked chicken into strips or bite-sized pieces to prevent choking. Check your mayonnaise and mustard labels for sodium if you're watching salt.
The adult portion gets the full garlicky Dijonnaise, both as marinade and as a bold dipping sauce at the table. The result tastes like it came from a much more complicated recipe than it actually did.
The Split: Adults get garlicky Dijonnaise marinade and sauce; kids get mild mayo-mustard without garlic.
Serves: 4 | Time: 40m | NYT Cooking →
2. Kale Salad with Cajun Spiced Chickpeas and Buttermilk Dressing
A kale salad that actually fills you up, built on crispy spiced chickpeas and a creamy buttermilk dressing that ties everything together. The chickpeas get toasted in a skillet until their edges turn crunchy, which gives the salad real textural contrast against the massaged kale. Twenty-five minutes of assembly, and it eats like something you'd order at a neighborhood spot.
At Step 2, the chickpeas get their spice. Pull the kid's portion aside before you add cayenne, and season theirs with smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and thyme instead. Both bowls get the same buttermilk dressing. For younger children, make sure the chickpeas are cooked until very soft, or cut them in half before serving. Avoid giving whole roasted chickpeas to kids under four.
The adult bowl keeps the full Cajun heat, cayenne and all, with chickpeas that have a slow, warm burn underneath the smoke. This is the kind of salad that earns its place as a main course rather than a side dish afterthought.
The Split: Adults get Cajun-spiced chickpeas with cayenne; kids get mild spiced chickpeas without heat.
Serves: 4 | Time: 25m | Budget Bytes →
3. 3-Ingredient Grilled Steak, Pineapple, and Avocado Salad
Three ingredients sounds like a constraint, but here it's a kind of freedom. Grilled steak, sweet caramelized pineapple, and creamy avocado need very little help to become a complete dinner, especially when the pineapple itself becomes the base of a bright, acidic dressing. The thirty-five minutes of active time plus resting is honest summer cooking: mostly standing at the grill, turning things as they char.
At Step 2, you purée the pineapple dressing with salt and oil. Before you do, set aside some plain grilled pineapple and avocado slices for the kids. Their plate stays simple: steak, fruit, and avocado with nothing else needed. Cut steak into strips or small pieces for children under four. Pineapple can be fibrous, so cut it into small, manageable pieces for younger eaters as well.
The adult version gets the full transformation, with the remaining pineapple blended into a sharp, fruity dressing that gets drizzled over everything. It's a neat trick: the same ingredient playing two completely different roles on the same plate.
The Split: Adults get pineapple dressing over steak and vegetables; kids get plain grilled steak with pineapple and avocado.
Serves: 4-6 | Time: 35 minutes, plus resting | Epicurious →
4. Bacon Ranch Potato Salad
This is the potato salad that disappears first at any summer gathering, the one people ask about before they've even finished their plate. Bacon, hard-boiled eggs, and sharp cheese are already a strong foundation, but the real work happens in the ranch dressing, where fresh herbs and garlic get blended into something genuinely worth making from scratch. About two hours all told, but it feeds eight to ten people and keeps well for days.
At Step 4, the ranch comes together. Blend the full herby version for the adults, with parsley, chives, garlic, and vinegar. For the kids, whisk together a simpler dressing of mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, and just a little dill. No blender needed, no assertive flavors. Both bowls get the same bacon, cheese, and eggs. This is a high-sodium dish overall, so consider low-sodium bacon and reduced-fat cheese if you're feeding younger kids regularly. Make sure the eggs are cooked thoroughly.
The adult version has a ranch dressing with real bite and complexity, green with herbs and sharp with vinegar. It's the kind of potato salad that ruins you for the deli counter version, in the best possible way.
The Split: Adults get full herby ranch with garlic and vinegar; kids get milder dressing with just dill.
Serves: 8-10 | Time: 2h | NYT Cooking →
5. Grilled Tofu Salad With Honey Chile Dressing
This one is a harder sell for kids, and it's worth being upfront about that. Grilled tofu has a texture that divides younger eaters, and the original dressing leans heavily on fish sauce and chile heat, flavors that can read as intense or just unfamiliar. The strategy here is to keep the tofu and vegetables completely neutral and let the dressing do all the negotiating.
At Step 3, the dressing comes together. Combine lime juice, fish sauce, honey, garlic, and chiles for the adults. For the kids, make a separate mild dressing with just lime and honey, none of the funk or heat. Both versions get the same grilled tofu and vegetables from the earlier steps. Cut the vegetables into small, manageable pieces for younger children. The tofu itself is soft and safe texturally, which helps.
The adult bowl gets the full force of the original: funky, hot, sweet, and sharp all at once, with grill-charred tofu soaking up every layer. It's a genuinely exciting vegetarian dinner, even if not every member of your household agrees on that point yet.
The Split: Adults get spicy fish sauce-lime dressing with chiles; kids get sweet lime-honey without heat.
Serves: 4 | Time: 45m | NYT Cooking →
Start with the Dijonnaise grilled chicken if you want to ease in. The split happens right at the marinade, both versions cook on the same grate, and the kid-friendly version is genuinely mild without being boring.
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