ThePrep: 20-Minute High-Protein Dinners

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Cooking dinner at the end of a busy day helps me turn my brain off. Focusing on chopping and stirring is a nice change from typing emails! At the same time, I don't want to spend an hour getting dinner on the table, which is where these quick 20-minute meals come in. They're easy to make, delicious and, with at least 15 grams of protein per serving, they're also satisfying.

Your Meal Plan

These warming and hearty dinners are meals to get excited about. Recipes like Sunday's 20-Minute Chicken Cutlets with Creamy Pesto Sauce and Tuesday's Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry pack in lots of flavor with few ingredients or steps. You can thank shortcut ingredients like pesto and jarred curry sauce for that. I always have ingredients like these stashed in my pantry, which makes it easy to make a yummy dinner at the drop of a hat.

Wednesday's Skillet Ravioli Lasagna is the dish I make when I'm craving lasagna but don't have the time (or desire) to make one from scratch. It has similar flavors—including ground beef, tomato, basil, ricotta and mozzarella—but comes together in 20 minutes in a single skillet. Thursday's Creamy Garlic Skillet Chicken with Spinach is another convenient one-skillet dinner.

One last shout-out for this week: shrimp! It's a quick-cooking protein source that helps keep Monday's Creamy Lemon Pasta with Shrimp and Friday's Spicy Shrimp Tacos effortless. Plus, who doesn't love ending the week with tacos? Enjoy!

Sunday: 20-Minute Chicken Cutlets with Creamy Pesto Sauce over 1 cup zucchini noodles (29 g protein)

Monday: Creamy Lemon Pasta with Shrimp (28 g protein)

Tuesday: Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry topped with a fried egg (18 g protein)

Wednesday: Skillet Ravioli Lasagna (38 g protein)

Thursday: Creamy Garlic Skillet Chicken with Spinach over ½ cup cooked whole-wheat orzo (31 g protein)

Friday: Spicy Shrimp Tacos (20 g protein)

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Meal-Prep Snack

These healthy banana muffins are packed with protein, thanks to ingredients like peanut butter and Greek yogurt, delivering 5 grams per muffin. I'll plan on making a batch this weekend, so they're ready for a quick breakfast or a grab-and-go snack.

Get the Recipe: Banana Protein Muffins

Treat Yourself

This lavender-spiked sipper is my new favorite for cocktail hour. With honey, gin, lemon and a few dashes of lavender bitters, it's easy to make and outrageously delicious. The lavender is subtle and imparts a lovely floral aroma that makes this drink feel extra special.

Get the Recipe: Lavender Bee's Knees

I hope you all have a happy week, and if you have any questions or requests for future newsletters, please let me know by emailing ThePrep@eatingwell.com!