Five Weeknight Dishes: A clever dinner hack

By Emily Weinstein, The New York Times

One of the smartest approaches to feeding a group of opinionated people with different preferences — say, your family — is to make something that’s easy to construct or deconstruct as you like. (Tacos are the reigning champions in this arena.)

Niçoise salad is also a great pick-and-choose meal; let everyone take what they want from the platter of canned tuna, green beans, boiled eggs, tomatoes, olives and so on.

You’ll find a roasted salmon-centered take on Niçoise salad below, as well as a dumpling salad that can be separated into parts for anyone who won’t go for the full package. The tajín chicken, BBQ tofu and creamy lemon pasta are just plain delicious.

1. Tajín Grilled Chicken

Tajín is a Mexican seasoning made from dried, ground red chiles, sea salt and dehydrated lime juice. It is great sprinkled over fresh cut fruit like mango and pineapple, or rimmed on an ice cold marga...