Tag: summer recipes

Roasted Summer Chicken

After weeks of summer prep and camp shopping, I am SO HAPPY that I can officially say welcome the start of summer. The kids are in camp. Everyone is settled in. And I am relishing every moment.

I try to keep dinners simple in the summer, but after a day of running around in the summer heat, and hours spent at the pool, my kids voracious appetites demand more than just frozen pizza. They are HUNGRY! I try to keep the fridge stocked with lots of fruits and veggies, plenty of protein in the freezer and fresh herbs on the window sill.

I think we all associate summer with barbecue but I try to do away with heavy bottled sauces and season food simply instead. Juicy seasonal tomatoes, fresh summer corn and a bunch of fragrant basil are always handy, which is how this delicious light summer dinner came together in no time. My kids literally licked their plates clean!

Now that corn is in season, here’s a great trick for cutting it!!

Israeli couscous is another summer staple – it rounds out the meal, cooks in five minutes, and isn’t as heavy as other starches. But feel free to serve with any starch of your choice!

Related Recipes:

chimichicken
ratatouille roast chicken
corn and heirloom tomato salad with basil lime vinaigrette 

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S’mores Cookies

It’s funny to see just how crazy people are about cookies. Me included. Recently, I posted a review of my day at Governor’s Island. I mentioned, in passing, what we brought along for our picnic, s’mores cookies included. I was so excited to receive lots of feedback on my post – but it was all in the form of a recipe request. “Did you say s’mores cookies?” Why, yes I did. “Can I have the recipe?” Well, of course.

So, here I am sharing my accidental recipe for s’mores cookies.

When it comes to cookie making, I’m always in sort of a dilemma. And I’m going to be frank here. So please don’t run away after you read my serious foodie confession, ok?

I don’t like butter.

There, I said it.

I don’t like butter.

Now before you close the screen and punish me for my culinary blasphemy, let me explain. It’s not so much that I don’t like it. It’s just that it doesn’t sit well with me. Anything too creamy or buttery just makes me feel sick.

And there’s something else too, which makes baking entirely difficult.

I HATE margarine.

If you’ve read up on it, you probably know just how bad margarine is for you. In fact, it’s just ONE molecule away from plastic! When I was in culinary school recently, we only had a meat kitchen (it’s a kosher school and under kosher dietary guidelines, milk and meat are not eaten or prepared together), so whenever a recipe called for butter, we used margarine instead. I had a habit of teasing my instructor about all the “plastic sauces” we were preparing.

So, back to cookies. When you can’t use butter or margarine, cookie-making becomes quite a difficult task. It’s hard to get that perfect crumb when using oil, but I try anyway. In this case, I succeeded. Filled with chocolate chunks, marshmallows and graham cracker pieces in every bite, these smores cookies have become a family favorite. And you know what the best part is? They’re not made of plastic.

Related recipes:

Chocolate & olive oil Chanukah crinkle cookies
S’mores chocolate toffee bark
Cowboy cookies

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Snap Pea, Corn & Red Currant Salad


Sometimes, you don’t have to think up a recipe, it just writes itself. When I came home from Kelder’s Farm with these delicious farm fresh ingredients, I knew I had to eat them exactly how I picked them – raw. No red currant jelly or snap pea stir fry. Just a simple recipe to bring out the freshness of the ingredients.


With no cooking involved, this salad comes together in no time. Because the produce is farm fresh and in season, it’s naturally sweet, so you don’t need much to bring out the flavors. I seasoned it simply with oil, lemon, salt and pepper and the results were light and refreshing. The tart currants are the perfect balance to the sweet corn and the raw peas add a brightness to the salad. With it’s beautiful colors and crispy sweet taste, this salad makes the perfect addition to any summer meal!

1 year ago: sushi salad II

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