Family Dinner Ideas:4 Summer Recipes from Gazpacho/Food

Family Dinner Ideas:4 Summer Recipes from Gazpacho/Food

Gazpacho

This dish is about as chill as it gets, and the best part is that its simple, often involving fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients. From a traditional chunky red gazpacho made with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and plenty of tomato juice, to the more imaginative Andalusian-inspired white gazpacho blending pureed almonds, grapes, cucumber and garlic, gazpacho is one of those dishes that goes down easy on a hot summer evening. Make this soup a meal by serving it alongside a crisp green salad and a wedge of crusty bread.

Ceviche

A classic Latin American no-cook staple, ceviche involves cooking seafood (fish and/or shellfish) in an array of citrus juices, onions, pepper and spices. The process involves marinating raw seafood until it is essentially pickled in the citrus juices, giving it the appearance of being cooked. Naturally, only the freshest seafood will do for this dish since youre essentially working with it raw. A quick tip is to cut shellfish into a small dice before adding to the marinade. This will expedite the cooking process. Serve ceviche with homemade corn or flour tortilla chips or fill hard-shell tacos with the mixture. Note: If the thought of uncooked fish is too much to bear, you can always poach the seafood briefly in boiling water before marinating it in the citrus juices, although be forewarned, this can create a chewy texture and loss of flavor.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Nothing says summer more than salad, and the proverbial Chinese chicken salad is not only a crowd pleaser, but its easy to whip up sans oven. Made from a mixture of fresh greens, crispy wontons (or Chinese noodles), cabbage, green onions and of course, shredded chicken, this hearty salad is its own one- pot meal. For added ease, stay out of the kitchen completely. Buy and shred a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Theyre perfect for making chicken salad, filling burritos, soft tacos, quesadillas or topping a pre-cooked pizza crust (a la barbecue chicken pizza).

Pasta with Roasted Summer Vegetables and Basil

A bit of butter, parmesan cheese, and fresh basil transforms roasted vegetables into a flavorful sauce for pasta. You could easily modify this recipe to use any vegetables that are in season.