Even though it is the end of July and I’m already (sort of) jokingly lamenting that “summer is over,” temperatures in the upper 90s, nightly dinners in the backyard and the pain I suffered when I wore black pants outside earlier this week means we are truly in the thick of it now, friends! Please enjoy some of our very favorite recipes from this summer, and just remember there are plenty of tomatoes, corn and peaches and eggplant to come.
Katie Lee does not mess around with a good salad and neither do I! Perfectly cooked flaky salmon, salty bacon, egg that is boiled to my liking (help, I recently developed an aversion to soft egg yolks), in season corn and tomatoes, a creamy avocado and most importantly: homemade croutons! We really dug this meal.
What’s summer without a really good burger, though? Get this, these ones have mayo MIXED INTO THE PATTY! Why have I never thought to do this?? These were SO GOOD. So juicy that they were dripping everywhere and I was sad because I wanted those flavors in my mouth and not on my plate but what can you do? Also, Joey claimed these were better than the BA Burger Deluxe which had previously been our go-to classic burger recipe. Reader, I gasped when he said this but… he’s right! P.S. Please season the outside of your patty with salt and pepper, regardless of whether this recipe tells you to or not.
Switching gears entirely, we now enter the vegan portion of this post. I make this cashew cheese sauce often and always have so much left over — I’ve tried halving it and my blender says NO — so I have to find ways to use it up. Enter these chili fries, which already called for a similarly-made cashew sour cream, so it seemed like an easy substitution to make. I was not prepared for how delicious this meal would be! It was light and fresh but still hearty and satisfying? I was FULLY in my happy place. Plus, even though it seems like a lot of components, it was pretty quick to whip up.
Okay, this actually served four but that means two nights of dessert for each of us, instead of one, so I’m calling it a win! A gluten-free vegan peach crisp is, in fact, NOT Betty Crocker’s peach cobbler but I just can’t make it like Mom, so why even try? I actually don’t know how this tasted as good as it did considering there was no butter or white flour involved but IT DID. I would 100% make this again! And that’s the end of the vegan portion of this post 😛
Grilled Salmon with Whole Lemon-Sesame Sauce
I made Joey watch a video of the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen making this recipe then said “I don’t care what you think, I’m making this!” He’s maybe not quite as into lemon as I, a person who will eat the lemon slice that comes in a glass of water, am but don’t let the idea of cutting up a lemon skin scare you because when mixed with shallot, olive oil and honey, it’s really mellow and lovely. I really love the easy salmon grilling technique used in this recipe too and scattering basil over anything just feels so fresh and summery, doesn’t it??
Please tell me what delicious things you are whipping up this summer!
Life as Lauren 