Week of Healthy Meal Prep: July 23-27

This is the perfect dinner for a sweltering summer night. Cold sparkling water is a genius addition to this recipe—its bubbly effervescence provides the perfect lift to buttery ripe avocado. 

Salmon’s high healthy-fat content helps it stay moist under high-heat cooking, unlike flaky fish, which might dry out. The bright chimichurri sauce helps keep the fish moist, and leftovers can be used to top potatoes, pasta, and other meat throughout the week.

Use ground beef or bison here. Available in most grocery stores, bison is eco-friendly and has fewer calories and less saturated fat than beef. Try these meatballs with spaghetti, or pile them on a whole-wheat hoagie for a wholesome take on the classic meatball sub.

Make sure the cutlets are no more than a half-inch thick so they’ll cook quickly.

Chicken cutlets get great flavor from a lemon-rosemary marinade while the leeks cook into a silky, caramelized vegetable side dish. If you’ve never enjoyed the darker tops of a green leek, give them a try in this recipe. The chicken marinade does double duty here: It seasons the chicken while the leeks cook and then becomes a light sauce for the whole meal. If you can’t find chicken cutlets, you can make your own: For 4 cutlets, cut two 8-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast in half horizontally and lightly pound into an even thickness with the smooth side of a meat mallet.

Looking for a fun and easy baking project? Make a batch of these chocolaty, bite-size tea cakes. They taste like elegant brownies, but won't weigh you down.