Recent Summer Recipes

I'm enjoying having some of my favorite recipes on the blog because I then can find them quickly!

We've made a few good recipes lately that turned out to be delicious, so I wanted to share them.

By the way - I rarely make anything that I know my entire family won't eat.

I relieve myself of that headache because meal planning and cooking for a family is stressful enough at times!

Olive Tapenade

My favorite food in the world is party food. 

I love appetizers and this is one of my all-time favorites. 

I've made tapenade before but this recipe that I found on allrecipes.com is awesome. 

I've passed it along to several friends who've loved it as much as me at the many parties I've taken it to.

I modified Deb's Tapenade slightly but you can find the recipe at this link.

I made this when my friends came over to serve alongside the fruit and creamsicle dip. 

I did not add the red bell pepper.

And once it is all mixed in the food processor and poured in a decorative bowl, I add about 1/4 cup more olive oil for a thinner texture. 

This is sooo good with your favorite thin cracker. 

Even my boys will eat this up.

Roasted Potatoes

When I posted about my dry-erase menu board two people emailed asking for my potato recipe.

It's just easy roasted potatoes.

We are getting lots of red potatoes each week at our CSA and this is how I cook them.

I quarter or half the potatoes so they're about the same size.

I put them in a bowl and add some olive oil, Kosher salt, and black pepper.

this is before I tossed it all together

Then I toss them onto a baking dish and bake them at 375 for about 30 minutes.

When they look roasted and you can pierce them with a fork, they're done.

I like the texture of Kosher salt on these potatoes vs. table salt.

Mmmm delicious and they go with everything.

Caprese Salad

My boys are not big tomato eaters and I don't force the issue because they are really good eaters overall.

But caprese salad is almost enough to tempt them.

This is my all-time favorite salad.

It just makes me happy to see it.

There's really nothing to it. 

We grow basil so that's always on hand, and of course plenty of tomatoes this time of year. 

I pick up whole mozzarella when I think of it and this is ready to go.

I drizzle a little olive oil and Balsamic vinegar down the salad and add just a touch of salt and pepper.

Love it!

Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

My friend Mary made chimichurri sauce and posted it awhile back and it looked sooo good. 

I decided to try it out, hoping the family would like it.  We're not big steak eaters.

But this was really, really good.  I even dipped my roasted potatoes in it.

I'll definitely make this again.

Brennan helps me cook often.

Here he is zesting the lime for the sauce.

You can find the full recipe at Mary's link above. 

Mine turned out a little thin.  I think I didn't pack the leaves when we measured them.

Nevertheless - it was so good.

I think it would be great as a salsa on fajitas, as a marinade, or with beans and rice.

Mmm...can you tell I really liked this?

Pasta with Broccoli

I mentioned Gina's Skinny Recipes recently.  I really like her blog and have bookmarked many of her recipes.  This is another one that we made just tonight to eat alongside salmon.  You can find the full recipe here.

Gina calls it "Easiest Pasta and Broccoli Recipe".  I love that it's all made in one pot.

You cook pasta and broccoli together in boiling water, drain and then add back with cooked garlic, Parmesan, seasonings, and olive oil.

We went with ziti but David thought angel hair might work well too.

I made it al dente and my family likes it a little softer but we all thought it was a great dish.

Brennan had 3 helpings (along with two pieces of fish).

He's quite the eater.

I meant to take a photo as it was finished but we dug in and it wasn't until I was putting the leftovers away that I remembered!  This will be great with lunch tomorrow!

 

And, just a reminder that there is plenty of time left to link up to our What We're Reading Linky Party.  Just click here.

Bon Appetit!