Much like our green beans, our squash is out of control this year too, and we were looking for ways to use it up. I found a few different suggestions out there for zucchini chips, and decided to give one a go – they are AWESOME. Seriously, if you have a ton of extra squash, this is an awesome use for it. I found this on a blog call Add a Pinch and I made no changes. You can definitely play around with it and make all kinds of flavors, though. I do think without a mandolin slicer, this would be a serious pain, but you could still do it.
Month: July 2015
Dilly Beans
We grew green beans for the first time this year, and holy smokes are they prolific! They are definitely one to plant again. But like any heavy producing veggie in the garden, when you end up with a glut of them, it can be hard to use them all up. I decided to try refrigerator dilly beans. I got the basics from Cooking Light’s recipe for spicy dill beans, but I toned the spice down. Last year I overdid it a bit and the pickles were all kind of too hot for us. They would make a cute summery food gift if you wanted to take the final step and actually can them.
Spicy Chicken Kabobs
Missy sent me this really excellent chicken marinade, and we had to give it a try. It’s Asian-y and delicious. We made a few changes, cut back on the spice a bit because we’re not huge on heat, and added a couple of cloves of garlic. It was great and we’ll definitely do it again – the leftovers for lunch will be awesome. We had it with some bok choy as a side.
Feta Basil Dip
So this was pretty much delicious. And ridiculously easy. I made this as a dip for apps before dinner with my Mom, and we all gave it two thumbs up. Found this on a Buzzfeed listing of best dips, of all places, and it came from a blog called Domestic Superhero. This would be great to bring to a picnic, and it’s best if you can let it chill overnight, but a couple of hours would do. Serve it at room temperature.
Seared Scallops with Lemon and Dill
We were looking for a quick, light weeknight summer meal and this was great. I feel like there are only so many ways to prepare scallops (my preference is always seared), but we really liked this sauce! From Bon Appetit, I made it pretty much as listed except I dusted the scallops with flour for a nice sear, and cut out the lemon peel – we don’t love things too lemony. We had this with sautéed squash from our garden and some steamed broccoli (and some of the wine used to cook the scallops 😉 ).
Chimichurri Sauce
Chimichurri is one of my favorites, and when we were trying to think of something to do with some nice pork chops on the grill, it sounded perfect. Especially given the plethora of parsley in our garden. This was great with the simple brined pork chops with a side of green beans and squash from our garden. Very summery! Got this from Chow and made it as written (except I was out of fresh Oregano, so used dry).
Pepper Pasta Salad
I saw this in this month’s Cooking Light, and was really intrigued. I love pasta salad, and this one was different and interesting. I brought it to the Hunt’s puppy naming party, and it went over pretty well! I thought it was tasty, but that being said, it WAS a lot of work. I did use sweet paprika in place of the Aleppo pepper. Also, the original recipe called for Freso peppers, and I didn’t use them, so though the original recipe was, “Triple-Pepper Pasta Salad,” this was just two peppers for me. 😉 I would make it again for a special occasion, or big picnic etc, despite the work – I think it was worth it. 🙂