This week's Lunch Power spotlight is on a special high-flavor condiment. Roasted Walnut-Beet Sauce is resurfacing from the archives because it's that good, both in flavor and in its ability to expand lunch options and transform meals.

Strategy #1: Prepare 1 or 2 bulk meals
Strategy #2: Stock your fridge with ready-to-eat staple ingredients
Strategy #3: Make a special high-flavor condiment

When I have this sauce on hand it finds its way into anything from flatbread wraps to a dip for crackers. My newest favorite uses for it are slathered on an open-faced sandwich (or tartine) topped with a salad or dolloped in a lentil bowl with roasted vegetables, seeds, and a basil-dill pesto.

Make this sauce, and I promise you will cook once and eat all week. And if you'd like to take your advance preparation one step further, why not cook off some lentils or make the basil-dill pesto for the lentil bowl while the beets are roasting?

Roasted Walnut-Beet Sauce, 2 Ways

Notes: I am providing an adjustable outline for two quick meals. Use it as a guide, adapting to what you have available.

Roasted Walnut-Beet Sauce recipe.

Roasted Beet Tartine

Notes: For a high-protein, gluten-free version, use socca or your favorite gluten-free bread

1. Toast bread under broiler or toaster oven.
2. Spread a layer of Roasted Walnut-Beet Sauce on the bread
3. Top with arugula, goat cheese, avocado, and toasted walnuts
4. Drizzle with balsamic and extra-virgin olive oil

Lentil Bowl

1. Add the following to a bowl of cooked green lentils: arugula, avocado, roasted vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels, or fennel)
2. Add a dollop of Roasted Walnut-Beet Sauce on top
3. Liberally sprinkle the bowl with hemp seeds or toasted sunflower seeds
4. Generously drizzle with Basil-Dill Pesto (recipe below) or a squeeze of lemon and olive oil, if you're pressed for time.

Basil-Dill Pesto
Notes: This is a tahini-laced pesto. Just enough tahini is added to ground the sauce and give it some heft that an oil only-based pesto does not have. If you don't have tahini, substitute with a little less of white miso and omit salt, or simply leave it out for a really tasty traditional pesto.

• 1 small bunch basil
• 1 small bunch dill
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Juice from 1/4 - 1/2 lemon
• 2 scant Tbsp. tahini paste
• Squeeze of honey
• 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 Tbsp. water (or more for a thinner pesto)

1. Discard tough stems from basil and dill.
2. Add everything to a food processor and blend until smooth and emulsified. Taste and adjust for salt and acidity.