Simplest Cherry Pie

Cherry pie is my favorite dessert in the whole wide world. When I was younger (in like my 20's) I knew I would have it made as an adult when I could knit socks and make a really fantastic pie crust. 

so Far,  I am still working on the pie crust.  

You can use this recipe with any fruit that you desire , peaches, apples, plums, strawberries, or a mix.... Doesn't Peach Raspberry sounds just Heavenly? 

I used a prepared crust, but if you want to make your own, there is a recipe for a 

Whole Grain Pie Crust. Here. 

You can even use the fancy French name for the Galette, I couldn't even pronounce it, let alone hope people to know what I was meaning when I talked about it. 

so thaw out a pie crust, or better yet, whip one up really quickly and use some of the delicious summer fruit that you picked up at your farmer's market and impress your family, friends and strangers on the internet with your French dessert making skills. 

Red Monster Smoothie

I just love this Red Monster Smoothie - I am still trying to love the green ones as much as the rest of the whole world does. 

 

 I really like to buy lots of berries when they are in season and freeze them for making smoothies and nice cream. Berries never seem to last as long as I would like them to in my fridge. 

If you are using frozen fruit, go ahead and leave out the ice - you'll have a plenty frozen smoothie. And I really do like to use water in mine, anything else just adds sugar and calories that you won't miss. And adding more water, which your body will thank you for! 

 

Roasted Tomato and Lentil Salad

I may have to change the name of this blog soon to The Girl Who Always Ate Lentils. I think it would get a lot of traffic. At least from me.  (oh wait... ) 

They are just so delicious, and so easy to prepare and so cheap and so darn good for you. That's it! They are Everything!!

Just because it is summer doesn't mean that I have stopped roasting all kinds of delicious veggies. These are some roasted tomatoes, which don't take long to roast at all - and they are so yummy. 

You can eat this, hot, cold or room temp.  I make it on the weekends and then eat it all week for lunch because you guys... I need adult food in the summer time. It is what keeps me mostly sane. 

Beet and Bean Dip - Ginger Beet Hummus

Isn't that just gorgeous? Don't you want to just dive in? 

Beets are one of my most favorite foods in whole wide world. I love them anyway that I can get them. so making them into a delicious dip was a given for me. 

When I made this dip and set out the rainbow of veggies my kids came flocking to it. They all ate it and loved it. The flavors of the hummus (tahini, cumin and ginger) really balance out the earthy flavors of the beets. Its so yummy on everything!

I have a really detailed tutorial for you on roasting beets at home - without making a huge beet juice mess all over your kitchen.  Its Here!  

You can also buy beets pre-roasted, but with farmer's markets in full swing - there are LOTS of beets available and you can eat the greens - and you can roast a bunch, freeze some for later, keep some in your fridge for salads and make this yummy dip!

If you love this dip, don't be limited by just dipping veggies, chips and pita, you can spread it on sandwiches, you can use it in wraps and you can add it to Buddha bowls, rice bowls and veggie bowls. YUM! 

Ginger Melon with Mint

 

I grew up loving Honeydew melon. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a highly agricultural area and so there were lots of farm stands and neighbors growing gardens.   I always loved these sweet green melons and I was shocked when I married Joseph and he didn't like them at all. 

Sadly, his experience was much different than mine and he was used to the hard, tasteless, not ripe / store bought melons that are used as filler in fruit salads with lots of sugary dressing. 

I think I am converting him though. 

I very rarely will buy melons at my local grocery store / super market.  I don't think they are nearly as yummy as the ones you can get from your farmer's market or farm stand.  

When you shop at a farmer's market, you are getting food that is at its peak for taste and nutrition. It has been grown, picked and is now ready for you to eat it! Your farmer can help you pick out a melon that is ripe and juicy and delicious and you'll wonder what in the world you were eating before that was calling itself a melon. 

Photos courtesy of Bite Delite

Miso Peanut Pasta Salad

Aah Pasta Salad - the official food of summer and my favorite way to pack a huge amount of veggies into a meal.  I have made this a few times and my favorite way to eat it is cold, but Joseph preferred it warm (right after I am done making it), but it delicious at room temperature as well. 

That makes it perfect to take to any summer gathering. 

With all the yummy goodness of my favorite peanut noodles, the addition of the Miso makes it extra special. If you aren't familiar with Miso, I suggest you try it immediately. I can find it at my local grocery store in the Asian section. It comes in a paste. The white is much milder than the red. It is a fermented soybean paste and is most often used in cooking to add that sweet / salty / spicy Umami goodness. (it is the salty)

You could pack this pasta salad with even more veggies as it would be delicious with bell peppers, snow peas or green peas, bean sprouts, broccoli florets, cabbage or spinach. Add whatever veggies you have on hand. 

Creamy Avocado Cucumber Salad

Crunchy, creamy, tart with the juice of lime and crisp with cucumbers this salad has me loving summer. 

It marries perfectly with the feta cheese and the cilantro. 

Although there is quite a bit of lime juice in this recipe, Your avocados won't stay green forever, so it isn't really something that you can make ahead of time to enjoy later. 

But it would make an AMAZING topping for some spicy tacos or on top of a rice bowl.

I'm just eating it by the fork-full and living my dream to just eat guacamole plain. 

Caprese Pasta Salad

I remember the first time I discovered Caprese Salad. I felt so sophisticated and glamorous. It seemed like a fancy thing to be eating, glorious in its simplicity. I still can't get enough of the stuff, I just love it. 

And so when it gets to be tomato season and the fresh basil is plentiful, I could eat it everyday. 

But eating it everyday, means that I'm still hungry. Let's be honest, when I make it, I use a pretty heavy hand with the tomatoes and skimp on the cheese. That means, I'm just mostly eating tomatoes. And after an hour or two... I'm hungry again. 

This summer, I am solving that problem with pasta and making my beloved Caprese Salad a meal. 

It's genius! The balsamic vinegar and olive oil are the perfect simple dressing for a pasta salad. And the flavors of the fresh tomatoes along with pungent basil make the perfect compliment to plain old pasta. 

This keeps amazing in the fridge. I have been eating it all week at lunch and for snacks. (Yes! I really do eat that much of it!) The last day, I added a bit more balsamic and oil because the pasta had absorbed so much, but it was still just as tasty. 

Cantaloupe Cucumber Salad

I made this salad for a quick lunch that I shared with my mom. When I served it she very intrigued by the cantaloupe cucumber combination, but after one bite she said, "You have got to open a funky salad restaurant and charge people 15.00$ for a bowl of this"  That's quite impressive.

The simple ingredients in this recipe just speak to each other. It is an example of not having to make really complicated recipes for food to be exceptionally delicious. 

If you are willing to trust me on this recipe, you will not be sorry.  -- and I won't take any of the credit of you having the most popular salad at all your summer parties. 

If you like this salad and want to make it more of a meal, I think that adding some cooked orzo pasta or perhaps some quinoa or brown rice, would make it really hearty.  But you'll need to add a bit more dressing to account for the dryness of the grains.