Confetti quinoa salad, italian sausage spaghetti, summer rolls, balsamic glazed chicken salad, tuna macaroni salad and mediterranean grilled vegetable pizzas.
The hot weather continues and so does my parade of salads and a stovetop meal or two as well (and maybe one for the oven). Take full advantage of summer with quick and easy meals that keep your house cool and your kitchen time minimal!
This has been an amazing summer so far. The weather has been beautiful and I am so enjoying the outdoors this year. I feel very blessed to live in such a beautiful spot where it feels like I am on holidays all year round. I hope you are enjoying summer wherever you are, too!
On the menu - July 28 - August 3, 2019:
Sunday Confetti Quinoa Salad with cold chicken and green salad
This is one of my favourite summertime lunches. With a sprinkling of pine nuts, a can of chickpeas and plenty of quinoa, it makes a hearty supper as well. You can serve cold meat or leftover chicken along with it for extra protein if you like. The original recipe recommended cooking the quinoa in vegetable broth. I missed that step this time, and although it was still very good, the broth takes it up a notch. The original recipe also suggested that you use a Kraft cracked peppercorn and sundried tomato feta cheese. Since I didn't have any of that (can you even still get it?) I added some chopped oil-packed sundried tomatoes instead. Love! This salad makes a large batch, so feel free to halve the recipe for a smaller family. It keeps well for a couple of days.
Monday Italian Sausage Spaghetti with fusilli and green salad
My son has been requesting pasta lately, so tonight I made this yummy sauce with Italian sausage and some veggies I had in the fridge. It was a nice change from ground beef and went very well with fusilli. I changed up the recipe slightly by using an orange pepper instead of green (we don't care for green very much) and adding some chopped mushrooms and zucchini. I also started with raw turkey sausage removed from the casings. This improves the next day and is delicious warmed up.
My summer rolls look nowhere as pretty as Greta Podleski's (from Yum & Yummer), but I tried. They were tasty although the texture of the rice paper wrap didn't please everyone tonight. The rice paper can be tricky to handle. This meal was definitely light and summery - basically a hand-held salad!
Wednesday Balsamic Glazed Chicken with tender-crisp summer veggies on a bed of baby kale
Tonight I served something a little different - veggies cooked just til tender-crisp on a bed of baby kale with a delicious lemon dressing. NOTE: the chicken recipe may take a minute or two to load, but it's worth it. I omitted the fresh rosemary and I don't think we missed it. Sadly, I can't share the lemon dressing recipe with you (it came from FIXATE Volume 2 as did the chicken recipe) but I can tell you that it has equal amounts of fresh lemon juice and olive oil, a little Dijon mustard, some finely grated lemon zest and salt and pepper. For one person, you only need a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice and olive oil. For veggies, I used zucchini, asparagus, cherry tomatoes and red onion. I topped the baby kale with the stir-fried veggies and then the cooked chicken and lemon dressing. Totally delicious! And bonus - the leftover veggies were awesome in an omelette the next day, topped with goat cheese.
Thursday Cold Macaroni and Tuna Salad with Three-Bean Salad, diced tomatoes and devilled eggs
This recipe is definitely my son's favourite summer salad and one we make regularly, with a few additions and one omission. I do not include the hard-boiled eggs, although I'm sure they would be tasty. I add in cubed cheddar cheese, a diced red onion and lots of diced homemade dill pickles. This salad is basically no-fail! I served devilled eggs alongside it tonight, and my mom's lovely Three-Bean Salad.
Friday Leftovers / eat out / takeout
Today was slightly less humid so I ran the oven and made these delicious pizzas from Greta Podleski's "Yum & Yummer" cookbook. Since we don't have a BBQ, I roasted the veggies in the oven for 10 minutes at 425 F. They were perfectly tender crisp. I also made my own pizza sauce (see the Kitchen Whizdom tip) and it was amazing!
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