The Dinner Plan

This episode highlights so many Italian vegetable recipes: ideas for cooking eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and all the other produce that's at its peak right now. Your expert guide: Tuscan cooking teacher and cookbook author Giulia Scarpaleggia, whose most recent book is Vegetables the Italian Way. Tune in to learn why you should salt your eggplant even though modern versions aren't as bitter, what to make with tomatoes that aren't fantastic, and the most important steps to making pesto.

Recipes and links, plus our big summer giveaway: TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com

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Thanks to this week's sponsors:

• Find Massican Wines at your local wine shop or Massican.com (21+ only)
• Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.

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Mélanie Masarin wants you to feel less stressed out about hosting. She says that her rule with friends is: “If I’m home, you can come over.” Her pantry is stocked with tinned fish and olives, and other little snacks to serve—but her ideal setup for a dinner party is prep-ahead recipes like ratatouille that can be served at room temperature. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Mélanie shares a behind-the-scenes look at her new cookbook, Riviera, and her advice for making homemade aioli to eat with crunchy vegetables. This episode is full of seasonal recipes that are more about assembly than actual cooking.

Get the aioli recipe and the ratatouille recipe on this week's newsletter at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com.

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Thanks to this week's sponsors:

• Row 7: Get 10% off Row 7’s chef-prepared tinned vegetables using code DINNERPLAN10 at Row7Seeds.com
• Find Lido: Recipes and Stories from Italy’s Beach Clubs wherever you buy books.
• Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
• Listen to Bitefully with Claudia Sandoval on your favorite podcast app.

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Want to make better pizza at home but not sure how to start? Today's guest, David Tamarkin of King Arthur Baking Co., is the co-author of The Book of Pizza. This episode of The Dinner Plan podcast is packed with advice, sharing how to hack your oven for better pizza crust, how to choose toppings depending on the style of pizza you're making, and how to fit pizza-making into a weekday schedule. Why is your pizza soggy? David has the answer to that, too.

Get the recipe for King Arthur's Weeknight Detroit Pizza at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com.

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Thanks to this week's sponsors:

• Straus Family Creamery: Find Straus organic ice cream at Whole Foods nationwide or at strausfamilycreamery.com. 
• Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
• Need another pizza book for your collection? Tara Jensen's Pizza Practice is available on Amazon, Bookshop, or wherever you buy books.

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Camping food doesn't have to mean freeze-dried meals you reconstitute with water. On this week's episode of The Dinner Plan, Emma Frisch, the author of Feast by Firelight, shares cooking inspiration for your next outdoor adventure, and tips for camping trip meal planning, the best way to pack your cooler, and thinking ahead so you don't end up cooking dinner in the dark. Get Emma's pork chop and corn salsa recipe this week at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com.

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Thanks to this week's sponsors:

• Bubbies Mochi Ice Cream: Find Bubbies at Sprouts, Whole Foods Market, Safeway, Albertsons, and other grocers nationwide.
• Trimona Yogurt: Find Trimona's A2A2 Bulgarian-style yogurt at TrimonaFoods.com and stores near you.
• LaBelle Patrimoine: Find LaBelle Patrimoine spatchcocked chickens in select Whole Foods Markets now. 
• Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A traditional Japanese meal highlights a range of flavors and cooking methods, but that doesn't have to mean a ton of weeknight cooking. The key, according to cookbook authors Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat, is a common version of meal prep that's highlighted in their new book, Japanese Comfort Cooking. So many sozai—those side dishes that go with your rice—can be made in advance to serve over the course of a few days. In this conversation, Tadashi and Harris share a few favorite recipes that work especially well for meal prep, as well as a handful of quick Japanese recipes that they recommend you add to your meal-planning repertoire. Get their cookbook recommendation links and a preview of the book over at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com.

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Thanks to this week's sponsor:

• Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer on cookware and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's early to name the best cookbooks of 2026, but spring was so impressive and jam-packed that The Dinner Plan team joined up with Matt Rodbard of This Is TASTE, another favorite food podcast, to produce this special episode highlighting the best cookbooks from the first half of the year, along with a preview of some of the really exciting new cookbooks that will be published this fall. Get links to the cookbooks mentioned here, plus a special limited-time discount on paid subscriptions to The Dinner Plan at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com.

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Thanks to this week's sponsors:

• McEvoy Ranch: Use code DINNERPLAN for 10% off at McEvoyranch.com
• Bubbies Mochi Ice Cream: Find Bubbies at Sprouts, Whole Foods Market, Safeway, Albertsons, and other grocers nationwide.
• Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
• Straus Family Creamery: Find Straus organic ice cream at Whole Foods nationwide or at strausfamilycreamery.com. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You've probably seen Alexandra Stacey's Instagram account, @frenchfamilyfood, but now she has a whole cookbook of salad recipes that make the most of whatever produce is in season. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, host Maggie Hoffman talks with Alexandra about the French salads Alex grew up with, the way she devises new dressings for different types of salads, and the worst salad she ever had. When it's too warm out to turn on the stove to make hot food, this new cookbook is going to be your go-to for meal planning.

TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com: recipes + a chance to win Salads for All Seasons

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Thanks to this week's sponsors:

• Bubbies Mochi Ice Cream: Find Bubbies at Sprouts, Whole Foods Market, Safeway, Albertsons, and other grocers nationwide.
• Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
• TCHO Chocolate: If you’re a chef, baker, or maker in the sweets business, request a chocolate sample at TCHOpro.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Georgina Hayden has written cookbooks that highlight traditional Mediterranean recipes, but her latest, MEDesque, is a little looser, full of weeknight dinner ideas inspired by various ingredients and dishes that are beloved in the region. "I've interviewed priests and grannies" about traditional Greek and Cypriot cooking, Georgina says, "But with this one, I've just had a bit more fun and been a bit playful with it." In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Georgina explains how she simplifies Greek classics like spanakopita and moussaka, offers advice for cooking and meal planning when you're feeling burnout, and shares all the pantry staples she's added to her kitchen to get flavorful food on the table easily. To get Georgina's antipasti pasta salad recipe and links to the cookbooks she recommends, check us out over at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com.

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Thanks to this week's sponsors:

• TCHO Chocolate: If you’re a chef, baker, or maker in the sweets business, request a chocolate sample at TCHOpro.com
• Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
• Straus Family Creamery: Find Straus organic ice cream at Whole Foods nationwide or at strausfamilycreamery.com. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you looked in chef Claudette Zepeda's fridge, you’ll likely find the sauce she needs to turn a Costco rotisserie chicken into quick weeknight enchiladas for her kids, but there are a few more key flavor boosters, which she tells us all about in this episode of The Dinner Plan. Claudette shares some of the techniques and iconic Mexican dishes highlighted in her new cookbook, Cooking the Borderlands, plus the story of her attempt to recreate the original Caesar salad to the exacting requirements of the family that owns Caesar's Restaurant in Tijuana, where the dish originated. This episode is a must-listen for lovers of Mexican food. Head over to TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com for a free recipe preview and a chance to win a copy of the cookbook.

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Thanks to this week’s sponsors:

• TCHO Chocolate: If you’re a chef, baker, or maker in the sweets business, request a chocolate sample at TCHOpro.com
• Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
• Straus Family Creamery: Find Straus organic ice cream at Whole Foods nationwide or at strausfamilycreamery.com. 
• Masienda: Use code DINNERPLAN15 for 15% off ingredients and cookware at Masienda.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meal prep is much easier when you're grilling, and Noah Galuten's new cookbook, Grill Time!, will inspire you way beyond boring containers of plain grilled chicken. Noah offers fun ways to season grilled vegetables, smart salad inspiration, and the trick for turkey burgers that never dry out (and don't fall apart either). In this conversation with The Dinner Plan host Maggie Hoffman, Noah shares lots of advice, including how to grill sausages without making them burst, how to grill chicken breast that's evenly cooked, and how to think about grilling over the weekend for easy weeknight meals in the days ahead. If you've been feeling meal planning burnout, this episode will help you get inspired.

Get two free recipes from the book (and a chance to win a copy of Grill Time!) over at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com.

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Thanks to today's sponsors:

• Made In Cookware: Head to madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
• Find The Flavor of Fire from Chronicle Books wherever you buy cookbooks.
• Tastemade Cooking: Go to tastemade.com/dinnerplan and use promo code DINNERPLAN for 40% off an annual membership. Be sure to redeem promo code online before downloading the app.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.