Take It Easy with These 5 Simple Supper Ideas

Lean into the Spring with five simple dinners for this week's meal plan.

By
Sara Bir
Sara Bir
Sara Bir
Sara is a chef, culinary educator, and author of three cookbooks, The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook, Tasting Ohio and The Fruit Forager's Companion. The latter won a 2019 IACP Cookbook Award.
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Published March 30, 2021
Sara Bir
"What's For Dinner" with a plate of Shrimp Cobb Salad with Creamy Basil Dressing pictured under the caption.
Simply Recipes

April is often a sneaky month. The weather can be all over the place and so can your mood. Where I live, crocuses, the pixie-sized spring flowers of purple and yellow peek up about now or there can be epic snowfall that quickly melts into dirty slush. It's anybody's guess.

It’s technically spring, but it doesn’t always feel that way. Rather than just endure it, let’s lean in! 

Why not give yourself a break with some dinners that are colorful, even though the scene outdoors may not match up? A nice, bright salad with shrimp and mango. A meat n’ potatoes night of steak with simple sides. A gussied-up grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and pear.

See if someone can tackle dish duty so you can take a little walk and look for crocuses. They’re not around for long.

  • Pressure Cooker Pasta Primavera

    Pasta Primavera in the Pressure Cooker
    Coco Morante

    This brightly-colored vegetable laden favorite cooks start to finish in and Instant Pot. No IP? Make Classic Pasta Primavera on the stovetop instead.

  • Pan-Fried London Broil Steak

    London Broil Steak
    Summer Miller, Elise Bauer, Coco Morante, and Sally Vargas

    This was a staple of my childhood. London broil is a leaner cut that’s best cooked medium, at most. Slice it thinly and serve with twice-baked potatoes and creamed spinach.

  • Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Bacon and Pear

    Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Bacon and Pear
    Elise Bauer

    White cheddar, bacon, and crisp pear are a winning combo. Use apple slices or even a slick of fig jam instead of the pears, if you like. Serve a lightly dressed green salad on the side.

  • Skillet Chicken Puttanesca

    Pasta Puttanesca
    Nick Evans

    This isn’t pasta, but chicken breasts simmered in a tomato-y sauce studded with olives and capers, puttanesca-style. Don’t be afraid of the anchovies in this. They add a savory depth and hardly any fishiness.

    Continue to 5 of 6 below.

  • Shrimp Cobb Salad with Creamy Basil Dressing

    Shrimp Cobb Salad
    Sally Vargas

    Another fresh one to delight your taste buds! This is lighter than a traditional Cobb salad. Mango really perks this up, as does a lively basil dressing.

  • Weekend Baking: Banana Sheet Cake

    Banana Cake (Banana Sheet Cake)
    Elise Bauer

    Use those ripe bananas from your freezer in an easy, quick snack cake everyone will love. Why? Three words: cream cheese frosting.