Simple Chicken with Fruit Salsa

This is a simple and seasonal. Enjoy!




Simple Chicken with Fruit Salsa

Ingredients:
-1 small melon, cut into 1/4" pieces
-2-3 pluots, chopped into 1/4" pieces (can sub peaches)
-Zest and juice of 1 lime
-fresh basil, chopped
-salt and pepper
-2-4 chicken breasts

1. Mix the melon, pluots, 1/2 the zest, all the juice, basil, salt and pepper together in a bowl to create a fruit salsa. Refrigerate to let the flavors mingle.
2. Rub the chicken with the remaining zest, salt and pepper. Grill until juices run clear.
3. Serve chicken topped with salsa. Great with a side of tortilla chips.

Dinner, Camping Style

It's not that I expect anyone to actually mimic this "recipe" but I thought it would be fun to post some about our recent adventures in camping. Our family is not the camping type, so to speak. For me, my lack of camping is more out of ignorance than disinterest. We buddied up with another family and headed out for 1 adventurous night. Can't wait to give it another {longer} go!

Dinner - Annie's Organic Macaroni and Cheese, mixed with CSA broccoli and of course, hot dogs.

Breakfast - Oatmeal, mixed with nuts, blueberries, and dried cranberries.

Yum! Yum!

My Formula for a Good Salad

I make a lot of salads. A lot. And when we're sharing a salad with friends I often get asked, "Is this on your blog?" I have a hard time responding to this because my salads are more a mix of whatever happens to be in my cupboard than any particular "recipe". However, my neighbor did an excellent job of summarizing my sub-conscience basic formula for putting a good one together - fruit + nut/seed + cheese = a good salad.

Fruits can be anything from dried cranberries, cut up apples or pears, fresh berries (as pictured here), dried blueberries, pomegranate seeds, fresh avocado, etc.

Nuts can be toasted or raw, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pistachios . . . the list goes on and on.

Cheese options are endless. I usually buy the giant container of feta from Costco as that is our favorite!

Dressings: Someday, I hope to be excited about making my own, but for now I L-O-V-E the selections available at Trader Joes in the refrigerated section. Champagne Pear Vinaigrette / Cranberry, Walnut & Gorgonzola / Hummus Dressing! Other times, a simple sprinkle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar suites me just fine.

Protein: If you want to turn your salad into a meal (which we do often this time of year) then throw a protein up on top. Grilled chicken or steak are great options. A baked, yummy, coconut shrimp (also from Trader Joe's) is pictured here.

Mushroom-stuffed Zucchini

AAAhhhhh...... We are in that sweet spot of summer when it's cooled down enough to open the windows and turn on the oven but still warm enough to crave fresh, crisp produce straight out of the garden. Even better, my seasonal allergies haven't kicked in yet so I can still enjoy the amazing flavors!

For all you meat lovers out there, the mushrooms in this dish can easily be swapped out for ground beef, turkey, chicken, or sausage.

Mushroom-Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:
-1 large zucchini
-mushrooms, chopped
-2 sweet onions, chopped
-1 red pepper, chopped
-1 head of garlic, minced
-tomato sauce or marinara
-shredded cheese (I used a mixture of parm and motz)
-bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Cut the zucchini in half, the long way, and scoop out the seeds and center flesh until it looks like a boat. Shave the smallest amount possible off the non-cut side of each half so the zucchini will sit flat on the pan without rolling over.
3. Lightly brush a rimmed baking sheet and the zucchini with olive oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until tender-crisp.
4. Meanwhile, saute the chopped veggies and garlic in olive oil until soft.
5. When zucchini is done, remove from oven. Fill your cooked zucchini boats with the veggie mixture. Pour tomato sauce over the veggies. Top with shredded cheese and a dusting of bread crumbs.
6. Put assembled boats back into the oven until the cheese melts, then pop them in the broiler for about a minute to crisp up the top.

Burger Bar

This last week we had my family over for dinner and I wanted to do a classic summer meal, but I also wanted to get a little creative and out-of-the-box. Here was my solution... Offer a burger bar with a variety of toppings. Nick also spiced up a few of the burgers as well. It was a hit!

Burger Bar

Grilled burgers:
We've really gotten used to the yummy flavor of a grass-fed organic ground beef. I highly recommend it.
Nick did plain burgers for most, but he did grill up a handful of patties that had chopped jalepenos and shredded cheddar mixed in - they were enjoyed by those who like a little spice!

Toppings:
Our bar included the following, but you could get really creative here. Post in the notes and let me know if you have any other ideas for unique toppings.
-Sliced cheddar
-Sliced swiss
-Lettuce
-Garden tomatoes
-Sliced jalepenos
-Salsa verde
-Guacamole
-Sauteed mushrooms

Salsa Verde

There is nothing like fresh salsa. Nothing. Period.





Salsa Verde

Ingredients:
-6-10 tomatillos
-1-2 small onions, quartered
-1 jalepeno, halved, seeded, and deveined*
-cilantro**
-1-2 cloves garlic, minced
-salt and pepper to taste

1. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and boil the fruit for about 5 minutes, until it softens.
2. Put all ingredients in the food processor and process until desired chunkiness/smoothness.
3. Refrigerate to chill.
4. Serve. Straight up with chips. As a sandwich/burger topping. Mixed with mashed avocados and lime juice to make guacamole. The options are endless.

*Unless you like it REALLY hot, then leave in the seeds and veins. That's where most of the heat lives.

**I didn't plan my garden as well this year when it comes to cilantro. Ours is all gone to seed before our tomatoes are in :( I do like this freeze-dried option in a pinch, available at your local grocer.

Roasted Ratatouille

Hello, readers! I'm feeling kind of bad because I haven't been doing much posting. Truth is, with the abundant harvest from our garden and CSA paired with the super hot temps, I haven't been doing a lot of cooking. We've simply been enjoying the fresh produce straight from the earth - yum yum! This one, however, is an awesome dish when you care to taste some of that summer harvest cooked up.

Roasted Ratatouille

Ingredients:
-1 eggplant, chopped
-1 zucchini, chopped
-2 large tomatoes, chopped
-1 sweet onion, chopped
-1 red pepper, chopped
-1 green pepper, chopped*
-head of garlic, minced
-olive oil
-Small cut pasta
-Marinara**

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Toss all chopped veggies in a large bowl with garlic and olive oil until coated.
3. Spread coated veggies on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for about 22 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, boil pasta to desired tenderness, and once done mix the cooked pasta with the marinara.
5. To serve, mix pasta & sauce with roasted veggies and top with fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

*If you want to add some heat to this dish, you could use a chile pepper instead. I'm not able to do that since my kiddos won't go for it. I used an Italian Frying Pepper we got from our CSA this week.

**There are lots of ways to achieve this... You can make your own from scratch (my personal favorite recipe for doing so will be forthcoming once our tomato harvest is in full swing!), you could buy the jarred version at the store, or when you realize you have neither of those available, you can mix in 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1/2 can of tomato sauce.

Grilled ratatouille? As I was completing dinner my husband walked through the kitchen and said to me, why didn't we grill these instead of turning on the oven? Great question. Grilled ratatouille would be equally delicious. You could skewer the veggies, baste them olive oil and garlic, then serve as noted above. Next time...