Summer beef stew, veggie fajitas, nacho-crusted haddock with asparagus, tomato and feta salad, cauliflower puttanesca pasta and steak with tomato salsa and chevre
I do my best to keep our summer meals quick and easy so that we can enjoy as much time as possible outside. We've been doing lots of swimming and lots of patio sitting. We also love nighttime walks, watching the fireflies dance across the lawn.
On the menu July 5 - 11, 2020:
Sunday Slow Cooker Summer Beef Stew with Couscous
I was looking for a slow cooker beef recipe and found this gem. The only suggestion I have is that you add the zucchini and peppers sooner than half an hour before serving. Honestly, I am not sure why you wouldn't (or couldn't) cook this stew for a full 7 or 8 hours and then add in the zucchini and peppers. My zucchini had almost frozen when I cut it up, so I'm not sure if it's just because it was super cold or what, but our veggies were still more or less raw after half an hour, even on high. I would recommend that you cook your peppers and zucchini for closer to an hour and a half, or even longer. This was a nice change from winter beef stew and was a great way to showcase Trick's Creek Farm organic, grass-fed stewing beef. Delicious served over couscous with a lovely-flavoured gravy and topped with Parmesan cheese.
Monday Slow Cooker Veggie Fajitas
If your family has been wishing for a vegetarian twist on Taco Tuesdays (or just any kind of twist), these Slow Cooker Veggie Fajitas were awesome! We topped ours with sour cream, guacamole, homemade salsa, and shredded cheddar cheese. They were surprisingly filling, quick to prep and they cooked in the slow cooker which meant no standing over a hot stove. Easy and super good, we highly recommend these. (If you wanted to sub in homemade taco seasoning for the chili powder, smoked paprika and coriander, I think that would work great as well.)
Tuesday Nacho-Crusted Haddock with Asparagus, Tomato and Feta Salad and new potatoes
For some reason, I seem to have too much food in the house right now, and it's not because we haven't been eating at home... I recently bought some asparagus without really having a plan for eating it so I decided to roast it so that we could use it in salads. Tonight as I looked at a large container of roasted asparagus in the fridge, I decided it was time to use it up. I made the linked recipe but added in some mixed salad greens since those needed to be used as well. It was different and really good.
I was unable to find a comparable fish recipe online (mine came from "Company's Coming: Simple Suppers"), but this is close. I used halibut (mild and soft) instead of haddock and it was so tasty. The recipe I made had you mix together some mayo and cilantro to spread on the fish. Then you topped that off with some crushed tortilla chips mixed with lime juice, lime zest, and shredded cheddar cheese. We loved it and it was very kid-friendly. In my experience, chips on just about anything are almost guaranteed to please little ones, and by adding in some cheese, you can hardly go wrong! The fish also cooks in about 8-15 minutes - super quick.
Wednesday Cauliflower Puttanesca Pasta with Canadian Asiago and green salad
This recipe comes from the 2020 Milk Calendar. As you know, I am always on the hunt for great vegetarian recipes, so I thought I'd give this one a try. It was really good and definitely took cauliflower far from "bland". It was filling with lots of great taste in every bite. I served it alongside a salad with fresh tomatoes, the last of the roasted asparagus and the accompanying balsamic vinaigrette.
Thursday Leftovers / takeout
Friday Leftovers / takeout
Saturday Steak with Tomato Salsa and Chevre, baked potatoes and broccoli cauliflower salad
It's been a while since we had steak and this recipe came from my files, clipped from an old issue of Chatelaine magazine. We used steak from Trick's Creek Farm (organic and grass-fed) and it was soooo flavourful. The Tomato Salsa and goat cheese were a lovely change of pace, perfect for a summer Saturday evening.
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