Week of Healthy Meal Prep: October 15-19

This easy dinner comes together in less time than it takes to wait for a table at your favorite Mexican restaurant. Mild poblano chiles and bell peppers get a nice char under the broiler and deliver more than double a day’s worth of immunity-boosting vitamin C.

This fall-flavored soup is lush and creamy, but is totally vegan (meaning it has no cream whatsoever.) Put it in the slow cooker before work, and enjoy a ready-made dinner when you get home.

This dish is perfect for easing into fall and comes together in one pan to boot. Vastly underrated thighs are rich and moist, perfect for stewing, grilling, or searing. This dish also works beautifully with pork chops—a twist that's weeknight-fast yet fit for company and makes us simply giddy for fall. Sub 4 (6-ounce) bone-in pork chops for the chicken thighs, searing 5 minutes on each side. Like the thighs, the chops will finish cooking in the apple mixture. 

This weeknight recipes comes together quickly, but you can shave off a few additional minutes by premixing the seasonings and storing in an airtight container. Brushing the fillets with maple syrup adds a touch of sweetness. Serve with Harissa-Roasted Carrots.

A trio of bold, nutty cheeses and a velvety butternut squash puree helped create our cheesiest mac and cheese. The squash trick lets us cut back on cheese overall for an impressive makeover, shaving 500 calories and 30g sat fat.

Bitterness rating: 4/10. Though we love the blushing pink color from Ruby Red grapefruit, you also can use a yellow-fleshed variety, which will likely be less sweet. We find that a London-style gin works best here; the floral flavors of more botanical styles (such as new-wave gins) are likely to overpower the taste of the grapefruit.