A Little of This, A Little of That, And Plenty of Corn
August seems to be sailing away faster than usual; would you agree? While I am all about embracing this fun month, I’m pretty shocked that we’re fairly close to ending it and turning a corner (almost) to the next season. Don’t go, summer! We are still enjoying all of your bounty. Specifically, we have been eating plenty of corn, tomatoes, and every other peak-summer produce available.
This dinner review is a brief roundup of everything we’ve been cooking lately. Our nightly meals are featured on Instagram (@glutenfreemollied) and I’d love for you to follow along over there. As usual, I will provide recipe links below when available. We are working on adding more recipes to the site as well. Stay tuned for those fresh dishes; coming very soon!
If you have questions about any of the dinners featured here, then please send us a note! We would love to hear from you.
Baked Cod with Crunchy Miso-Butter Bread Crumbs
This cod recipe is available on the NY Times Cooking app. It’s buttery and salty and crunchy and just ridiculously delicious with this mild, white fish. I’d recommend serving the cod with grilled (or steamed) veggies for a nice contrast in flavors and texture. Feel free to ignore the pasta on the side in my photo - I couldn’t decide what to make so we had both (although they didn’t pair particularly well together. Oops.).
Cajun Shrimp with Sweet Corn and Summer Squash
There’s nothing more summery than a plate covered in peak-season produce. To go along with cajun-seasoned shrimp, we had corn-on-the-cob and sautéed summer squash (with zucchini). A very simple, quickly-cooked dinner that is perfect for a hot, summer night. Serve it on any night of the week. :)
Sausage and Kale Pasta with Parmesan (recipe coming soon!)
This dinner is not particularly summery, but it is one of my all-time favorites. It’s versatile, hearty, healthy-ish, and just plain awesome. Our version was filled with hot Italian sausage, red onion, and kale, which we tossed with Jovial Foods GF capellini pasta. It really cannot be beat - I’d eat this any night of the week. Any time of the year! Just be sure to shower your bowl with Parmesan before taking that first bite. ;)
Red Coconut Curry with Thai-Inspired Turkey Meatballs
The original recipe for this dish (the red coconut curry) is from the cookbook Dinner by Melissa Clark. We made slight changes based on the ingredients we had available and added turkey meatballs for protein. All in all, it was wickedly delicious! I don’t crave curry too often during the summer as I find it better for fall/winter (it’s hearty and served piping hot). However, Seth was set to make a great curry for dinner and so I let it go!
We turned down the A/C and enjoyed every single drop of this amazing meal. I think the turkey meatballs were a wonderful choice of protein and really added to the dish. I decided to serve the curry over rice, but you could easily leave it out for a lighter option. Pro tip: the curry sauce is so scrumptious you’ll want that rice to soak it all up. ;)
Pan-fried Cod with Sweet Corn and Salad
Find our recipe for pan-fried cod, right here.
Never miss an opportunity to make pan-fried fish and corn during the summer! This duo is an August classic and I just love it. Panko-crusted cod is a food I’ll always enjoy and while we can have it year-round, I find it especially awesome during August, served alongside local corn (too good!).
We kept it simple with a garden salad to let the corn and fish shine on the plate. Not only is this dinner delicious and ultra-summery, it’s quite colorful too. I love making sure our dinners are as vibrant as possible, especially when the produce is as fresh as it is right now.
Taco Salad Bowl with Beef, Corn, and Tomatoes (plus guacamole)
Find our first recipe for taco salad, right here.
When in doubt, make a taco salad. Seriously, it’s the easiest, most-delicious weeknight dinner that covers so many cravings in one bowl. I loved this version because one, beef is too yummy when cooked with peppers and onions; two, summer corn is way better than canned corn for taco salad; three, guacamole makes everything better. Oh, and using garden-fresh tomatoes just takes it all up a notch. Our taco salads have extra protein thanks to including pinto beans, which makes this dinner hearty and happy.
A taco salad is filling, but fairly healthy (I think), and something you can almost always make last-minute. All of a sudden, I was craving this dinner. It took mere moments to learn we had all of the ingredients, then not many minutes longer, we were sitting down to these divine dishes. And since it’s such a versatile meal, you can adapt it to what you have in the fridge. However, I strongly recommend making it this month while corn and tomatoes are in their prime. ;) Don’t forget the guacamole!
Chicken-Zucchini Meatballs with Feta
Recipe by Ali Slagle for NY Times Cooking
A sheet-pan meal is terrific anytime, but it’s even better in the summer when you can make it with fresh veggies and super-flavorful meatballs. All of my favorites on one plate! I had saved this recipe weeks ago and it was finally time to make it. I am so glad we did! It was simple to prepare and couldn’t have been more delicious.
Feta is fabulous and it’s even more wonderful when mixed with olive oil, onion, and red pepper flakes. This “sauce” was supreme over the zucchini and excellent for the meatballs. Speaking of meatballs, you know I love them, and this recipe was no exception. I think I’ll make these for my work lunches in the future - even though my office is still the kitchen table!
Pasta with Homemade Tomato Sauce and Italian Sausage
What to do with a crate of fresh, local tomatoes? Make tomato sauce! Cook it with Italian sausage and serve it over GF pasta. That’s my new go-to. The joy of cooking this meal with sausage rather than turkey or beef is that the sausage is already super flavorful and it makes everything else that much more delicious. I love the slightly spicy, slightly smoky flavor of the sausage, which permeates through all of the tomato sauce. I’m drooling!
On the other side of making this meal, you could leave the meat out entirely and still have a pretty great dinner. Fresh tomato sauce is scrumptious and tastes like summer. Pro tip: if you have a tomato surplus, make lots of sauce now and freeze it in small containers. Then you can have a taste of summer all winter long… :)
Enjoy!
