It’s mid July in the Carolinas and it is sticky and hot. On a good day, I find cooking somewhat onerous. (My excuse? Decades of making meals for four kids and a very busy husband.) After a day of weathering 90 plus degrees combined with 90 plus humidity, making food is about as appealing as having a full Brazilian. And yet, I still get hungry, I still have friends over for lunch and dinner.
So, my beloved AAR-ers, help me out here. What are your favorite simple summer dishes?
Fairy tales, like myths, have always been used to teach us how to behave. Snow White is rewarded for her beauty and domesticity. Sleeping Beauty is punished for disobedience, then “rescued” by an unasked for kiss. Cinderella is all that is kind, pretty, and quiet—her prize is marriage to a man who fell in love…
Hopefully, nothing! Although there won’t be Steals and Deals beginning tomorrow. I may try and add some to our Amazon page, so make sure to look there each day. We have scheduled reviews and, baring a technical problem like the one we had yesterday, they should run as planned. I will not be moderating comments…
‘Tis the season to be jolly, right? 2022 was a reasonable year. It wasn’t the sh*tshow that 2020 was or filled with 2020 PTSD like 2021. Billions of vaccines were administered world wide, Michigan beat Ohio State for the second year in a row, all 50 states have now–finally–sent a woman to Washington, Wordle entered…
Last week’s ask column irked many. One reader emailed me to tell me I was off base in my comments, another cancelled her financial support of AAR, and several others got close to testy in the comments. I thought it would be interesting to pull up some older conversations at AAR and see how or…
Between the coronavirus, the election, the stock market, and putting our house on the market (last kids moved out and we are downsizing big time), I am frazzled. I take more baths, listen to music that brings me joy, and refuse to watch anything depressing. And, of course, I read books that soothe my soul.
This week some comments at AAR got me thinking about dark romance. The sub-genre is a broad one but, in general, dark romances have, duh, dark themes. They often traffic in kidnapping, non-con or dub con sex, violence, rape, and stalking. They are wildly popular–on the current romance best seller list, Emily Henry’s contemporary romance…
My late husband was an excellent cook, and two of his favorite summer dishes (certainly two of mine) were gazpacho, tabouleh, and pasta with pesto. Gazpacho should be made with produce from a farm market, so that the soup captures the smell and taste of fully ripe tomatoes. Somehow even in the summer grocery store tomatoes just don’t have that wonderful essence of the season that home grown or farmers’ market tomatoes do. As for tabbouleh, it’s a bit tart and a bit sweet, and one of the secrets is to go somewhat light on the dressing. Pasta with pesto is definitely a more substantive dish, and pasta is a favorite no matter what the season, but the basil needed for the pesto is best in summer. I miss Josh and I miss those shared summer meals.
I’m sorry you lost Josh. I’m of an age that I treasure every day with my husband. I send you hugs.
Gazpacho is divine. A friend just brought me a bunch of homegrown tomatoes and I’m going to make some today. What else do you put in yours? I loathe green peppers, so I don’t add them. But I’m open to most anything else.
You can add coarsely chopped tomatoes for even more fresh tomato taste, or cucumber, or finely chopped celery or a protein (shrimp is especially good), or almost anything you’d like, which is one of the nice things about gazpacho.
I noticed that others mentioned dishes with tomato as well. True summer tomatoes are a thing of glory; the tasteless ones we get the rest of the year don’t even deserve the name.
We’ve pretty much ruined the tomato, at least the kind you buy in most stores. I live in a place where they’re easy to grow, so all summer long, my friends give them to me. They are the best when they come off the vine and when grown by people who weren’t looking for symmetrical red beauty.
Favorite summer dish: Caprese salad. Basically, just fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, and sea salt. The combination of flavors and textures is incredible and addictive. Our family can polish off a platter in no time flat. There are variations that use balsamic vinegar and other ingredients, but I go with the traditional recipe and it’s a winner every time.
We eat this all the time–I grow basil on my deck. Lemon juice, though? Never heard of it with that. My mom likes it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar but I am an olive oil only kinda gir.
When in doubt, grill out! We have a great Weber gas grill and my husband enjoys sipping on a G&T or beer while grilling. It’s easy, fast, and keeps the kitchen cool.
A favorite Chicken marinade:
for 4 chicken breasts (or equivalent amount of thighs–I used boneless, skinless thighs in part because they cook quickly)
4T oil
4T soy sauce
2T lemon juice
1T brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1t thyme or basil (or use Italian Seasoning if preferred)
3 whole cloves
dash pepper
Mix together, pour over chicken and let marinade at least 30 min.
My mother’s recipe for any kind of meat (great on London Broil):
4T oil
4T catsup
4T apple cider vinegar
4T soy sauce
1T brown sugar
1T chili sauce or (add extra T of catsup and a dash red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper)
1T tabasco or other hot sauce
Quick tip in case you’ve forgotten your conversions: 4T = 1/4 cup
Fresh from the garden tomatoes! Of course, there are myriad ways to enjoy these odes to summer, but for me, the best way is a tomato sandwich made with good mayonnaise, a couple of grinds of pepper and served on a fresh, small bun.
Do you have a mayo preference? Where I like, people swear by Duke’s.
Hellmann’s because ‘when you bring out the Hellmann’s, you bring out the best’. I live in central MN and I don’t believe I have ever seen Duke’s on grocery store shelves. The whole mayo thing is probably regional…
100%. I grew up with Hellmann’s but when I moved to North Carolina was told IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS that’s Duke’s is the best.
Fresh tomatoes are amazingly good on top of toast (or bagel) spread with cream cheese and sprinkled with a little salt and pepper! My favorite summer breakfast.
Baked ratatouille. Chop up eggplant, zucchini, onions, peppers, and plum tomatoes. Toss with olive oil and herbs. I use oregano and basil and a bit of chopped garlic. Put in a roasting pan, stick in a 400° oven, and leave the kitchen. Every 20 minutes or so, come back in and give it a stir, until it’s done to your taste. I like it soft and slightly browned, which takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
This is good hot or room temperature, as a side dish, as a salad, as a main dish, as a pasta sauce, as just about anything. It reheats in a microwave just fine. I make it in large quantities to take care of meals during a heat wave.
Do you treat the eggplant first?
Nope. Baking keeps all the veggies from getting watery.
I made ratatouille for years and my husband just say, “You, yum!” Then I find out he hates eggplant. The thing is, I don’t like eggplant either, but made it and ate it because I thought he did! Oh boy! We still get a laugh out of it. I make the same dish at times but with two or more types of squash and no eggplant. 🙂
LOL I made it this week without eggplant because I didn’t have any, just a lot of zucchini.
I am not an eggplant fan although I’ll eat eggplant parm.
I love this Turkey Lettuce Wrap recipe from Melissa D’Arabian on Food Network. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/turkey-lettuce-wraps-recipe-2041422. Although instead of doing it as a wrap, I like to do it as a salad. For a heartier meal, you can serve it over brown rice. Delicious and healthy and not too heavy. It does take a bit of prep, but it makes a lot, at least 6-8 servings in our house.
I love vegetable tians in the summer. Substantial, but light, easy to make and pretty forgiving on the vegetables you use, although the potatoes are a must just for structure. And it’s really really pretty if you are having company. https://www.budgetbytes.com/summer-vegetable-tian/
I’ve never heard of a tian. Thanks!
Fiesta Salsa with Guac. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/corn-black-bean-avocado-salsa/ I use 2 cans of black beans, 2 cans petite diced tomatoes, 1 bag frozen corn and one avocado. The rest is pantry staples. Lime juice from dollar store. This is my husband’s favorite. I priced it out before the increase in Avocados and it was $7 last summer to make. He works on it for a couple days with chips but you could do pita or flatbread of choice.
I make this too. Try it with a bit of cumin–it really makes it deeper.