5 Quick, Easy (And Delicious) Summer Recipes 🥗 💫

Summer brings with it incredible ripe fruits and veggies that are just begging to be roasted, toasted, and turned into delectable treats! 🥝 😎  However, when it's hot out, it can be difficult to get excited about cooking. That's why today, we've gathered a few recipes together that don't require a lot of cooking (or ones in which a little bit of heat is well worth it!). 🔥

No matter what your summer looks like, it can be an opportunity to try some fresh, healthy takes on breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Whether you’re into eating seasonally or are just looking for something to celebrate summer, here are 5 meals that we can’t WAIT to try: 

Breakfast: Blueberry Smoothie Bowl from The UniCook 🍓

Ingredients: 

• Handful of frozen blueberries 
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• 1 frozen banana 🍌
• 1 cup of almond milk
• A drizzle of honey
• Toppings (chia seeds, berries, chocolate chips, you name it!)

Take out your blender or food processor and blend all ingredients except for the toppings. If your smoothie needs to be a little bit more smooth, add almond milk until you get the consistency you want! 

Then, simply pour in a bowl and decorate to your heart’s content. If it’s easier, you can always drink your smoothie, too—a great solution if you’re on the go. 

Lunch: Mediterranean Quinoa Salad from The Chutney Life 🍅

 Ingredients: 

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 10-15 quartered cherry tomatoes 🍅
• 1 lemon, squeezed for fresh juice
• Handful of chopped arugula
• Salt, pepper, and chili flakes to season

This one’s easy! Toss all of the ingredients together in a big bowl; taste to make sure the lemon juice, salt and pepper, and spice levels are okay. Season if needed, and enjoy! P.S. This one’s even better as leftovers, so don’t hesitate to make a big batch. 

Dinner: Yellow Tomato Gazpacho from PureWow 🥣

The perfect ripe tomatoes summertime brings work well in salsas, sandwiches, and on their own. However, sometimes the spotlight needs to be solely on the tomato! Here’s a recipe just for that: 

Ingredients: 

• 4 large yellow or orange tomatoes, chopped; plus 1 pound regular or heirloom tomatoes, chopped 
• 6 basil leaves plus more for garnish
• 1-2 garlic cloves, smashed
• Sea salt
• Seedless cucumber, chopped 🥒
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 yellow or red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 peaches, peeled and chopped
• Olive oil, black pepper, chervil and croutons for topping! 

Combine the tomatoes, basil and garlic in a large bowl. Season with salt, and then chill for half an hour. After that, remove the basil leaves and purée the tomato mixture in a blender. Once the mixture is smooth, ladle into chilled bowls and top with the rest of the fruit and vegetables. Garnish with croutons, olive oil, and salt and pepper. (And then take a picture, because this dish is STUNNING!!) 

Dinner: Smoky Grilled Pork Tacos from Recipes from a Pantry 🌮

Ingredients: 

• Smoky chili sauce (Adobo is a good choice, but whatever you have on hand should work!)
• Pork loin or cutlets, chopped
• Salt
• Tortillas
• Shredded red cabbage 
• Sliced spring onions
• Sliced red chili peppers 🌶
• Guacamole for topping!

Start by marinating the pork in the chili sauce to get that flavor going! After about thirty minutes, cook the pork until the interior reads 165 degrees or the inside is a very light pink. Broiling and grilling are both great options here; you want there to be crispy edges! Then, it’s time to build your best taco. Layer cabbage, onions, chili peppers, and guacamole on your tortillas, followed by some of the marinated pork. Then, make another—you’re going to want more! 

Dessert: Apple Peanut Butter S’mores from Skip to my Lou 🍏

 We couldn’t go without a tasty treat to end the day, could we?!? (Or to start the day with; life is short!) 

Ingredients: 

• Apples (1-2 servings per apple)
• peanut butter
• Chocolate chips 🍫
• marshmallows

Slice the apples thinly and horizontally to create round slices. Remove seeds. Spread one slice with a dollop of peanut butter, and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Then, roast a marshmallow (over the stove works perfectly; so does the oven broiler for batches) and place on top! Close with a final apple slice for a dessert that’s sweet and refreshing all at once. 

Aaah, there is so much goodness here! We’re excited to see what new dishes we can create in the upcoming summer nights. There’s no way we can pick just one...we’re going to have to make all of them at once!! 💛

What looks good to you? What are you excited about cooking up this summer?!