Summer meals....

I'm a pretty seasonal eater. Like roasted chicken and beef roasts in the winter, salads and BBQ in the summer. The thing is I am not finding anything I want to cook this summer

I need good summer ideas. Light meals, BBQ meals, crock pot meals.....ANYTHING! I'm not against some prep since i'm a SAHM. We eat whatever I make so that's not an issue. Beef, pork, chicken, salad, pasta, pizza, fish, shellfish and so on. I'm also looking for some new sides. Pasta, potato and mozzarella salad are getting old already.

Re: Summer meals....

Summer makes me think - light, quick, crisp and zippy.

Even though the days are longer, time seems more precious so I like to be out of the kitchen faster.

I do a lot of grilling - steaks, chops, burgers, dogs, chicken. I will sometimes use a traditional sauce and other times I'll do a quick dip in a marinade. I do some rubs on meats to give a depth of flavor - coffee, brown sugar, garlic - whatever I have handy. It adds interest and prevent that 'same old, same old' feeling to what would otherwise be grilled steak.. again.

I love produce in the summer - I feel like I have more energy and I'm less sluggish eating it. I do a lot of salads and add proteins to make them meals - I'll marinate a steak in a ginger-soy and grill it, then slice it thin and put it over a bed of romaine, napa cabbage, bean sprouts and quick fried ramen noodles. A splash of asian dressing and a sprinkle of slivered almonds.. and you have a nice meal. I find it easier to do vegetarian in the summer too.. portobello caps are great vehicles for flavor.. I like them marinated and grilled or tossed with salads or stuffed with veg.

Sandwiches are another hit around here. BLT's are a special favorite - thick slices of juicy garden ripened tomato with smokey bacon and crunchy lettuce on toasted whole wheat. We'll add just a hint of Duke's Mayo to bring it all together in a perfect bite. Some fresh raw veg on the side and we are a happy family.

We do pasta too.. but it's almost always going to be from whatever I have frozen in the freezer.. or I will do a light summer sauce with fresh chopped tomatoes, a little lemon juice, some white wine, lots of garlic and a hit of fresh picked basil.

Herbs are important to us in the summer.. they really brighten dishes and make them sing. We like mint a lot - it gives an interesting "Oooh.. what is that?" to some marinades.. I especially love it when preparing lamb chops. Basil gives a clear, fresh flavor and fresh oregano is a must in my favorite summer dressings.

Re: Summer meals....

I like to mix fruit with meat on the grill, like grilled chicken with pineapple and use a teriyaki type glaze, grilled spicy shrimp & peach kabobs, grilled fish tacos with mango salsa, grilled portobella mushroom caps stuffed with veggies & topped with cheese. Grilled steak and potato skewers, I do A LOT of grilling and a lot of kabobs!

Re: Summer meals....

My favorite summer meals have a lot of fruits and veggies incorporated into it and lots of grilling!

I love chicken kabobs with veggie skewers (we prefer onions, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms) and I like to make a greek yogurt sauce to dip everything in... I add some lemon zest, lemon juice, a touch of red pepper flakes and some garlic to the yogurt to flavor it.

We also do hamburgers, but we always make it different by changing the toppings/ingredients of the burger and accompanying it with different side dishes. For instance, if we make pub burgers (worcestershire sauce and montreal steak seasoning), we might have that with homemade steak fries. When DH wants a jalapeno-bacon burger, I usually pair it with a blue cheese coleslaw. If we do taco burgers (usually taco seasoning or crushed doritos with a salsa-sour cream dressing), I serve it with a tomato based salad on the side and guacamole and chips.

For some indoor meals when it is raining and we can't grill really, I like making dishes with fruit like chicken and peaches or DH likes steak in a blackberry sauce.

We also do different salads with themes and fish dishes (we usually only make salmon, tilapia, or mussels though).

Re: Summer meals....

I do a pasta salad at least once a week. And fish tacos, they are total summer food to me.