Our lax summer schedules have afforded me the luxury of being able to cook intricate recipes. However, with the sweltering temps, I’ve had no desire to turn the oven on. Instead of the weekly menu plans that I used to post here many moons ago, I thought I’d share a monthly “Cooking Lately” post.
I want to share only the good recipes that have graced our dinner table throughout the month. I know how difficult it is figuring out what to cook for dinner. While I do plan out a menu for the week to help keep me sane and organized, not all the recipes I choose are winners! I plan on sharing just the recipes that we have tried and are family approved!
Since Trader Joe’s just opened a new location nearby, I feel like I’ll be eating and cooking a lot of their prepared foods and ingredients. This will be especially true in the fall which is our family’s busy season. Fellow Trader Joe’s fans may be interested in this Instagram account that I found. I haven’t made anything yet, but I have bookmarked a bunch of Anna’s recipes!
Just a note about our family’s diet and the types of recipes that I cook: my teenage daughter is a vegetarian. My husband and I are both pescatarians, although he eats a lot less seafood than I do. My teenage son is the only meat eater in the house, so you won’t find any meat recipes here. You’ll find vegetarian, sometimes vegan and the occasional pescatarian recipes.
Here are some of our July recipe recommendations:
Blueberry French Toast Casserole – This month we celebrated my son’s 14th birthday with a brunch-themed family celebration. Breakfast is his favorite meal. Among several dishes, I made this Blueberry French Toast Casserole that everyone was raving about.
Creamy Garlic Butter Tuscan Salmon – My husband and I had a rare weeknight where it was just the two of us for dinner. We made this recipe with Parmesan Spinach Couscous. This was such a tasty dish but I think I’ll serve it over pasta next time.
Halloumi Hummus Bowls – I used Trader Joe’s Pearled couscous. Instead of halloumi I used crumbled feta which is a cheaper and easier to find alternative. I added some red onion and I thought it needed a dressing so we topped our bowls with Wishbone Lemon Vinaigrette. This recipes has little to no actual cooking involved and is perfect for hot summer nights.
Peach Goat Cheese Salad – I made this salad for lunch one week and it will keep making appearances until peach season is over. There’s a bit of prep with the ingredients but it’s so tasty! And it’s a fraction of the cost to make it at home versus buying a salad for lunch.
Sheet Pan Cauliflower Fajitas – These fajitas are on repeat in our house and I probably make them about once a month. They are easy to make and a quick meal. To save time, I sometimes purchase a packet of fajita seasoning or use the Penzeys fajita seasoning, when I have it. I serve these with sour cream, salsa and/or guacamole.
Smoky Shiitake Quesadillas with Avocado Cream Sauce – My husband ended up cooking this dinner, since I was at our daughter’s summer league field hockey game. Instead of shiitake mushrooms I had bought regular white button mushrooms that worked perfectly fine in this recipe. The avocado cream and pickled onions really helped make the dish.
Summer Coconut Chickpea Curry – This recipe is a great way to use some of the summer zucchini and squash that always seems to be abundant around this time of year. Some of the edits I made to this recipe include omitting the tahini and the halloumi cheese. I served the curry over basmati rice with some store-bought naan.
Quick and Easy Meals
Usually once a week, and sometimes more, I have a quick and easy meal. These meals use either prepared foods or require little to no prep. This month’s quick and easy meals included:
*Pierogies and roasted broccoli
*Breakfast burritos – (scrambled eggs, cheese, hash brown and chorizo rolled in a tortilla served with salsa and sometimes prepared guacamole, if I have it)
*Burgers and fries (I use whatever burgers I find on sale – Beyond burgers, Boca Burgers, etc.).
What have you been cooking lately?
