When the weather gets nice I find myself wanting to spend about “ZERO” time on cooking. Ok, maybe I’d be willing to pull together a dish in 20ish minutes or less. I want to be outside as much as possible doing things after work.
I know we can do salads, take out food, grill and that’s fast and easy. I’m looking for specific recipes or twists on “just make a salad” or “just throw some burgers on the grill”. H is not a very adventurous eater but I am. I often try and adapt a recipe so he can have his “ordinary” and I can jazz mine up with toppings or extra ingredients on the side.
Example: last night I did a quick taco salad. But not typical. I browned some meat and taco’d it. Then I shredded lettuce and kale, added some crushed pita chips, chopped up jalapenos, red and yellow peppers, onion, topped with crumbled queso fresco cheese, and some of my mom’s “hot sauce”. Super flavorful, light and ready in about 20 minutes.
Anything that takes advantage of summer produce is a plus!
My favorite quick pasta dish if you have fresh tomatoes and basil - warm pasta (like rotini) tossed with chopped tomatoes (preferably with skin removed - just dunk in boiling water for a few seconds and skin will peel right off), chopped basil, lots of minced garlic, some olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Best to make a few hours ahead to let flavors meld. And can serve at room temperature or cold. Delicious if you have home grown or farmer’s market tomatoes and not the bland variety from the grocery store.
^^^ Love this. Trouble is H would say “where’s the meatballs?!” - Maybe he can have some meat on the side. I like the idea of making it and then letting the flavors meld while I go out and do stuff outdoors.
Skip the meatballs. Slice up some spicy Italian sausages and saute those. Toss it in with his portion.
Tonight is sliced Portobello mushroom sandwiches on a seeded baguette with sautéed onions and swiss cheese. We keep containers of reduced mushroom stock in the freezer to use for dipping. The recipe is from the cookbook “Plenty,” a good compendium of fresh food vegetarian meals, some served cold.
We make a summer dinner salad inspired by the Vietnamese dish called bún. If you haven’t had it, it’s a chopped lettuce base with rice noodles, topped with an assortment of veggies, herbs, and grilled meat. I’ve seen online recipes for the dressing but I usually opt for a good store bought Asian sesame or miso dressing. The meat can be leftover chicken or slices of pork, but tofu and shrimp work great too.
I do a middle eastern approach that’s similar to tacos. Browned ground beef cooked with chopped onions and spices like cumin and cinnamon. Fresh chopped salad made with small diced tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, scallions, lemon juice and olive oil. Hummus. Hard boiled eggs. Either pita or naan bread. Sometimes tzatziki sauce.
Everyone makes their own combination and everyone’s happy. It’s a great meal for a crowd that includes people who both love and avoid either meat or vegetables. Lots of options without a lot of cooking.
Buddha bowls- this is one of my favorites https://minimalistbaker.com/sweet-potato-chickpea-buddha-bowl/
Serve with a piece of cut up grilled chicken if you must have meat.
I also make a bowl with quinoa or farro, top with raw red cabbage, radishes, cilantro, fajita style peppers and onions. Top with cojita cheese, avocado or guacamole and sour cream. Finish with slices of grilled steak. This can be served hot or cold.
The nice thing about bowls or salads is the vegetables can be roasted ahead of time and everything assembled quickly just before dinner.
Another summer meal we used to make every Sunday after the beach is “homemade pizza”. Dough from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Serve with a salad.
I also like to grill a tri tip and serve it with whatever sides you want. The next day cut the leftover tri tip into cubes and make big burritos with rice that has been made with a mix of chicken broth and enchilada sauce, whole black or pinto beans and shredded cheddar cheese. Use big flour tortillas. Wrap them in foil and put in oven or on the grill to heat them up.
Costco rotisserie chicken is the basis for many of my summer meals. I get cheese or spinach tortellini and cook up. Mix with shredded chicken and put on a bed of arugula and shallots. Top with some fresh shredded parmesan cheese. For the dressing I do olive oil, lemon juice and shaved lemon peel, fresh garlic, salt and pepper and a bit of honey.
1 box/16 oz Rotini type pasta
4 roma tomatoes - chopped
1 bunch of green onions - chopped
1/4 sweet yellow onion - chopped
crumbled feta to taste
shrimp
Paul Newman’s original dressing (to taste but I use about 1/3 of a bottle for a pound of pasta)
I like to make it in the morning so it has a chance to marinate.
Wow, it’s like you all know exactly how I like to eat! So many great ideas. I do realize that part of the issue is my H an his limited variety of foods he will eat. SO much he won’t eat. But some of these I think I can revise for him and some I can make when the kids are here (he can have leftovers!)
We sometimes use frozen basic thin crusted (especially corn meal crust) and load on the veggies and put on the grill. Love to put arugula on at the end and drizzle balsamic on as you eat.
My cousin and his wife are visiting next week. I begged for and he sent his list of about 12 food items he will eat. Not kidding. I was very frustrated last visit as he did not tell me but (shrug) I really like them and so I will do my best to accommodate. Pulled pork and mashed potatoes are on his list. Eggs, Bacon and such. Mainly they are young and I will send them out. No berries but Pineapple is ok…
So hang in there with you H.
Fast jambalaya. Rice, seasoned black beans, turkey sausage sliced (sautéed), chopped green peppers (sautéed) can of petite cut tomatoes, , add in a little red pepper, salt, pepper.
I poach chicken breasts and freeze them. Thaw the day ahead, then add to a store bought Ceasar salad mix. (Actually, I’m addicted to a Ceasar dressing sold by Whole Foods, so sometimes I assemble my own). If kid is around we might add some take & bake bread, but I skip it when she isn’t here.
We like cold noodle dishes in summer. For ginger noodles we use soba, ramen, or rice noodles. Mix a light Japanese soy with mirin, finely chopped ginger and scallion, and rice vinegar to taste. Boil your noodles, toss in the sauce, then refrigerate while you prep whatever protein you like. Typically I’ll wok some shrimp or just eat with a grocery-store rotisserie chicken. Quick-pickled cucumbers go great on the side.
We do a similar thing with thai peanut sauce. Basically the same sauce ingredients above except add some peanut butter and tahini if you have it handy, chopped jalapeños or thai chilis if you’re up for it, and whisk well. I also like to sous-vide chicken breast for this dish, which you can do in advance and refrigerate since the dish is cold anyway. Chop the chicken and toss in the sauce when ready.
Asian style noodle salads are a good choice. Boil pasta or Asian noodles and rinse in cold water when done. I top them with julienned cucumber strips, either ham or chicken, and slices of egg omelette. The dressing is a mix of sesame paste or tahini, a couple spoons of sesame oil, and some Asian vinegar mixed together. A spoon of spicy Chinese mustard powder will give it a nice kick.
If I feel lazy and don’t want to mix up a dressing, I will use the bottles sesame sauce used for Japanese shabu-shabu as it’s essentially the same as what I mentioned above. Asian groceries and places like Whole Foods will sell it.
1 can Great Northern beans , drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
1 jar (2oz) diced pimento, drained
1 carrot grated
Mix above in large bowl.
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder
Maybe he can have some meat on the side. I like the idea of making it and then letting the flavors meld while I go out and do stuff outdoors.