- Recipe Recap: July & August
Hi, I’m Cassie and my hobbies include eating, thinking about eating and snacking while I prepare recipes. In the beginning of 2021 I set out to try at least one new recipe a week. We’re already at 57 new recipes, so I guess I can quit since we’re ahead. But I won’t because this has honestly been so much fun! Today I’ve got 14 recipes from the last two months. Get your knives sharpened and your oven preheated, folks!
My fish taco bowl with mango salsa
Salads, Sides & Salsas
Salad with lime cilantro dressing: This easy salad was a fresh summery addition to a 4th of July cookout we went to. The dressing was a little tart and watery so I ended up adding a little honey to it which really helped. It ended up being a hit with everyone there! I had leftover dressing so ended up recreating it at dinner at home the next night.
Mango salsa: I made this fresh and easy mango salsa to add to fish tacos one night. It has a bit of heat from a hot pepper, but also sweetness from bell peppers. Chris used it on his taco and loved it. This is a perfect summer recipe to complement a dish or to serve with chips!
Roasted fairy tale eggplant with chili lime yogurt sauce: This recipe is so easy to make and works well as a side or, as we did it each time, an addition to a mediterranean style bowl. When these guys are in season, this is a go-to! We’ve paired it with shrimp as well as salmon quinoa and rice bowls and each time, both the veggies and the sauce were a great addition.
Shaved Fennel Salad with Dill, Arugula, and Walnuts: This simple salad had, in addition to the title ingredients, zucchini, dill, walnuts and feta cheese topped with a lemon honey dressing. It was light, refreshing and tasty! This is a great, fresh summer addition to any seafood or poultry dish.
Vegetarian Dishes
Gluten free tomato galette: This recipe was really good, but we felt it could use a little more garlic and I think I will try to substitute some of the GF all-purpose flour with almond flour next time because the crust was a little dry. It needs some tweaking, but still worth making again and just altering it a bit. And I ate every last bit of leftovers which says something.
Fairy tale eggplant and mediterranean quinoa salad with spiced yogurt: I had a bunch of fairy tale eggplants from the farmers market to use and decided to make this salad. My spicy yogurt sauce didn’t come out as runny as the recipe makes it seem, but it was delicious and had a bit of a kick. The quinoa salad calls for chickpeas and I opted to remove them from the salad, roasting them instead with putting them on top for a little crunch. I loved this recipe because the salad can stand alone, or you can add any sort of roasted veggies to it.
Harissa-roasted sweet potato power salad: With this one, I did have to make some substitutions simply because I didn’t have a couple of ingredients on hand, like, say harissa. I used a sriracha sauce instead. And I had to substitute the kale with spinach because I had forgotten to buy it at the farmers market and my grocery store was out. Even with those alterations, it was savory, spicy, healthy and satisfying! The parsley tahini dressing is a nice touch. I made it again a few days later!
Seafood
Lemon parmesan salmon with corn, tomato and avocado salsa: One of my favorite recipes from the last two months, hands down! Despite its appearance – yes, I charred it a little too long – it’s a new favorite! This dish was a little more involved but so worth it. The salad also called for chickpeas but we had made another recipe of hers last year that featured a similar salad and hadn’t enjoyed them in it, so we omitted them this time.
Tomato basil salmon: Another favorite of the last two months! This dish was ridiculously easy to make and SO flavorful. I am here for anything that involves tomato and basil and is simple to create.
Greek salmon quinoa bowl: This recipe was simple but not so flavorful. We paired it with the roasted eggplant from above and the spicy yogurt sauce and that added a much needed kick. Overall, it’s a healthy and simple recipe, but a good idea to plan on doctoring it up a little.
Cilantro lime tuna: YUM, YUM and YUM! I loved this one so much! If you’re in need of a really quick and healthy dinner, this is it. We made it into a bowl style dish and loved it! We had to cook it inside because it ended up storming, but next time we’ll grill it outside.
Parchment salmon: This was my least favorite seafood recipe of the bunch this time. I’m not sure if we’ll make it again. If we do, we’ll probably replace the potatoes with something else since none of us cared much for them.
Mediterranean baked salmon with tomatoes, olives and capers: This dish was my birthday dinner and it was a great way to ring in 43. Loved the flavor of the capers, tomatoes, olives and fish all together. Bonus that you literally toss it all in a pan and bake! Will be repeating this one soon!
Dessert
Peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies: Ya gotta live a little sometimes, right? This cookie recipe was a winner with my kids! Wilder has asked me to make them again. I haven’t yet because the older kids wanted basic chocolate chip, but I have a feeling these will be a repeat. The cookies stayed nice and soft and weren’t overly peanut buttery.
Which recipe of these jumps out at you and says, “cook me now!?” After writing this post, I’ve got a hankering for that easy to bake mediterranean salmon. And cookies.