Summer meals

On hot days like today, I raid the freezer for ...whatever looks easy and cool.  Shrimp salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, salads with veggies and fruits and grains.  We ate at a Lebanese restaurant on Friday, and enjoyed tabouli salad.  With the grill and a salad, it's hard to go wrong.  Last night, we skipped the starch part of the menu and had grilled pork chops, grilled onions, broccoli and carrots.  You haven't lived until  you've eaten grilled vidalia onions.  A large one is enough for two people.  Pork chops are delicious on the grill.  I   just used salt, pepper,  grated lemon zest and a bit of olive oil and minced garlic.

Here is the recipe for the onions, from the disgraced Paula Deen, but this recipe makes you want to forgive her.
 Grilled Vidalia Onions in Foil


It's strawberry season and I went all out and made a strawberry shortcake  with a sponge cake instead of a biscuit recipe.  To Die For.  Well, see for yourself.

Strawberry short cake with whipped cream -

The recipe is right here: Strawberry short cake with lemon pepper syrup

The tablecloth, so summery, is an old one from the Simon Pearce outlet in Quichee, Vt.  It's so old and soft that it barely needs ironing, a good thing.  Made in India, by the way.

The garden is gifting us herbs for cooking:  chives, thyme, rosemary,  sage, parsley, and huge batches or oregano.  Basil, too.  Can't wait for the tomatoes.  I already ate the first Insalada Caprese.    Summer is wonderful.  The farm down the street has "Pick  your own strawberries."    I'm taking two young ladies along next week.    We will probably eat as much as we pick.  My grandmother had a huge strawberry patch, and by the end of the summer, I was actually tired of them, although now I cannot conceive of such a thing.

What do YOU like best about summer foods?             

Father's Day At the Grill

The Dad is our household had to cook his own meal yesterday, but what a meal and so inexpensive, too.  We grilled chicken breasts (with skin and bone for added flavor), zucchini and summer squash, red and yellow peppers (on sale), corn on the cob (on sale).  Other sides were black beans (on sale) with onion and garlic and garnished with Mexican cheese (on sale) and cilantro and basil (from the garden).  For dessert, we had a fruit salad of strawberries and blueberries (both on sale) and banana.  I made orange yogurt bread which tasted good with the fruit.  This was a cheap, healthy meal with plenty of fruits and vegetables.  We loved it .  Cost was minimal, and we have leftovers for tonight.  Oh yes!  We also had a salad of tomatoes and avocado with lettuce from the garden.  Seven fruits and veggies with additional herbs and seasonings.  Speaking of seasoning, I gave the chicken a good rub with Penzey's Southwestern Seasoning.


Penzey's have great spices that make even the cheapest eats something special.  You can buy the spices in different sizes, which is handy for the ones you either use a lot of or a little of.  I've been shopping there for years, and have never been disappointed.


We like Barbecue of the Americas for a rub, too.  Penzey's Spices 

We used our smoker to smoke pork chops, and then I made Kassler Ripppen, a German dish impossible to find in Boston.  The smoked pork chops (on sale, natch), are then cooked with aromatic vegetables and saurkraut.  Served with potatoes, it makes a tasty meal.  

Do take advantage of your own garden produce and all the farmer's markets.  There is no reason not to eat cheap and healthy in the summer. 

The Cheeseparer,