Sunday Strategist: A Week of Healthy Dinners - February 5-9

Less assertive and more nuanced than red pepper flakes, Aleppo pepper makes a terrific pizza seasoning—a little spicy and a little fruity to complement the tangy sauce and rich cheese. Find it at spice stores, gourmet grocers, or Middle Eastern markets. A sprinkle of briny kalamata olives adds a touth of umami. 

Our cooking method gives you perfectly moist salmon with supercrisp skin. 

This one-pan meal is a crowd-pleaser and testament to how 4 ingredients can come together to form a supremely satisfying dish, ready in a flash. We broil the steak over the veggies so the meat juices baste them as they cook. Choose multifaceted flat iron steak. Butchered from the shoulder (chuck), it gives you the best of both beefy worlds: One end of the cut is tender and mild, while the opposite end has sirloin-like chew and deep, mineral flavor.

A quick dunk of fresh carrot ribbons in the pasta cooking water softens them just enough so you can swirl them through the creamy sauce with the linguine. If you have a spiralizer, spiralize the carrots and add to the pasta cooking water 3 minutes before draining. Shaved Parmesan melts evenly into the sauce and creates lovely shards on top for a visual and textural contrast. A handful of fresh parsley and tarragon add a springy pop of green right at the end. You could also use thinly sliced chives or the green parts of green onions.

Dinner doesn’t get much easier, or more fun, than sheet pan nachos. The pan does double duty: Toast the chips first, then pile high with toppings and return to the oven to melt the cheese and heat everything through. Here the Mexican classic takes a detour to Greece with pita chips, a shredded Greek salad, and crumbled feta. Rotisserie chicken breast makes this meal even easier, though this dish is a great use for any leftover cooked chicken. Bring the whole pan to the table and cut into servings, like you would a square pizza.

These two-bite treats taste rich and indulgent, with absolutely no added sugar. Each also contains 3g fiber and 3g protein. We find one to be satisfying, but don't feel bad about eating two—that's only 222 calories. Store chilled in an airtight container for up to 1 week.