Seven Summer Favorites

There’s still a week left to go before school starts, but already the back-t0-the-grind jitters are creeping into our last few vacations days at the beach. The girls’ class schedules arrived yesterday by email — this is when I long for the days of snail mail notification — and now, when I close my eyes, all I seem to see on the back of my eyelids are calendars and meetings, sports schedules and to-do lists. It’s all good — there’s richness in the chaos, etc etc — but I’d be lying if I said we weren’t all sleeping a little more restlessly. As usual, to deal with this, I turn to the age-old “Distract-Don’t-React” strategy (also known as denial): We asked the girls to pick their most favorite dinners to ride out the rest of the season. Here’s what we’ll be weeping into/dining on as we head into the final week of summer.

Saturday: Salad Pizza (or Taco Pizza, which is in the new book — stay tuned!) Why? “It’s fun because it’s a mix of two things that normally don’t go together — salad and pizza and tacos and pizza.” –Abby. (Plus, you can grill the dough on the Weber — just grill one side, flip over, add toppings and cover with the grill lid.)

Sunday: Tomato Sandwiches on Grilled Bread with Fennel & Apple Slaw Why? “It’s August and we need to eat as many tomatoes as possible before they run out.” -Phoebe

Monday: Shrimp Rolls (in the new book — my pick as well) “It’s my favorite. Plus, we always have it in South Carolina because the shrimp is really fresh down here.” -Abby

Tuesday: Tony’s Steak with Double Mustard Potato Salad and Something with Beets Why? In Abby’s words ‘I don’t even need to give you a quote.'” (I think she means that steak speaks for itself; see my instagram feed last night.)

Wednesday: Picnic Chicken with Crispy Chick Peas Why? “They are so much more appetizing than regular chick peas. And the chicken is soooo good for lunch the next day.” -Phoebe

Thursday: Grilled Tuna Sandwiches with Salsa Fresca (or, for Abby, with a side of sushi rice) “I like it because it’s not fully cooked so it reminds me of going out for sushi.”

Friday: Salmon Salad WhyMe: “We have this one so much, though.” Phoebe: “Well, do it again.” (This is in my first book, but there’s a version here.)

SaturdayGrilled Duck with Macerated Cherries (What can I say, the girl has taste — and she’s lucky we have a farmer’s market that sells the good stuff.) Why: “Just kind of melts in your mouth.”

PS: **CASTING CALL*** Who needs a little hand-holding when it comes to back-to-school dinners?? I’m teaming up with K.J. Dell’Antonia over at New York Times’ excellent Motherlode blog to help a family through a week of new meals using recipes from Dinner: The Playbook, the Times, and Bon Appetit. Head over there to read my piece and enter.

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10 Comments

Christina @ but i'm hungry

Thanks for all the great ideas and inspiration. I’ve definitely been slacking on the dinner department lately. Something about summer makes me just want to snack on fruits and veggies all day long, then when dinner time comes… oof. But I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who thinks tomato sandwiches are an amazing dinner. 😉

Reply
brooker

We have been living on those tuna sandwiches all summer. They are the bomb. Also, I wanted to tell you that I read your essay in Real Simple and it really meant a lot to me. Thanks and good luck with the start of school.

Reply
Lisa Clarke

I feel your last-few-weeks-of-summer pain. I keep thinking if I put off shopping for school supplies maybe it won’t really come after all. *sigh*

Amazon tells me your book will be on my doorstep on Tuesday. Yay!

Reply
Cay

I am living your parallel life this week! We are at the beach in NORTH Carolina, and I am already getting emails about school supplies and test scores. AND there is a flank steak in the fridge that’s going to get some Tony’s marinade on it right after I have another cup of coffee! Plus, OMG I love tomato sandwiches (and we have several gorgeous ones sitting on the kitchen counter), but on grilled bread? Genius!! Hello, lunch.

Reply
Lisa

Cooked Tony’s steak tonight. It is pretty similar to my go-to marinade, but I’d never used it on Flank before. Put on a ciabatta with a grilled potato salad side. Yummy!

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