On Our Table: The Best of June
How is it already time to discuss all of our June meals? Time is flying this year (more than usual?) and I cannot believe that June basically disappeared right before my eyes. The month had multiple heat waves and a fair amount of fun sprinkled throughout which was great, but it still is amazing, to me, at how quickly the month went by.
Conveniently, no matter a month’s speed, we still had to eat dinner every single night. Funny that! We always need to eat. June had so many great meals in it and I am so excited to share them all with you. There was a lot of grilling, many healthy-ish plates, and loads of awesome flavors.
We prepared far more “original recipes” than ones from cookbooks, which was fun and mildly stressful. I’m a fan of cookbooks and official recipes! I’m also not always in the mood to research a whole week of pre-written recipes. Therefore, June leaned more toward our original creations, but that did not have any negative affect whatsoever.
So now, without further ado, I present to you our (home-cooked) dinners from the month of June. All delicious, pretty nutritious, and just perfect for a summer weeknight at home. I hope you enjoy them!
Recipes are linked as available. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about an individual dish.
Enjoy!
Mollie
guacamole turkey burgers
If you learn how to make one great meal this summer, then perhaps it should be this one. Turkey burgers aren’t known to be the most flavorful, but this recipe is spot-on and creates a truly delicious burger. Topped with cheese, guacamole, and fresh-made pico, this is a summer treat worth cooking (or put them on the grill!). Serve with a starch of your choice; we opted for roasted sweet potatoes!
pesto chicken caesar salad with tomatoes and burrata
Now here is a dinner that’s bursting with summer flavors from pesto, tomatoes, and everyone’s favorite ball of cheese: burrata! We loved this new take on a Caesar salad which we prepared partially on the grill (pesto chicken) and partially from the fridge (greens, veggies, burrata). It was incredibly yummy and got us started on my new favorite way to cook chicken: skewered on the grill! Recipe is available through the link below.
DECONSTRUCTED FALAFEL SALAD
For the times when it’s too hot to cook (often) and you’re in the mood for meatless, then it’s time for this great bowl of flavor. Basically, this is “falafel” but instead of creating actual falafel, it’s a salad with all of those components. Pretty genius, and much quicker!
I usually prefer chickpeas to be slightly crisp, but this recipe had them uncooked and cold, which turned out to work quite well. Don’t forget the get the fanciest feta you can find: the bold, salty flavor really takes this salad over the top!
red coconut curry with shrimp and broccoli
Sometimes I crave, hot spicy food during a heat wave and that’s exactly what we made during the first heat wave of the month. I love red coconut curry and this one we’ve created really is my favorite. For this version, we included North Coast Seafoods Naked Shrimp, red pepper, zucchini, broccoli, and onion (and plenty of red curry paste). A star dinner every time!
cajun shrimp with guacamole and beans
Our plan for this dinner had been more formal (read: we had a recipe), but then we forgot about it and made this assortment instead. No worries, it was a delicious mix! Cajun-seasoned grilled shrimp, black beans, homemade guacamole, and pico de gallo. A very low-key meal for when it’s just too hot to do much else!
buffalo chicken burgers with cauliflower
I decided to turn our favorite buffalo chicken meatballs into burgers because why not? While we’re still working on the texture, I do think this was a good creation and it had loads of spicy flavor thanks to a lot of buffalo sauce. We balanced it out with crumbled blue cheese on top and basic roasted cauliflower on the side. Lettuce leaves optional, but it made the plate much more interesting to look at!
salad pizza with white beans and parmesan
Not only do I crave hot, spicy foods during heat waves, I often suddenly want pizza. This was a meatless pie topped with mozzarella and an arugula salad with white beans and parmesan. A pretty delicious, fairly healthy pizza! And it was perfect for a hot weeknight. We made the crust using the recipe from the book No Gluten No Problem Pizza. The pizza recipe is linked below.
chicken and snow pea stir-fry
One of the best ways to use fresh veggies and a protein is to create a quick stir-fry. The prepping of ingredients is the part that takes the longest and then suddenly you’re cooking and it’s ready! I’m partial to chicken or beef for stir-fries, but use whatever protein you prefer. Veggies we try to use what’s in-season. For this edition, we used snow peas, red pepper, and onion. Simply scrumptious!
For stir-fry sauce, we often use the brown sauce recipe from Woks of Life, below. It’s great!
grilled shrimp caesar salad with baguette croutons
One of my favorite salads of summer (or any time) is the grilled shrimp Caesar and I just loved our most-reason version of this classic dinner. We grilled the shrimp, coated in plenty of Old Bay, and then served them on top of hearts of Romaine (looks fancy!). Seth made Caesar dressing from scratch, but we could have bought a bottle.
We also added fresh-shaved Parmesan and my new go-to: grilled baguette croutons! Simply slice a GF baguette length-wise, then brush it with olive oil and place it oil side down on the grill. Not many minutes later…it’s ready! Slice up the baguette into bite-size pieces and voila! Croutons for salad. You’re welcome.
grilled scallops with corn and bacon
Have I mentioned how much we’re loving grilling this summer? Seth’s birthday present has been put to excellent use and given the constant heat, grilling is just so much easier than cooking. Example: this dinner! Grilled scallops (North Coast Seafoods) served on top of a corn, bacon, and shallot medley which we also cooked on the grill in a cast-iron pan.
My goodness this dinner was amazing and took far less effort to make than it looks. Perfect for dinner parties or a fancy Friday night at home. :)
penne pasta and meat sauce
And when you’re just too hot to be near the grill and you need something cozy (even in summer) then it’s time to make pasta and meat sauce. Ours is made with Jovial Foods gluten free penne and a jar of Rao’s tomato basil marinara (or any of their great sauces). We enhance it with shallots, red pepper flakes, and more garlic, but it’s definitely delicious on its own.
To the sauce we add ground beef, but ground turkey or chicken would be OK, too. Just remember to let everything simmer! This meat sauce gets better and better with time so make sure you start cooking a little earlier than you would usually so it’s just absurd by the time you eat. Also, the leftovers are marvelous. ;)
panko-crusted cod with zucchini
Another favorite summer plate that’s equal parts yum and quick-to-prepare is panko-crusted cod (North Coast Seafoods) with a seasonal sauteed veggie on the side. Zucchini is the default right now, but any in-season vegetable works!
For the fish, we coated each piece with an egg wash (pro tip: add a little mustard) then dipped each one into a bowl of Aleia’s Gluten Free Panko Breadcrumbs. These are my favorite for breading fish, chicken, you name it. They are the best. Pan-fry the fish with some olive oil in a nonstick pan on the stove top. Finally, don’t forget the tartar sauce and a slice of lemon. A perfectly light, but really delicious summer meal.
beef nacho skillet with tomatoes and cilantro
For some reason, we were craving Mexican-style flavors when we got back from Maine which basically meant one thing: time for nacho skillet! Sure, we could have made tacos, but this skillet is even easier than tacos and is a giant dish of goodness covered in cheese. What’s not to love?
This skillet included beef, mushrooms, peppers, pinto beans, tomatoes, and plenty of shredded cheese on top. Once everything in the skillet is cooked, top it with cheese and extra tomatoes, then put it under the broiler for a few minutes until it’s bubbly and beautiful.
Finally, add freshly chopped cilantro before digging in with corn tortilla chips and inevitably burning your tongue. ;)
Grilled chickEn and ARUGULA salad
Back from Maine we were greeted with another heat wave! Temps soared into the high-90s and well, it was hot! So, we took dinner to the grill (again) and made a simple salad of chicken, summer squash, and plenty of arugula. We added tomatoes and cucumber for some cold veggies and called it a day.
When it’s wicked hot, dinner needs to be easy, quick, kind of healthy, and delicious. We had a pint of ice cream waiting in the freezer. ;)
grilled basil pesto chicken and veggie skewers
On the second night of the heat wave, which to me felt the hottest (?), we grilled once again! Basil pesto is a summer staple for marinating proteins, using as a dressing, a dip, or a fresh sauce for pasta. And if you can make it yourself, even better!
Seth whipped up a batch of basil pesto and we used it as a marinade for chicken and veggies which we skewered and cooked on the grill. So good!! My one suggestion: make sure to save some of that pesto for dipping! The pesto flavor mellows a bit once cooked so having fresh available for the final plate is definitely worth it. ;)
turkey larb with mushrooms
To close out the month of June, and to wave “see ya” to the heat wave, we made a delicious dish: turkey larb via What’s Gaby Cooking. Larb (essentially a “meat salad”) is one of my favorite meals because it delivers tons of flavor with very few ingredients; not to mention it’s quite versatile in case you’re missing anything listed in the recipe.
This version comprised of ground turkey, mushrooms, scallions, a quick-to-make sauce, and fresh lettuce (we opted for this instead of rice). It was healthy, flavorful, and scrumptious!