Throwback Thursday: Perfect Summer Meals

How has your summer been so far?  Has it been treating you well?  Ours has not been as warm as I would like, but it's still been pleasant.  I always love being able to leave the doors and windows open at night, listen to the crickets and go barefoot.

Along with summer comes a preference for lighter, cooler and less intensive meals.  We tend to eat a lot more salads, sandwiches and simple dinners of fruits, cheeses and charcuterie - like this simple meal I posted recently. Ice cream becomes the King of desserts and we really enjoy small, home-assembled Ice Cream Sandwiches.

I wish I could say that we spend our time outdoors, swimming (which we do love), gardening, hiking and camping, but to be perfectly honest, I spend most of my spare time working indoors on recipes, blog posts and videos or gaming with my friends.  Aside from the occasional trip (by occasional, I mean yearly or maybe every other year) to the ocean to hang out on the beach flying kites, we tend to be real homebodies.



With summer already starting to wind down here (it's only 9:00 pm right now, and it's already been dark for about an hour!), I thought this would be a good time to share with you some of our favorite meals for hot weather - some might even say perfect summer meals.
 
Nacho salads are a quick, refreshing meal for warmer temperatures.  Simply layer your favorite filling onto a bed of tortilla chips...



...and pile on a bunch of crunchy, iceberg lettuce, olives, green onions, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream.



Sandwiches are a great choice for hot weather and if you are among the many who rely on their grills in summer, you can grill up a variety of great sandwich fixins from steak, to chicken, to seafood or veggies - the choices are truly endless.  This one is a Bolillo roll filled with steak, sauteed mushrooms, onions and bell peppers and sprinkled with Feta:



...and this sandwich built on a Pretzel Bun with lemon-garlic mayo, turkey, provolone and spinach - YUM!

This Asian Noodle Salad is perfect for a potluck or pool party - or add some grilled chicken to it and enjoy it as a refreshing meal.



I've made this Orzo Salad with either chicken or shrimp, it's always a winner for BBQ's...



...and you certainly can't go wrong with a simple, green salad topped with grilled shrimp or Spaghetti with Lemon-Garlic Shrimp which cooks up in minutes.



What are your strategies for beating the heat?  We're off to the ocean next week, so no posts for a bit, but I'll be sure to return rested, relaxed and ready to bring you more recipes and cooking tips.  Until next time - stay cool!

Summer Favorites 2: Chicken Orzo Salad

Wow, can you believe this summer so far?  Here in the Pacific Northwest, we've been experiencing temperatures that we typically only get in late July or early to mid August.  Weather like this makes Steven & I crave cool, refreshing foods and this is one that keeps well and is also perfect for packing in lunches or taking to summer potlucks.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I shared a post about some of my favorite marinades.  This Chicken Orzo Salad recipe uses the Lemon Pepper Marinade I shared in two ways:  First as the marinade for the chicken and second as the dressing for the finished salad.  I adapted this recipe from the Barefoot Contessa - I've made it with shrimp, like hers, but instead of cucumbers, I like to include grilled or seared zucchini.  I don't remember how she dressed hers, but I like this lemon & olive oil dressing and it's a summer staple for us so it's always on hand.  

To get started, you'll want to put some salted water on to boil for cooking your orzo pasta.  While that's going, I started sauteing the marinaded chicken...

Once the chicken is nicely browned, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool...

While the chicken is working, I put a bit of the dressing in the bottom of a bowl, then started chopping up about half of a large, sweet onion...

...and I threw that right into the bowl with the dressing (you could add garlic if you wanted to as well, I've done that from time to time)...

Prep the zucchini by cutting it in half, lengthwise...

...and drizzle it with olive oil, then season lightly with salt and pepper...

...and either grill it (which we do if we're grilling anything else at the time or throw it in your cast iron skillet, like I did...

Either way, just cook it until it gets nice grill or sear marks on it, and turn it (you want it to stay firm and crisp but have that lovely, grilled char - like this:

Set it aside to cool, then slice it up...

Now grab a nice handful of fresh parsley and chop it...

You can chop it fairly coarse, like I did, or chop it more finely - whatever your personal preference.

Once the orzo pasta is done (you want it al dente) drain it and rinse it to stop the cooking process and also to cool it down.  

Add it to the bowl right on top of the onions and dressing.

Once the chicken and zucchini are cool, add them to the bowl as well along with the chopped parsley - stir to combine (be sure to really get to the bottom of the bowl so everything becomes coated in the dressing.  Add some crumbled feta cheese...

Stir the feta in gently.  Give it a taste, if you need to you can add more dressing.  Chill it in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve it.  YUM!

Chicken Orzo Salad 

1/2 box Orzo Pasta 

2 large chicken breasts, cut into cubes and marinaded 15-20 minutes in Lemon Pepper Marinade

2 zucchini (or to taste) 

1/2 large sweet onion 

8oz Feta cheese, crumbled

1 handful parsley, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 - 1/3 cup Lemon Pepper Marinade to taste (reserve some extra for dressing)

Cook Orzo pasta in salted, boiling water until al dente.  Rinse, drain and set aside.  Meanwhile, saute marinaded chicken in a skillet (I used my cast iron) until nicely browned and cooked through. Remove to a plate to cool.  Slice zucchini lengthwise, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Sear in cast iron skillet, or grill until caramelized but still firm and crisp.  Remove from pan and set aside to cool.  Dice 1/2 of a sweet onion.  Pour approximately 1/4 cup Lemon Pepper Marinade into a medium sized bowl.  Add the diced onion and garlic (if using).  Add the cooled pasta and chicken and the chopped parsley.  Stir well to combine, being sure to coat everything with the marinade.  Top with crumbled feta and stir again gently to mix the cheese in.  Season with salt and pepper or additional marinade/dressing to taste.  This Chicken Orzo Salad is best if chilled about 15 more minutes prior to serving but is also good at room temperature.

Serves 4-6.

Ina Garten's Roasted Shrimp & Orzo Salad

I picked up a new recipe recently while watching an episode of the Barefoot Contessa.  About a week ago, I decided to try the recipe for the first time - just off the top of my head.  I managed to just about duplicate it, but I did make one minor change.  The recipe was for Roasted Shrimp and Orzo salad and called for cucumbers, amongst the other ingredients.  Rather than purchasing cucs, I decided to use some zucchini I already had on hand and - and this is the inspired part - I had my husband grill the zucchini.  Steven said the zucchini really made the salad - it was his favorite part.  It's a really tasty dish & can be treated as a salad or a side dish.  We've eaten it cold so far, but I'm sure it would be tasty warm too. 

Here's the link to the recipe - try it, it's so delicious that when I decided to take it to the family reunion for my potluck contribution, he said I should but a warning on it that eating it may cause "orgasm" - yes, he really said that!  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-shrimp-and-orzo-recipe/index.html

The weather has been fairly hot here lately (for the Pacific Northwest anyway), and I haven't really wanted to heat up the house by turning on the oven, so I did cook the shrimp in my cast iron skillet - they were delicious, but I've tried Ina's oven roasting method too - and they are especally yummy prepared that way.

It's really best to prepare a day in advance, we both thought it was at it's best the next day and it's held up well enough for us to pack it in our lunches for a couple days following.