WITH the first full week of summer upon us, it’s time to close the oven door for the next three months and embrace seasonal fruit and vegetables, easy-to-make dinners, and that blessed BBQ. To get you started, we have rounded up seven of the best summer dinner options.
MONDAY
Low on calories and low on cleaning up, this one-pan caprese chicken is the perfect fuss-free dish for a Monday night. Use the stove top function on your Weber for this one, then pop this one-pan wonder in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves. Full of creamy bocconcini and seasonal heirloom tomatoes, you have to serve this with rosemary and garlic bread to ensure all those juices get soaked up. Which will make cleaning even easier.
TUESDAY
The hardest part of this Thai pasta salad with spicy cashew dressing is julienning the carrots, and if you’re really not that fussed on how thin they are, then this is essentially the quickest Thai dish you’ll ever make. Packed with veggies, nuts for crunch and a couple of spicy chillies, depending on how you like things, this is a great vegetarian dish for a warm evening. And because it is served cold, it makes for a great lunch come Wednesday.
WEDNESDAY
Tender pink strips of lamb on a wild rice and quinoa salad is a light dinner option or perfect weekend lunch. Feta, lamb, lime juice and hazelnuts, all pack this dish with flavour and will surely be a favourite in no time.
THURSDAY
Last week we gave you the perfect falafel recipe, and now you have another dish to add to your Lebanese feast, fattoush salad. Change up your salad game by serving this dish as a light summer meal or as a side at your next BBQ. It’s a great way to use day-old Lebanese bread and vegetables like radish. Which if you are anything like me is handy because you wouldn’t know how to use a radish any other way.
FRIDAY
Promised the family a whole baked fish come Christmas Day? Firstly, you get major points for ambition, and secondly, this is the dish to impress. Tomato, herb and pine nut salmon is not only incredibly delicious and covered in Christmas colours, it will also feed a small tribe. So, you’re covered! Make it this week as a trial run to perfect achieving that soft pink flesh.
SATURDAY
Every now and then it is totally necessary to avoid using any sort of appliances and sit down to a fresh healthy dinner that takes absolutely no time to make. This green papaya and mango salad can be made as light or filling as you like and is the perfect dish to pop in Tupperware and devour outdoors. Think Sunday picnic at the beach or in the park.
SUNDAY
Sundays in summer should be reserved exclusively for burgers and beers. And just because you’re whipping up vegetarian burgers it doesn’t mean the BBQ isn’t a necessity. The vegetarian halloumi hash burger not only looks insanely good, but the portobello mushroom (the patty) and hash go great on the grill. And the kale aioli doused on the bottom of this bun is sure to become your new favourite condiment.
