One: Grilled salmon sandwiches on ciabatta with basil and dill sauce; tomato salad with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and parsley (recipe here)
Two: Roasted shallot hummus with pita bread, cucumbers, marinated tomatoes, and red onion (recipe for hummus here– substituted roasted shallots for the roasted garlic)
Three: Crispy Barbecue Tofu with brown rice and spinach sautéed in olive oil and garlic with lemon and parmesan (recipe here)
Four: Black beans with caramelized onions and cumin, brown rice, guacamole, tomatoes, sour cream, and sharp cheddar
Five: Tomato, basil, mozzarella salad with red onions, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil
Six: Roasted rosemary baby carrots (find recipe here), barbecue chicken, and arugula salad with lemon and olive oil
Seven: Grilled bison burger topped with local sharp cheddar; oven-roasted red potatoes; power greens salad (baby kale, baby spinach, red and green baby chard) with cherry tomatoes
As the weather fluctuates between warm and sunny and cold and rainy, we have been grilling out a lot more. Man, is summer going to taste good!
Let me know if you would like any of the recipes that I have not listed above- I’d be happy to share. Also, feel free to add a few of your favorite recipes that have been making the rounds in your kitchen (or in your back yard, if you’ve been grilling out)! And be sure to check out yesterday’s comments for some more dinner ideas.
Oh, those salmon sandwiches are the best! My tummy is growling right now…
While not a recipe, one staple passed on to me by my mom is the concept of the “sampler plate.” This is actually brilliant and involves no cooking, usually a lunch for the kids. They have a chart with the separate food groups taped inside the pantry and their challenge is to choose from at least 3 different groups, I have veto power. They’re happy with their glorified snack and I’m happy not to play “guess what I want to eat!”
We’ve also been into smoothies lately, a good way to pack in all kinds of goodness.
For dinner, their choices are take it, or leave it. No short order cooking ’round here.
Those meals look lovely.
I just read “Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day” and I absolutely loved it. So lately, we’ve been having homemade pizza, pitas, or breadsticks. The other night I made a shrimp and pesto pizza. It was delicious.
What a delicious group of meals! We do a lot of simple grains plus veggies plus sliced eggs or beans, etc., that combo is the biggest staple. James’s favorite as the weather gets warmer is black bean burgers (Moosewood) with a giant salad and some kind of potato something. If I had my way we’d eat soup every night, but the guys do not agree!
What a wonderful idea and post! Love it and the photos in your last post : )
Ali of
http://www.dressingken.com
everyone who sees this is going to want to be adopted by you.
My absolutely favorite meal is grilled salmon on a heap of spring greens, lots of avocado, pecans, red onions and avocado vinegarette. Oh – plus a nice glass of pinot noir (the darker and fruitier the better)!!! Does anyone have a great recipe for the avocado vinegarette???
Oh, Mom, that sounds amazing! And so healthy, too! I’ll let you know if I come across a good avocado vinaigrette!
Thanks Lauren! My attempt at the dressing turned out like a sloppy, wet, very bitter guacamole! Nothing I did to improve it worked out. Lance, my collie, looked at me and his nose was ‘working’. He looked disgusted and walked into the livingroom and stared at me from a distance. (No Lance, I’m not making this for you to eat – not to worry…)
I’m enamored with those baby carrots! So simple, yet pretty and I bet tasty too. I’d love the recipe, because either way I’m gonna try that. So hungry right now.
Milla, the carrots are as follows:
One bunch of baby carrots, scrubbed and leaves removed. Coat in olive oil, sea salt, and rosemary, and bake on a dark baking dish at 400 for 25 minutes. Enjoy!
Hello dear! We haven’t chatted in ages have we? What wonderful meals you have there! We’re winding down baseball season here, so meals have been a moveable feast of sorts. Baseball season means we’re not home until 6 most nights, later if Cal has a game. And then it’s the dinner, shower, homework train. Yawn. We have sandwich night every week (at least once!) With somewhat warmer weather, I’ll marinate chicken (don’t know if you eat meat) all day and call my husband on our way home to fire up the grill. It’s worked so far, but I could use it a little warmer! We were eating outside by this time last year!
Thank you, Lauren, for the seven meal ideas! I added barbecue sauce, tofu, and chicken to my grocery list this week to try your tofu and chicken meals. I thought that I had a bunch of ideas to share, but I’ve drawn a blank.
One recipe that I’ve recently discovered, and loved, is Melissa Clark’s roasted broccoli an shrimp. I found this from…somewhere…you know how it is, you read something on one site, and then suddenly, 6 links later…anyway…I ultimately landed and found it on The Wednesday Chef (I’ve not read this site, just found the link to the recipe here), but it is Melissa Clark’s recipe. It is so insanely easy and delicious. My husband and children love it, too. Win! If I think of any more ideas, I’ll post them here. 😉
Here is the link:
http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2009/01/melissa-clarks-roasted-broccoli-with-shrimp.html
Tried the salmon tonight and loved it! I didn’t have all of the ingredients for the dressing, but I made a yummy aoli-tzatziki sort of sauce. I also made the mayo myself and wanted to share the recipe in case you’d be interested: http://www.spain-in-iowa.com/2012/01/how-to-make-homemade-mayonnaise-with-4-simple-ingredients/
You have excellent taste in food 🙂 Love the look and sound of everything on this list!
Oh my! I know this is an old post but I’m just finding it! And yum this is my kind of food. This looks amazing!