#9: Dinner Ideas (Summer -- July 6, 2024)
Easy and delicious menus+recipes!
Hello! We are at the Outer Banks this week swimming in the ocean and dozing on the beach. On Tuesday, my husband grilled chicken and I made green rice pilaf and cucumber salad (menu below). We love making food for the people we love. On Wednesday, we had a delicious seafood extravaganza with Kinnakeeter oysters straight from the oyster farm as an appetizer and then shrimp scampi with local shrimp. And on July 4th, we had an Americana menu of amazing fried chicken sandwiches and mac and cheese, followed by watching fireworks from the dock. I am grateful for my family, for this break after busy work and travel, and for our amazing country (may it remain so). Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day!
Menu 1: Grilled chicken with green rice pilaf and cucumber salad (#DinnerParty)
Cheese and crackers
Green rice pilaf (w saffron, no soy sauce!!)
Yogurt with olive oil, dill, garlic, lemon
Kalamata olives
Hummus
Pita bread
Cooking notes: This is a great menu for summer entertaining, large group or small. Takes some prep, but fairly minimal. We made a big batch of yogurt dressing for the hand salad and used half as yogurt dressing for the meal. I marinated the chicken after returning from the beach and had downtime until putting the rice on. I was able to complete all final meal prep while cooking the rice. For the cucumber tomato salad, I suggest larger chunks of persian cucumber, with cherry tomatoes cut in half. Everyone can choose to eat a rice bowl or pita sandwich. You can also substitute roast or grilled salmon for chicken!
Menu 2: Grilled branzino, asparagus, and potatoes (#DinnerParty)
Olives (such as the grilled olives from Trader Joe’s)
Shrimp cocktail
Grilled branzino stuffed with lemon and herbs
Fingerling or baby potatoes with butter and herbs
Lemon dressing or a yogurt dill sauce
Baguette with butter
Cooking notes: Beautiful fresh ingredients grilled into a summer feast. Substitute any CSA or farmers market vegetables you have on hand -- i.e. greens, zucchini, etc -- and whatever seafood looks best. Equation is grilled protein+grilled veggies+sauce on a lazy weekend afternoon with friends = enjoy.
Menu 3: Oysters, lobster tail, and swordfish (i.e. birthday seafood extravaganza)
Butter lemon sauce
Salad with orange, chevre, and walnuts
Bread
Cooking notes: This was my birthday meal. Luxurious and a wonderful celebration of food and life.
Menu 4: Chicken and pasta with pesto
Cooking notes: We have made variations of this meal several times over the past weeks -- with homemade or store bought noodles, and sometimes substituting roast salmon on the side for roast chicken pieces mixed in. When we have fresh kale from our garden we usually make the dish with kale pesto (with pine nuts rather than pepitas), although it is also excellent with basil pesto and spinach mixed in. The meal is flexible as you can deconstruct all elements -- i.e. serve plain pasta with roast chicken on the side for pickier eaters. The pasta has a fun origin story from chef Sam Kass, former White House Chef and Senior Policy Advisor on Nutrition for President Obama.
Menu 5: Buttered Noodles with Jammy Eggs
Cooking notes: This is an easy, bright, flavorful meal. Melissa Clark provides background info on the dish here. We made it according to the recipe, and loved the crunch of the poppy seed -- we also had some canned tuna on the side for extra protein. This makes a wonderful meal for eating outside on a screened in porch and would also make a great picnic lunch.
Food and beyond
Music: We’ve been listening to Shaboozey and Charley Crockett on repeat. There’s a great video of Shaboozey breaking down production of a song here. Also saw some excellent concerts recently including Pixies and Wilco at Wolf Trap, which is a great venue.
David Chang and Jerry Saltz: I listened to this podcast during my travels and it was pretty impactful. Quotes included something along the lines of: “have a deadline,” “make an enemy of envy,” and “be you.” And also, “Daddy goes away to a cuckoo place.” Worth listening to! Also, Jerry Saltz’s 33 Rules for Being an Artist. I love that Jerry Saltz was a truck driver into his 40s. Gives me hope for many things.
Charcuterie picnic: I had picnic envy at Wolf Trap, and will next time pack a proper picnic with wine something like this, this, or this.
Zucchini: Harvested my first two zucchini today. Among my favorite zucchini recipes: zucchini pancakes, Stanley Tucci zucchini pasta (I saute rather than fry), and squash gratin from Kay Chun. (I had a minor panic attack when I was initially not able to find this recipe on the internet. Note to future self, toss squash, olive oil, and garlic, roast for 20 minutes at 450, sprinkle w panko and gruyere or parm and roast an extra 10 minutes.)
Duck running a marathon -- in fact made me smile.