Summer Ideas

Happy 5th of July! Hope you had a lovely 4th.

Well, the joys and challenges of summer are upon us, and that means lots of heat and extra laundry as we swim every day. And letting meals unfold as we see where the day takes us – basically the opposite of meal planning, especially when delicious meals are found with the freshest, simplest seasonal produce. Tomatoes, corn, blueberries, strawberries. Grill up some protein, add some vinegar and maybe some cheese and sit back with some rosé or a Negroni (or two).

Lots of people have been messaging me asking for ideas for summer grilling and salad ideas, so instead of a meal plan here are ideas for summer get togethers that I am loving.

1.This Kale and Brussel Sprout salad is still our favorite go-to summer salad.

2. A friend made Ina Garten’s Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta for a party and Sophie (my 10 year old) was raving about it the next day and asked me if I tried it. She said, “Mom, I ate the last one and I was so sad because I wanted more!” (how cute is she?). And if you are looking for something really different in the crostini category here is…

3. 35 Bruschetta & Crostini Ideas from Epicurious – I really like this one with thai basil since I am growing a lot of it.

4. Mission Chinese Food – I’ve seen this in several places, the NY Times, Food52 (done by one of my favorite food bloggers Alexandra Stafford) which tends to mean its a very good recipe. Alexandra wrote exactly what I was thinking – that there were a lot of hard to find ingredients but that you can sub any vinegars for the ones they had listed. And that the salad was addictive.

5. Speaking of Alexandra, she has her favorite summer salads up on her blog that all look amazing. (Julie, this list is for you!). She knocks food blogging out of the park.

6. I have been craving zucchini salads and this one from Bobby Flay looks amazing. It happens to be one of the many Summer Cookout Sides he is sharing on Food Network so if you don’t like this one you are sure to find one you do in his list.

7. Grilled Swordfish Kebabs with Golden Raisin Chimichurri we are addicted to grilled Swordfish, especially with lots lemon and blackened seasoning (had it last night with fresh corn and caprese salad). This looks like a great twist and I can’t wait to make it the next time we grill.

8. This Asian Slaw from Alton Brown seems like it would go so well with those swordfish kebabs.

9. Our sitter came in raving about the the Curried Potato Salad with Apples her dad made for their bbq. It got me craving one and both this one from an Indian Chef and this one from Genius Kitchen look good.

10. This Grilled Brie, Pineapple and Prosciutto recipe looks amazing!

11. I could live on this Ratatouille recipe all week.

12. I also always crave Gazpacho so here is the Green one I posted and a Red one I posted.

13. We’ve been loving putting burrata on our Caprese salad.

14. I also can’t wait to make this Burrata Antipasto from A Life From Scratch.

15. If you are looking for a great and easy dessert idea, just add this Strawberry Rhubarb compote onto vanilla ice cream. I posted it here to go on top of muffins that are delicious, but this is the ultimate topping for vanilla ice cream. Along with blueberry compote when they are bursting from bushes and produce sections. Plus if you don’t have time to make it due to  summer fun you can just put the fresh fruit on top.

16. Someone made these Campfire Cones at a party I went to last summer and I know my kids will LOVE them when we go camping.