Sunday Strategist: A Week of Healthy Dinners - June 19 - June 23

Onions, carrots, and garlic cook in olive oil until buttery soft, then get blended with chickpeas and water to form a deeply savory puree that coats pasta beautifully. It’s a satisfying dish that just happens to be vegan. Try to let the blender run for a minute or two when pureeing the ingredients; the smoother the sauce, the better the dish. A flourish of fresh herbs at the end brightens and freshens the dish; you can use all parsley or all basil if you don’t have both on hand. Serve with Blistered Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes.

Many seasoning blends now offer low- or no-salt options, making spice rubs an easy, instant way to spruce up quickly seared chicken, seafood, or steak without overdoing the sodium.

Sliders make any burger night more fun, especially since you get double the creamy, crunchy slaw. Look for ground turkey rather than ground turkey breast—the former has a bit more fat and flavor from dark meat while still keeping a lean profile.

Browned butter is the quick cook's best-kept secret. It takes less than 2 minutes to caramelize the milk solids in butter for a fragrant, nutty note in any dish.

Gently smashing fresh cucumber slices helps them absorb more vinaigrette, almost as if they've been marinating overnight. Serve over hot cooked brown rice.

We like the "naked" look of a couple of tartlets with just a few star cutouts, as shown. If you don't, this recipe makes enough dough for each tartlet to have its own pastry lid.