Weekend Cooking: 4 Good Summer Recipes
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.
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Even though it has not gotten cooler, not even by a little bit, I'm back to cooking. All the great produce at the farmers markets are calling to me and I can't resist. Besides, we went camping last weekend, and after few days of eating all kinds of good, but not so good for you foods, I was ready to reset our diet.Here are a few of the recipes that were hits this week. I took the cake camping, but the other dishes were served with or as dinner. All come from either online sources or from magazines (which I get through that magazine app Texture, which I've talked about before). Rather than type out the recipes here, I've pinned them all to my Tried and Like board on Pinterest, that way you (and I) can find them when you're ready to give them a try.
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cake: Every year the people we camp with count on me to bring a breakfast or snack cake. I pretty much always make an apple cake. But this year I had a zucchini I wanted to use up before we left, so I checked out the King Arthur Flour site. I made two of these dead-easy (and no-dairy) cakes, which remained moist and good for the whole weekend. Despite the chocolate, they were eaten at breakfast and throughout the day. I read the reviews of the recipe and decided to listen to the people who suggested cutting the amount of chocolate chips in half. I'm glad I did because the cake really didn't need more. I will be making this one again and again.
Tomato Gratin with Sweet Onion and Balsamic Vinegar: The tomatoes are just coming into season here in central Pennsylvania and I had a craving for a baked dish. I thought about making the slow-roasted toms from What Katie Ate but then saw this recipe on Pinterest, which I think is from Weight Watchers. I had everything in the house so I went with it. It was delicious hot served alongside grilled salmon and tasted good cold for lunch the next day. The recipe calls for either parsley or basil, and I used the basil.Corn-and-Zucchini Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese: Hey, it's zucchini weather! Summer squash is plentiful and inexpensive right now, so, yeah, I bought some more. This Food & Wine recipe was delicious, and served as as our main dish for dinner during the week. The recipe says you are to freeze the goat cheese and then shave it, but I forgot to pop the cheese into the freezer, so I just crumbled it up and mixed it into the salad. This was supposed to be fast and easy. It was easy. It didn't take a ton of time, but it did take both of us and was a bit much on weeknight. Mr. BFR took care of grilling the veggies and I did the rest. I'd make this again on weekend, but it was too fussy for after work.
California Salad with Hard-Boiled Eggs: I found this one over at the Food Network site. I wanted a cold dinner that required very little prep and this fit the bill. I followed the directions pretty closely, but I added a red bell pepper and a poblano pepper to the salad . . . just because. We had this last night, so I can't tell you if it held up for lunch today, but I have high hopes. This was pretty and perfect for a hot summer evening.
In case you're curious, tonight's dinner will be Gingered Vegetable Curry and Sunday's is Sloppy Joes with Honey and Spice "Pickles." Both came from my magazine app. If the dishes are keepers and I can find the recipes online, I'll add them to my Pinterest board next week. I plan to make both of these in my pressure cooker, so I don't heat up the kitchen too much. The curry will be served over brown rice and I have fresh garden beans to go with with the sandwiches.
Note on the photos: the cake photo is my own, but the others come from the recipe sources.
19 comments:
I love all of the dishes you made--great use of fresh produce. I especially like that tomato gratin and the California salad--yum!
I linked up two posts--both book reviews with recipe pairings, but very different books (and both have giveaways attached). ;-)
I read "corn and zucchini oreo salad" and thought that this really took oreos to a new level. Oops, it was orzo. I decided to try more salads this summer: first one i made was tabbouleh, not imaginative but really nice flavors. Yours sound more imaginative.
best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
What a spread of food! The tomato dish is popping with color and I love orzo. We need to camp near you next year! Your recipes are on Pinterert? I may need to reactive my account.
Oooh, I may have to do that California salad for book club on Tuesday.
You have given me new foods to share, thanks! And thanks for hosting.
I spotted the tomatoes as I scrolled past to add my linky.
I LOVE tomatoes and am slowly converting John to roasted tomatoes, in fact gave him some this morning.
Zucchini works for me in baked goods not as a veg.
I craved salad yesterday so got the goods and had one with dinner.
That tomato gratin is calling my name! I have a bunch of tomatoes from the farmer's market that look gorgeous but that I haven't used yet. I love tomatoes and balsamic together! The corn and zucchini orzo looks fantastic as well though I'd have to replace the goat cheese with feta or something because I'm very unlucky and am allergic to goat cheese.
Taking a cooking break is always a good idea. You get a nice rest, but then you get the fun of starting over again. I love the results of your break.
We actually had a few (2) days of slightly cooler weather with this tropical storm that's on us. So I did a bit of cooking as well. Your recipes all sound like things I'd like to give a try.
the zucchini salad sounds perfect on a hot day.
The tomatoes look great!
It is just the best time of year, food wise. Such a treat to be able to find all sorts of local produce, and then bringing it home to cook with it. Some days, I want to have five suppers because there is so much wonderful food in the fridge and garden!
Like the sound of that Californian salad. Have a great week. Cheers from Carole's Chatter
I love zucchini, and those dishes are definitely appealing to me. That salad looks delicious!
That orzo salad sounds delicious! I'm not a big fan of goat cheese, so I think I'll try it with a sundried tomato feta cheese. Perfect meal for these hot summer nights!
These all look awesome! I wonder if I can take that corn zucchini salad to a beach picnic...?
Everything looks so good. I can't wait to have a kitchen again to cook!
I don't make salad for dinner...because allergies...but I have been trying to eat them for lunch. With our temps soaring above 100, I hate turning on the oven or stovetop if I don't have to. Might have to try that California salad. I always forget about adding eggs to my salads! Such a great way to sneak in a bit of extra protein.
The Corn-and-Zucchini Orzo Salad is my kind of meal. And I have more zucchini than I know what to do with right now!
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