Lisa: Taste of Summer

Wow, summer flew by. Here's a glimpse of what we've been eating. I love all of the fresh, bright colors of summer fruits and vegetables. Salads and wraps became standard fare for a stretch, and I got to try some interesting desserts at picnics. Finally, we grew some of our own produce and indulged in some icy homemade treats.

Romaine salad with carrots, heirloom tomatoes, strawberries,
yellow bell pepper, slivered almonds, carrots and grapes.

Chicken lettuce wraps with salsa and yellow bell peppers,
sugar snap peas on the side

Ricotta and spinach ravioli with marinara,
steamed broccoli, roasted red and yellow beats with goat cheese
par-baked french bread baked just in time for dinner

Grilled salmon (sorry, I mangled it taking it off the serving plate),
Japanese rice with furikake (seaweed and sesame seasoning),
caprese of heirloom tomatoes, mini mozzarella, basil,
green beans goma ae (sesame-soy dressing),
and strawberries

Spinach and jack cheese crepe

I did not make these, but tried them at a picnic:
chocolate-peanut butter-rice crisp bars
with graham cracker crust

My cousin made these:
"Watermelon" Rice Krispies treats
with chocolate chip "seeds"
Made in a round pan and cut in wedges

Massive blackberry!

Watermelon growing in our yard. We later harvested several.
Tasty, but had a tough time figuring out
when they were ripe.

Cantaloupes growing in our yard

Blackberries and strawberries
picked at a local farm

Kale-berry-banana smoothie
popsicle in shape of ladybug

Somen Salad with Egg, Char Siu, Lettuce, and Green Onion

Recipe from The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook

Tonight, I tried this recipe for somen salad and both the husband and toddler liked it well enough that I'm adding it to our summer meal rotation. It's a nice and light, refreshing dish, great for summer since it is served cold or at room temp, and as Lisa pointed out in a different post, good for picnics and potlucks. The husband ate two big bowls while the toddler carefully picked each noodle up one by one and slurped it up (although she can use a fork, this method helps her weed out any other ingredient but noodle and dressing).

The recipe was very easy to make, mostly just chopping and mixing ingredients. The somen itself takes only two minutes to cook in boiling water. My only changes were that I left out the kamaboko (fish cakes) because I didn't have them and I used less oil than the recipe calls for and substituted some sesame oil in place of the canola oil. This dish will definitely make it on the menu for a party or picnic and I may try adding edamame, julienned carrots and/or cucumber, next time around to see if I can get some veggies into the toddler.