Week of Healthy Meal Prep: August 26-30

This easy chili is hearty, comforting, and wholesome—plus it's significantly lower in calories, fat, and sodium than classic recipes. Smoked paprika and a splash of beer kick up the flavor, and our clever trick for perfectly browned ground beef would surely make any grandmother proud. 

A simple crust of toasted pistachios takes salmon from everyday delicious to special enough for guests. For even cooking, look for a fillet that is about the same thickness throughout, or ask at the fish counter to trim off the tail end. Serve with rice pilaf or farro.

We speed up this cookout classic by using boneless thighs and a hot grill pan. A homemade barbecue sauce comes together surprisingly quickly and is a great way to control sodium and added sugar.

Adding shrimp is an effortless way to make any pasta dish feel special. Simply sauté shrimp on the stovetop, combine with your sauce, toss with pasta, and you have a satisfying main dish. When it comes to choosing the perfect pasta sauce for shrimp, you can’t go wrong with marinara, pesto, alfredo, or a simple mix of olive oil and garlic. The same goes for type of pasta—linguine, fusilli, orecchiette, orzo, and penne are all delicious options.  

To make your next steak night a success, watch over the temperature of the meat with a thermometer. This works best on steaks of 1-inch (or more) thickness; it’s hard to get a good reading on anything thinner. We marinate the meat with lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil—but no salt, because the marinade will get discarded. Instead, we sprinkle on a little kosher salt before pan-grilling and finish the sliced steak with gorgeous flaky salt so that it hits your tongue first and offers a beautiful crunchy kick. Round out your meal with a side of Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes or Tomato Salad.

Chewy in the middle with crispy edges, this easy dessert flavored with browned butter is absolutely irresistible. You can swap any dried fruit for the raisins here. Keep leftovers in the skillet and simply cover it.