As we hit August like a ton of bricks – sweat, heat, humidity and all – I thought I’d share some favourite light summer suppers to get you through those evenings when pasta sounds like death and pizza sounds like crazy talk.
I promise that bacon is the only hot thing you’ll have to deal with here and you’ll be pretty glad you did once you experience that salty hotness on your tongue next to some cool, juicy melon and salad greens.
I know that I just said I’m sharing these because you might be feeling like pasta is death BUT this pasta dish is the exception. Use normal tomatoes or heirlooms instead of cherries, since those are so lovely at the moment and add basil if you have it. Honestly, it’s one pasta dish you’ll crave even if it’s a billion degrees out. I know I do.
This little salad is becoming ever so popular on my site. I think you’ll like it. Filling but not stuff-you-full quinoa takes to all the flavours so nicely. Black beans, avocado, cilantro, and a cumin-lime dressing gives it a Mexican spin and makes it taste super summery. It’s just plain delicious.
More of an inspiration than a recipe – throwing together whatever greens you can find at the market with some seasoning and a poached or fried egg makes for a quick, simple, beautifully light supper.
Hot summer? Cold soup. That’s how it works. This gazpacho is great when you’re craving the comfort of tomato soup but know that eating some would be pure insanity. There’s some kick in this soup but it’s subtle and the lemon juice cuts through it while the cucumber mellows it. Use thick, crunchy homemade croutons to sop it all up.
P.S. In case all this savoury stuff is making you crave something sweet, how about some blueberry crumb bars? Summer to the max.
Holy summer. Glorious, sunny summer. The weather this week has been gorgeous.
Last week, that sentence might have gone like this: Holy summer. Holy heat. Holy humidity. Holy…hell.
Yeah, I can complain about the weather a bit but summer here can be so fickle. It giveth and then it whippeth away. Plus I come from a temperate climate. Extremes ruffle my feathers.
There was one particular thing that made me most sad about the recent extreme heat and humidity in Minneapolis. It wasn’t the profuse sweating, nor the fact that I had to take two cold showers a night. Wading through humidity wasn’t it. It was that I wasn’t able to turn on my oven to bake or cook. Because really, why? Why would you do that?
Yet, I craved the ability to whip up something sweet. And so I turned (as I so often do) to Twitter and to Facebook and I asked folks, what are your favourite no-bake desserts?
The response was amazing and here’s the reality – there is a ton you can do sans-oven. I was focusing so much on what I couldn’t do that I somehow forgot about the opportunity for seasonal deliciousness all around me (blame it on the humidity).
Fresh summer dessert ideas are everywhere and it’s truly the best time of the year to make and enjoy them. Come December raspberries are not going to taste this sweet, trust me. And so I was inspired to pick up my whisk again and get creative.
This is a very simple dessert idea but quite lovely. The buttermilk/honey mixture is almost thirst quenching it’s so cold and liquid-y. It makes a great friend to the sweet berries and fresh mint. If you have any of the buttermilk mixture leftover it also makes a wonderful base for a berry smoothie.
Berries with Buttermilk and Honey
adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
- 2 cups cold buttermilk
- 1 cup ice
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
- 3 cups mixed berries (any combination of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries)
- 1/2 cup fresh mint
Directions
- Blend buttermilk, ice, yoghurt, and honey in a blender until frothy. Combine mixed berries with fresh mint. Divide iced buttermilk and berries among bowls. Serves 4-6.
1. Ate lemon-braised chicken with beans everyday for lunch. Leftovers rock my face.
2. Spent a lot of time rearranging furniture and oohing over some new additions to our house, especially the long wooden desk that I am now doing all of my blogging from.
3. Started reading this book
for my book club. I’ve snorted out loud a few times.
4. Remembered how good these brownies are when someone else again made them and wrote to tell me about it. I love that stuff. You there reading? You make this really fun, especially when you say hello. So thanks.
5. Ate my body weight in peanut butter on toast.
6. Thought longingly about Autumn and baking things filled with cinnamon and nutmeg…then slapped myself in the face for ever wishing away a summer day.
7. Drank a lot of Pimm’s.
8. Had cereal for breakfast and dinner in one day.
9. Welcomed my best friend in the world and her lovely beau to the U.S. from England. They’ll be here ten glorious days for frolicking in Minneapolis, up north, and in Chicago. I’ll be blogging still, don’t you worry.
Read Part I, Part II, and Part III.
