Category: summer

What’s on hand chilled summer salad answers the “Hey summer, what’s for dinner?”  question.

Most evenings our summer appetites lean toward lighter fare as the temps of those hot summer mornings, afternoons, and nights have a way of slowing down the pace as well as the need for heavy dishes.

Who needs or wants to be in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove when there’s a lot of patio sitting, summer sippin’ and outdoor living to do.

 “The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

—Bertrand Russell

To the cupboard and fridge we go for ingredients to make a what’s on hand chilled summer salad.

Baby field greens topped with tuna serve as the flavor foundation.

Leftover crispy fried bacon from breakfast makes the cut.  I spotted a cucumber in the crisper to go with the garden tomatoes and red onion slices.

Take a nice avocado, peel, scoop out the meat into a bowl and mash it with a fork. To this add a heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon.

Lemon wakes up the flavors with a c’est si bon all its own.

Feta cheese crumbles bring more flavor into the mix.

Fresh sliced strawberries and fresh chopped Louisiana peaches drizzled with honey round out the melange.

Position the Feta, fruit and red onion slices on the sides of the salad plates so the diners can incorporate the flavors as desired.

Now for what I consider the ultimate dressing discovery of the summer  salad season.

There’s buttermilk ranch dressing and then there’s basil buttermilk ranch dressing. This dressed up take on Hidden Valley buttermilk ranch dressing is the new house dressing at Places In The Home.

Fresh basil and lemon juice produce a bright flavor pairing- a combination perfect for summer.

Tangy (that’s buttermilk!) meets fresh meets zing meets damn, that’s good!

Basil Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Ingredients

¾ cup mayonnaise (I used Duke’s in this recipe)

½ cup buttermilk

1 packet Original Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk Recipe

¼ teaspoon fine black pepper

2 tablespoons basil, finely chopped

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

Combine all ingredients together.  Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before using, allowing flavors to marry.

Hey summer, what’s for dinner?  Think summer salads.

Fresh fruit, lemon, fine black pepper and honey star in this summer must make salad, Black Pepper Honey Fruit Salad.

Summer salads just make good summer sense.  Chilled summer salads made with seasonal fruits and vegetables make both a treat for the eye and the taste buds.

Chicken salad is a summertime house favorite.  The summer cold front we have experiencing was all the incentive I needed to get out the big blue pot for a chicken and sausage gumbo.  I borrowed two of the trinity seasoned chicken breast and whipped up a quick chicken salad for lunch.

In my daily hunt and gather sessions of late I ran across a version recipe and immediately bookmarked for “I want to try this” recipe development.

Adding cantaloupe, blueberries, petite table grapes and ripe yellow and white peaches proved to enhance the fruit salad part of the recipe more to my liking.

Adjusting the ingredients of the dressing by using fresh lemon juice instead of lime to justify the fact I didn’t have any lime worked out might tasty.

Fresh, home grown tomatoes from our next door neighbor’s garden provide a slight taste of savory that pairs deliciously with the sweetness of the cantaloupe.

Pinches of Kosher salt and dashes of black pepper wake up the seasons and the summer salad season.

Black Pepper Honey Fruit Salad

Ingredients

1  cantaloupe, peeled and diced

1 pint blueberries

4 peaches, peeled and diced

1 cup petite table grapes

1½  tablespoon lemon juice

2-3 tablespoons good honey

generous pinch of kosher salt

½ teaspoon fine black pepper

Directions

Place prepared fruit in a large mixing bowl.  In separate mixing bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, honey, kosher salt and pepper.

Drizzle the black pepper honey dressing over fruit and gently toss to coat fruit and incorporate flavors.

A summer entertaining series is on tap for the next few weeks here at Places In The Home.  Speaking of places in the home, wouldn’t we all love to have an outdoor space like this New Orleans courtyard?  Relaxing outdoor spaces, areas, decks, patios, and porches take the edge off the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  The stylish outdoor space has become a natural extension of the life lived within the home.  The outdoor home decor and accessories available in today’s market make it very easy to enjoy the summer in style.

Good times go well with good cuisine. Light fare, delicious salads and sides, and grilled anything make up the menu of summer.

Balsamic and Honey Baked Vidalia Onions have the culinary chops to be the main course or the star attraction side. Easy is the main ingredient along with balsamic vinegar, honey, butter, and garlic.  Here’s the recipe.

Balsamic and Honey Baked Vidalia Onions

Ingredients

per medium sized  Vidalia onion

1 medium Vidalia Onion, peeled and cored

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1  ½ teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon butter

pinch of Kosher salt

¼ teaspoon fine black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.  Peel and core Vidalia onion, leaving root end of onion intact. If needed, cut root end to allow onion to sit upright. Score onion on sides to allow better balsamic vinegar and honey absorption. Chop onion top and set aside.

Cut foil square large enough to wrap and twist onion up in and place onion in center of foil square. Sprinkle onion center with garlic powder.

Next, drizzle onion with  balsamic vinegar and honey.  Top onion center with butter, Kosher salt, fine black pepper, and chopped onion top.

Wrap foil up around onion, twisting at top to seal.

Place onion in oven proof dish or iron skillet. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until until tender. Be careful of steam when opening the tops of the foil packets. Serve in foil packets in individual cast iron skillets or transfer onion(s) to serving dish.

If grilling better suits the occasion:

Preheat grill to medium heat. Double wrap onion with foil.  Place onion on the grill over direct heat. Close grill top and cook for 30 minutes or until onions are soft. Allow onion to cool for approximately 5 minutes before opening the foil packet.