When it’s too hot to cook, or we have a busy week ahead and I need to make my time in the kitchen stretch, I fall back on some super simple recipes.
These recipes must be simple, quick to prepare with little hands-on time, and use whatever I have lying around in my kitchen or in the gardens.
Our favorite chef salad recipe hits the mark in the early season when lettuce is in its prime.
A bit later in the season, I fall back on this crowd-pleasing Quinoa Salad.
It’s full of flavor and gets even better as it sits in the refrigerator and melds together. This salad can be used as a side or a main dish. It easily multiplies up to feed a crowd as well.
Here’s my Quinoa Salad recipe.
Ingredients:
2 cups quinoa
4 cups water
1 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbl. Greek seasoning
1/3-1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2-3 Tbl. extra-virgin olive oil ( or avocado oil)
1-2 Redemption Acres cucumbers, halved lengthwise and chopped into half-circles
1 pint Redemption Acres cherry tomatoes, halved
6 oz. crumbled Feta cheese (or goat Chevre)
sea salt & pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Cook quinoa according to package directions or follow this process: Combine quinoa, water, and 1 teaspoon salt in large pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. When boiling, turn heat down to low and cook for 10 minutes or until water is absorbed. Let sit for 5 minutes, covered, off the heat. After 5 minutes, lift the lid and fluff with a fork. Transfer to wide bowl or large platter to cool.
- While quinoa is still warm, add Greek seasoning, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Place in the refrigerator until cool.
- Just before serving, add cucumber, tomatoes, and cheese. Toss gently to combine.
Tips:
- Add cooked, diced chicken with the vegetables and call it a meal! I like to make this early in the week and enjoy if for lunch all week long!
- The quality of your balsamic vinegar makes a huge difference here! Get the best you can - ideally, imported from Italy. Trust me, it matters.
- Pump up the veggies! Add arugula, spinach, snap peas, radish, red onion, chopped broccoli or kohlrabi…whatever you’ve got around.
I hope you enjoy this quinoa salad! Comment below and tell me - what are your favorite quick summer meals that feature seasonal produce?
Chef Salad Recipe
One of the first vegetables that's ready each year is lettuce. We grow several varieties of head lettuce, and with the right conditions, one head can be enough to feed a family for dinner! This year, they're absolutely glorious.
Fresh, crisp lettuce that has just been picked is absolutely delicious.
One of our favorite ways to use lettuce is as a bread or bun replacement. This is especially true if you eat gluten-free since the available replacement options leave much to be desired. Angie enjoys eating her burgers wrapped in a couple lettuce leaves and using lettuce instead of a tortilla.
The most common way to enjoy summer lettuce is on a sandwich for a yummy crunch. Biting into a turkey sandwich piled high with fresh lettuce is such a treat!
Of course, we have to mention using lettuce as a salad. Full of endless possibilities and creative tweaks, salads are a no-brainer for our family every June. Plus they’re quick to make and don’t heat up your kitchen!
At least once a week you'll find us sitting down to a HUGE chef salad for dinner. Yes, even our kids gobble up every. single. bite.
So, here’s our favorite Chef Salad recipe:
Ingredients:
1-2 large heads lettuce (we use about a pound)
1 pound cooked chicken or bacon or a combo of both
1 large or 2 small cucumbers
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
1 bell pepper
1 handful of snap peas
1 avocado
4 ounces shredded cheese (cheddar is a favorite here)
Salad Dressing: 1/4 cup Angie’s Homespun Edibles Strawberry Basil Jam mixed with 2 Tbl. balsamic vinegar (or use your favorite bottled dressing)
Directions:
Wash lettuce and spin dry in a salad spinner or wrap in towels and gently squeeze.
Wash and chop other vegetables into bite size.
Add lettuce to a BIG bowl. Place vegetables, bacon and cheese on top. Toss to combine.
Sprinkle with avocado.
Serve with your favorite dressing!
Variations:
This week we harvested the first peas from the garden so they made an appearance. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hard or are harvesting from your garden. There are endless possibilities!
We typically add a few hard-boiled eggs, sliced, to the salad as well. I just forgot this time!
We hope you enjoy this as much as our family does!
What are your favorite salad recipes? Comment below - we’d love more ideas to enjoy all this fresh lettuce!
Family Favorite Stuffed Zucchini
It's been the perfect weather to get out in the gardens and see what's growing, picking weeds and spying out any pests. Typically peak vegetable season starts around now for the next few weeks. Pulling out those fresh veggies from a garden is so satisfying, isn't it?
What I've noticed is that people are so excited to use up their greens, tomatoes, and green beans, but one vegetable seems to sit around waiting for inspiration.
Zucchini.
I'm not sure why zucchini has a less than stellar excitement around it. It's my favorite vegetable to eat in the summer!
I feel like Bubba in the movie Forrest Gump...zucchini fritters, zucchini noodles, zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, grilled zucchini, fried zucchini, baked zucchini, zucchini pizza crust...
But, my absolute favorite way to eat zucchini is Stuffed Zucchini.
It's my mission to bring back the love for the humble and easy-to-grow zucchini.
So, without further ado, here is our Family Favorite Stuffed Zucchini recipe:
Ingredients:
1 large or 2 medium zucchini
1 cup uncooked rice or 2 cups cooked rice
1 pound ground beef
1 pint jar pasta sauce (about 1.5 cups)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste, divided
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook rice in a pot if raw.
Slice zucchini lengthwise in half. Slice off stem and flower if desired, but leave ends intact. Scoop out seeds with a spoon. This will leave you with two long zucchini boats. Place in a 13x9 pan. Sprinkle zucchini liberally with salt and pepper.
Brown ground beef in a skillet with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
When cooked through, add cooked rice and pasta sauce to pan. Warm through.
Scoop filling mixture into zucchini, mounding as needed.
Top with cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a fork easily pierces the zucchini.
To serve, slice into wedges and enjoy!
Variations:
Greek: Substitute the pasta sauce for diced tomatoes, the Italian for Greek seasoning, and change the cheese to Feta.
Taco: Substitute the pasta sauce for mild salsa, the Italian for taco seasoning, and change the cheese to Cheddar.
I hope you enjoy this meal as much as our family does! Our kids cheer every time we find a large zucchini in the garden, and enthusiastically demand this meal every time.
Have you ever made stuffed zucchini? Comment below with your favorite variation.
4 Easy Dinners When It's Too Hot to Cook
Well, here we are in the dog days of summer. This year seems hotter than usual to me, maybe because I’m getting older and less tolerant of temperature swings. Or, maybe because 100 degrees is just plain H.O.T.
On days like this, it just feels too hot to cook. Cranking up a stove or oven and standing over it seems impossible.
The hard part is, my kids still want to eat when it’s hot outside. Imagine that?!
I’d love to share with you what we eat when it’s just too hot outside to cook.
A HUGE salad! This is actually one of my favorite dinners, hot outside or not. We chop up whatever we have in the fridge, toss it in a large bowl, and call it dinner. Our very favorite salad is fresh lettuce from the gardens, chopped leftover chicken, bacon, cucumbers, peppers, carrots, sliced hard-boiled eggs, avocado, and toasted pecans, all tossed with Ranch dressing - check out our recipe here. We’re fortunate that our kids love this meal, too. They usually have a piece of fruit alongside.
Outdoor Grill. This is a summer staple for many. We love to grab some grass-fed burgers and chop up some vegetables for an easy dinner that keeps the heat out of the kitchen. We chop and skewer onions, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and zucchini, then brush with a little oil, salt and pepper, and boom! An easy meal everyone loves!
Smoothies and Popcorn. I mean, we all have those dinners where we throw stuff at our kids and hope it will fill them up, right? This is our version. We take some frozen fruit, almond or goat milk, yogurt, a little honey or stevia, and some collagen (for extra protein), and blend it up. The kids feel like they’re getting a treat, and we only spent a couple minutes whipping it together. The popcorn is quick and easy to make on the stove-top. Our kids especially love that we grow the popcorn ourselves as it always feels like a treat.
Snack-y Dinner. This is hands down our kids favorite. It’s easy to fill plates with whatever you have on hand and call it a meal. This could include string cheese, leftover cooked chicken, raw veggies with dip, fresh fruit, and crackers. This is especially popular in our home if we put everything on a big platter in the middle of the table and the kids get to grab whatever they like. In our home, the veggies are the first to go, especially if there’s Ranch dip or fresh goat cheese around.
So, there you have it…a sneak peek inside our kitchen when it’s just too hot outside to cook. I know we’ll be longing for these hot and humid days in a few months time, so for now we’ll enjoy them as much as we can while trying to stay out of a hot kitchen.
What are your go-to meals when it’s too hot to cook? Comment below!
Perfectly Roasted Chicken
Now that summer seems to unofficially be here, our days become full and free at the same time. Lots to do and see, places to go, but with a relaxed attitude that makes it easy to enjoy each moment.
I know for me, it's a challenge to keep good, healthy food on the table when life gets full and the to do list is long. I’ve heard from many of you who seem to have the same struggle, so I'm glad I'm not alone!
My favorite way to keep my family fed good, nutritious food while not spending all day in the kitchen is to cook once and eat at least three times, with little to no prep work after the first meal.
My favorite meal to make with this strategy is a perfectly roasted chicken with plenty of sides.
One chicken feeds my family of five for three meals - four if we make stock and have soup. Now that's a time and sanity saver!
I thought I'd share my go to recipe for Perfectly Roasted Chicken with you all. This meal is a hit with my family every time, so I'd call that a win!
Perfectly Roasted Chicken
This is our go to recipe anytime we cook chicken. This is a wholesome meal by itself or pair it with a crisp side salad.
Ingredients:
Redemption Acres Pastured Chicken, thawed, ~4 lbs.
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 tsp. dried herbs of choice (such as thyme, oregano & parsley)
1 fresh lemon, cut in half, optional
1.5 lbs. baby potatoes, halved
1.5 lbs. carrots, chopped into 1/2 inch rounds
Steps:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Place chicken breast side up in roasting pan or glass 13x9
In a small bowl, mix together butter, salt, pepper, and herbs. Place lemon (if using) into cavity of chicken
Using a brush or your hands, baste/rub chicken skin with half the butter and herb mixture
Bake 1 hour
Add potatoes and carrots to pan, mixing in the juices in the bottom. Brush remainder of butter and herb mixture over veggies
Cook another 45 minutes. Remove from oven when temp in thigh is at 165 degrees and juices run clear
Tent with foil and let rest on counter for 15 minutes before carving
After you’ve eaten, pull all the meat off the bones and store in the fridge for your next couple of meals. Don’t toss the bones! Instead throw them into your slow cooker and make some delicious and nutritious bone broth.
Some of my family’s favorite easy dinners to use the rest of the chicken are fajitas, tacos, chicken salad for sandwiches, and homemade mac and cheese with chicken and broccoli. Yum yum!
Have you ever roasted a whole chicken? Comment below and tell me your favorite way to use up that delicious leftover chicken.