Giveaways | In Season
Last week, we challenged those seeking free loot to tell us
about their favorite quick and easy recipes. So many people came back with
great tips and recipe ideas. Perfect weeknight recipes have these
things in common: quick is a must, versatility is a great added bonus, and adding some sort of
convenience product gets you there even faster.
“My quick and easy recipe is grilled margarita pizza. I use wonderful store-bought herb pizza dough, tomatoes and basil from my garden and mozzarella cheese. The crust is nice and crisp and the tomatoes and basil are lightly covered in melty, gooey, cheesy goodness. Tastes like summer!”
What could be more convenient than grabbing half your ingredients from the backyard? Kudos to all who manage to combine convenience food (store-bought pizza dough, rotisserie chicken) with fresh produce to make easy meals that are healthy, too.
What Megan really taught me: Summer isn’t over! We should embrace every bite of juicy, sweet garden-ripe tomatoes while we have them. At every turn it’s back-to-school this and back-to-school that. I think I even saw some Christmas stuff going up at my local mall. Really? Let's stop and enjoy every last morsel of what summer has to offer.
This week we’ll be giving away a copy of Cooking Through
the Seasons in honor of this most noble cause. This book features recipes from
all four seasons, so it inspires year-long love affairs with seasonal
ingredients. To be eligible win a free copy, follow along here:
Step 1: “Like” us on Facebook (use the Facebook box to the right and click “Like” if you don’t already like us).
Step 2: Describe for us here in 50 words or less your favorite end of summer recipe. Entries should be typed into the comments field of this blog post. Entries are due by Monday, August 23 at 11:59 a.m. EST.
Editors will select their favorite based on originality, creativity, and how well you address our question. Winner will be notified via email by August 26, 2010. For full contest rules, click here.
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i realize this is all about marketing but i am disappointed that this is all about getting "liked" on facebook... those of us who limit our fb activity to family get eliminated right off the bat... how about those of us who follow you on twitter?
Probably one of my favorite end of summer recipes is a salad that uses some of the last of the tomatoes from the garden, some fresh buffalo mozzerella, fresh basil from my garden, a little pesto, salt and pepper. It's simple, but it's one of my all-time favorites.
It's not very original but I love my end of the summer salads. Breaded & baked summer squash, roasted beets, cucumbers from the garden, a couple slices of grilled plums, local goat cheese, & garden greens lightly dressed with a lemon juice, Dijon, garlic, and olive oil dressing. Delicious!
My favorite end of summer recipe would be the Chicken Souvlaki Salad. Even without the olives, it's still a great greek salad recipe :) The other modification I made was using red wine vinegar instead of the white wine vinegar.. yum! Add some crusty french loaf on the side and you have a great meal!
Fruit salsa with cinnamon tortilla chips! I take fresh peaches, apples, kiwi, strawberries, dice them & put them in a bowl. Then I melt a couple tablespoons of apple jelly with a bit of apple juice (just enough to coat the fruit). I cut flour tortillas into 8 wedges, brush with water & then sprinkle cinnamon sugar on them. Bake for approx. 10 minutes until they're golden brown & crispy. We love this at our Labor Day picnic!!
I have discovered the best quick and healthy dinner for all of us that are constantly on the go and don't have time to cook during the week. This is what I do. Use a microwave corningware dish with cover, Spray with non stick spray (cannola spray) add sliced onion, carrots, zuchini, mushrooms, or whatever you like for veggies, lay a piece of fish (haddock, cod, Scrod) over the veggies, use Garlic salt and a drizzle of soy sauce. Cover and Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Check that fish is cooked. Transfer to plate and serve!
Take fresh heirloom tomatoes from the garden, chop them up, mix with minced garlic, olive oil, salt & basil. Use to top off slices of toasted ciabatta with melted mozarella. Tada! Amazing end of summer bruschetta.
My favorite summer recipe is my mother's instant refigerator pickles. Thinly slice raw cucumbers and onion add equal parts of cider vinegar, sugar and water to cover, place in fridge and enjoy after a minimum of 4 hours. This reminds me of the sweet taste of home, we had these on the table at every meal all summer long.
I love to make frittata's with whatever veggies I have on hand; like zuchini, spinach, red bell pepper, tomatoes and combine them with fresh herbs and feta cheese. Yummy!
My favorite end of summer recipe is White Wine Sangria with the summer's best fruits (grapes, blueberries, melon, nectarines, peaches) Add a good white wine, few ounces of Triple Sec, Club soda and stir up some end of summer happiness in my glass! Can't do this at Christmas! :-)
I love end of summer! My labor day pool party always includes a healthy chilled pasta salad made with whole wheat pasta, lots of fresh veggies and tossed with an olive oil dressing I've made with basil! The best and I love including a few new recipes from cooking light too!
At the end of summer, we go for nonstop grilling to get as much as possible out of it before the Wisconsin snows start. It's much more fun to be outside with friends and family while it's still warm. Plus, grilled veggies are so good that no one minds healthy eating.
Grilled corn on the cob with cheese and lime...and of course colder then cold honey wiess.
Mmmm...one of my favorite summer recipes is making panzanella. Love those fresh tomatoes and the cheese.
My favorite recipe has been a grilled tuna with a grilled pineapple, onion and cilantro salsa. It's refreshing and light. I could eat it every night!
I really enjoy making a blended cucumber soup. It's simple, and perfect for those to-hot-to-think days. You peel a cucumber, juice a lemon, dice an avocado, add spinach and basil to a blender. Add ½ cup water, and olive oil – whirl it. Let it chill in the fridge. Mmmm!
Spicy Corn on the Cob Soup is an end-of-summer treat that I wish I could have all year. The ‘naked’ cobs are simmered with sautéed onion, jalapeno, celery, cumin and turmeric, and the corn is added (and cobs removed) for the last half of simmering. Garnish with chopped green onions.
End of summer gazpacho...throw all kinds of veggies the processor and whir...my must have with it is tomatoes cucumbers basil and hot sauce...then whatever else I have on hand.
End of summer gazpacho...throw all kinds of veggies the processor and whir...my must have with it is tomatoes cucumbers basil and hot sauce...then whatever else I have on hand.
lovin all these ideas! can't wait to try some!! one of my fav's is Fresh Corn Salad - corn, tomatoes, onion, red & green peppers with a seasoned light oil & vinegar dressing. Great side dish for end of the summer grilling!!
My favorite end of summer meal is a tuna sandwich piled high with slices of heirloom tomatos
and lots of home made mayo (local, of course).
Just made my fruit bar recipe last night for breakfast this morning. It has an oat crust and topping, filled with the wonderful fruit combination of peaches, blueberries and raspberries. The 12x17 baking sheet is almost empty now!
I love Cooking Light. In fact, I'm making chicken with Balsamic Pan Glaze tonight!
Gazpacho. One cookie sheet tomatoes, half a sheet red onions, half a sheet red bell pepper, chopped. Toss with EVOO and salt. Roast in 350 oven until slightly charred (20-30 minutes). Puree half veggies with one cup water. Repeat. Add one more cup of water and 3 tbsp. sherry vinegar.
Sear each side of tilapia (salt and pepper each side) in hot, cooking-sprayed pan. Add a few tbsp of blueberries and shallots, cook 2 minutes. Cover and remove from heat so sauce can form. Enjoy!
