Does this look like summer to you?
Yeah, me neither. But for the most part, this is what June 2012 has looked like, here in the wet and wonderful Pacific Northwest. Typical hypothermia-inducing cloud cover. If only the temperatures would creep over that sixty-degree Fahrenheit mark, we would break out the slip-n-slides and popsicles, and call it good.
But when Mother Nature refuses to provide us with sunny summer fun, we have to take matters into our own hands. And last week, that's exactly what I decided to do.
My grand plan was to make a week's worth of summertime favorites for dinner. That way, I could at least savor the tastes of the season, while huddled in my sweatshirts, yoga pants and wooly socks. Here's what I came up with:
Shish Kebab
Chicken, shrimp, onions, red pepper and mushrooms, marinated in teriyaki sauce with some olive oil, garlic powder and fresh ginger, and then lined up on skewers and cooked on the grill. Instead of mixing different foods on a single skewer, I group like ingredients together, to keep the cooking times more manageable.
Never mind about those burned onions and veggies; at least I was sure that the chicken was cooked through.
At the table, we toss all the skewers on a serving plate and help ourselves to whatever we prefer. This occasionally creates a fistfight over the last few pieces of chicken (just kidding - girls don't fist fight; they call names and make each other cry). But usually it all works out fine.
Cobb Salad
Salad for dinner? Is it possible to eat a satisfying, stick-to-your-ribs, I-won't need-a-snack-before-the-dinner-dishes-are-even-done meal consisting of bunny food?
Yes, it is. But only if you load up on the good stuff. I serve my Cobb salads with roasted chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese and hardboiled eggs, as well as carrots, spinach and mixed greens. And ranch dressing, of course. We swear by it. With a loaf of crusty French bread and a dish of fruit, a feast like this can fill me up for the evening.
And the rest of the family is happy to make a meal out of this salad too. Except for my youngest, who can't bring herself to love salad under any circumstances. To cope with that problem, she generally eats about 87% of the bread, and we don't mind a bit.
Barbecued Chicken
Barbecued chicken is a family favorite around here, and I make it a number of different ways. For a truly summertime version of this classic, I wanted to make the perfect thick-and-spicy homemade barbecue sauce, and stand over a perfect charcoal fire burning merrily away in my Weber, painting this delicious concoction on my perfectly grilling chicken. I imagined sunshine too, but that's because I'm a dreamer.
I don't have a tried-and-true favorite grilling sauce, so I decided to wander around the internet in search of one. As I typed "recipe barbecue sauce" into my eager Google window, I anticipated the thousands of options that were about to appear before my eyes, and wondered how I would ever choose.
"No matter," I told myself, "something will jump out at me."
HA. Truer words were never spoken slash thought. The very first item in my search results led me to this recipe, called Dr. Pepper Barbecue Sauce. If you know anything about my family, you know that we have a passionate and consuming love of Dr. Pepper. It was a no-brainer that I should give this recipe a shot.
Guess what? It was delicious. Dr. Pepper, you are always one-of-a-kind.
Chicken Salad
One of my most beloved big-time bloggers is the spunky and spirited Ree Drummond aka Pioneer Woman aka frontier chef extraordinaire. Early in my week of summer-inspired cooking, her recipe for Lemon Basil Chicken Salad popped up in my email inbox. After a quick read, I realized I had all the necessary ingredients on hand in the house. You know what that means - the forces of the Universe have aligned and decreed my fates. I was destined to cook this dish.
So I did. It was deliciously tangy, crunchy and substantial, whether eaten on fresh bread as a sandwich or simply by the forkful. I highly recommend it. Thanks, PW.
Pasta Primavera
When my first-born was just a few weeks old, I invited a happily childless friend of mine to come over for lunch. Hoping to paint a picture of domestic bliss and cozy charm, I made this dish for her. We had a lovely visit and my daughter played the part of darling baby to a T; I give Pasta Primavera a lot of credit for helping to make my fantasies come true.
Paired with some chicken sausages and beef bratwurst, this salad came through for me once again with a fresh clean taste and a bright summery vibe. I used steamed broccoli, carrots, green and yellow zucchini and asparagus, mixed with rotini pasta and Italian salad dressing. It is a fun and satisfying dish to make, even if you are not wearing a sleeping infant in a front pack.
Cheeseburgers and Onion Rings
1. I am an American. Therefore, I am required by the U.S. Constitution to love cheeseburgers and I do. I make my plain and simple, with the extra lean ground beef, a liberal dose of grilling pepper and a slab of cheddar cheese up top. For extra bonus points, I serve my burgers with fried foods, usually French fries, but in this case, an inspired batch of onion rings.
2. I am a pyromaniac. I love to build unnecessarily big fires, even (especially) in my grill. Therefore, my cooking fires are usually too powerful for their own good, and this often leads to some heavy charring. Good thing no one complains, or I would be forced to eat all this yummy food by myself.
Technically, I don't consider stir fry to be a summer dish. I make and eat them all year round. But when I use shrimp instead of the usual chicken or beef, and amp up the bright, fresh veggies, this meal puts me in a summer mood. For this batch, I used a bag of frozen raw shrimp, lots of broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus, onion and a can of water chestnuts. I tossed a bit of olive oil in the pan to get things started, added a tablespoon or so of butter later on, and splashed in a little wine to add some liquid. Chicken broth would also work.
This bowl of goodness, served with white rice and lots of fresh fruit, took my family by surprise. At first, they seemed unenthused by yet another veggie-and-rice offering. I admit it; I put something that looks a lot like this on the table at least once a week. But a few bites into the meal, they were starting to ask me what I had done differently, and by the end of the meal, we were tussling over the last few water chestnuts at the bottom of the bowl. For the household chef, this is a sure sign of success.
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But here is a picture taken just now in my front yard. The sky is full of heavy grey clouds, the temperature topped out at 57° F. Looks like this summer is still not inspired to begin.
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