The Dinner Plan

Two-time Top Chef finalist Sara Bradley loves to play with soup recipes, and in this episode of The Dinner Plan, she shares her favorite ways to dress up squash soup, tomato soup, corn soup, and cantaloupe soup. (Yes, cantaloupe soup.) Sara also shares the story of her famed cornbread salad, the flavor-boosting ingredients that she reaches for most, and the easy dinner she makes when she really needs to clean out the fridge and keep her family happy.

Sara’s Book: The Kitchen I Came Home To

RECIPES OF THE WEEK:
Get Sara’s Cornbread Salad and Pimento Cheese Waffles on TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com

Check out this week’s sponsors:
Cangshan Cutlery: Use code DINNERPLAN15 for 15 percent off a purchase of $100 or more until Dec 31, 2026 at CangshanCutlery.com.
Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
MaraBela: Find Marabela Alcohol-Free Sparkling Tea at MaraBelaTea.com
Nordic Ware: Use code DINNER10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase at Nordicware.com. (Nordic Ware note: Excludes Sale items. Offer can not be combined with other promo codes, and only one promo code may be used per customer. The offer is valid for U.S. online purchases only. This promotion is non-transferable, not redeemable for cash, and not valid on prior purchases, special orders, or taxes. Discount is valid until 11:59 PM CST on December 31st, 2026.)
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As a teenager, Meherwan Irani would sneak out to eat street food against his mother’s wishes. These days the chef of Chai Pani and Boti Walla shares the flavors of his childhood in India with guests at his restaurants, and cooks at home through the pages of his new cookbook, No. 1 Best Indian Cookbook in the World: At-Home Recipes from the Streets, Truck Stops, Villages, and Palaces of India. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Meherwan shares his current cooking obsession; the key lessons home cooks can learn from street vendors; the best way to julienne okra, carrots, or ginger; and how to make better saag paneer for dinner tonight.

Get Meherwan’s tandoori salmon recipe on TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com ➡️

Check out this week’s sponsors:
MaraBela: Find Marabela Alcohol-Free Sparkling Tea at MaraBelaTea.com
Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
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Nik Sharma wants home cooks to better understand food science; in this episode of The Dinner Plan, he shares some of the best cooking tips from his new book, Fundamentals of Flavor: 100 Recipes for the Science of Better Cooking, and why they work. If you’ve ever struggled with dry pork tenderloin, you’ll want to listen in before you try to make that quick dinner staple again. Hear about Nik’s favorite flavor-boosting pantry essentials, his favorite fall dinners, and the one ingredient he could have named this book after, too.

RECIPES OF THE WEEK:
Get Nik’s recipes for Caramelized Shallot Dip and Seared Gnocchi with Chili Garlic Shrimp
at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com

SEPTEMBER GIVEAWAY:
To win Earlywood kitchen utensils, a Cuisinart countertop oven, a Hestan roasting pan, and so many cookbooks,
enter by Wednesday, September 23, 2026

CHECK OUT THESE SPONSORS:
Staub: Find iconic Staub Dutch ovens now at Staub.com
Dirty Labs: Use code DINNERPLAN to get 15% off your first order at DirtyLabs.com
Equator Coffees: Use code DINNERPLAN for 25% off your first order at EquatorCoffees.com
Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
Find Kishwar Chowdhury’s Smoke, Rice, Water: Recipes and Stories from a Bengali Home at Amazon, Bookshop, or wherever you buy books.
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Cortney LaCorte—also known as Cheese Gal—joins The Dinner Plan this week to share her best advice on how to make a cheese plate and all the ways she makes entertaining more relaxed. That includes tips on what to cook for a dinner party, the most important thing you can do for a dinner party guest, and the cleaning detail you really can skip. What to make with Boursin? Cortney's all over that. On this episode, she also shares snack ideas for TV nights on the couch, memories of her mother's dinner parties, and her favorite recipe for a quick dinner you can make with grocery store fried chicken.

🍽️ Get Cortney's cookbook recs and recipe on our newsletter at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com 🍽️

LAST CHANCE to enter our September giveaway ➡️
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Check out this week's sponsors:

Massican Wines: Use code DINNERPLAN for 10% off at Massican.com. Must be 21+
McEvoy Ranch: Use code DINNERPLAN for 10% off at McEvoyranch.com
Cheesy by Farideh Sadeghin is available wherever you buy books.
Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
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Olivia Tiedemann will be the first to tell you that working as a private chef isn't easy. You've gotta know what each guest likes and doesn't like, all the dietary restrictions, "who doesn't eat anchovies, who doesn't eat onions, who doesn't eat dairy. And there's 12 of them, and they're all there at one time," Olivia says. "How am I going to contort this same entree seven different ways?" But ultimately, she loves cooking for her clients, and shares everything she's learned in her new cookbook, Eat (Like) The Rich. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Olivia talks with host Maggie Hoffman about what really matters in a great meal. Expensive lobster and steak is nice, but the difference all comes down to cooking technique. She walks us through a few favorite dinner recipes from the cookbook, the right way to sear a piece of fish, the way she thinks about creating a new dish for a dinner party, and reveals the popular ingredient she actually hates.

🍳 ENTER THE GIVEAWAY and get Olivia Tiedemann's Parsnip Gnocchi recipe on TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com 🍳

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Check out this week's sponsors:

Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
Une Femme Wines: Use code DINNERPLAN at unefemmewines.com for 20% off. Must be 21+

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