Summer Go To Recipes

 It's no secret every home chef wants to easy dishes to prepare in the summer. There's always one go to dish that works.It's a snap to prepare and tasty, made with fresh ingredients.

I feel this way about Gustavo's Gazpacho, a dish I first made four years ago.I had just reviewed Susan Lewis Solomont's autopbiography  about her time in Spain. Her husband was the American ambassador to Spain. I was curious about the gazpacho recipe and asked for it.

It ;s become one of my favorite summer go to recipes. It's cubing four tomatoes, one green pepper, one cucumber and mincing one clove of garlic. A cup of olive oil is added along with three tablespoons of red wine vinegar and and a tablespoons of onion powder.It's all pureed together with the tomatoes and cucumbers providing the water for the soup.   Then chill for a couple of hours before serving.

It's a cool, creamy fresh tasting bowl of veggies. I can taste each indiviual vegetable and taste theri blended flavors as well. Another plus is that there's no oven to heat or burner to use. I don't even have to use the air fryer. Another filling go to is panzanella , Neopolitan bread salad , made  heartier with the addition of Italian cold cuts like julienned salame and mortadella.Heroes loaded with all sorts of meats , cheeses and veggies are also great hot weather go tos. The kids will love a supper of a custom made hoagie and a bag of chips.

Have a good list of  easy go to recipes when the temperature rises. THey'll make for easy prep and easy eating.It's what you meed during these steamy hot days.

Yee Haw It's Cowboy Caviar

 There's a fun summer dish in town and it's Cowoby Caviar. It's a zippy mix of black beans - hence the name and different veggies. It's one of the easiest and tastiest dishes ro make during August.

This has been on my radar for some time. It was finally time to make it and it was a fun make.It was the perfect lunch and dinner during a steamy 100 degree day.

The original recipe first made in Rexas during the 1940's calls for an avocado , a bell pepper , cherry tomaotes, black eyed peas and sweet corn. I changed up the orginal recipe by omitting the black eyed peas and olives - maybe next time,.

I used two chopped avocados simply bhecause I love avocados.

These were cut into long strips, You can chop them into smaller pieces as per the original Cowboy Caviar recipe.

                                     

 Then the tomatoes. I love a summer dish with a lot of tomatoes so I added three chopped ones.I added their juiice too which adds to the vinaigrette.

Thne the green pepper. I used green instead of red because it added color. This was sliced and chopped into small pieces. As for the corn, I'm not a fan of it so I let others add their own. 

You should use a red onion but that can be too intense in flavor. I opted for a sprinkle of onion powder along with a dusting of garlic powder. Since this was is a Texan dish, I switched the lime for a teaspoon of chili powder for a real cowboy Tex-Mex flavor. It gave the vinaigrette a zingy flavor,

A quarter of a cup of olive oil and red wine vinegar is all it needs for the vinaigrette. Add seasalt and freshkly ground pepper for more flavoring.

                                                           Here it looks like a tomato salad.

                                                         I added these. Stop & Shop's Blue corn chips which have a deeper,        mellower taste than their yellow corn counterparts

It made them much better. This was one of the best salads I've had. It was delicious , thanks to the different veggies and the kick of chili powder. I plan on making this again - soon. It's the perfect weekend dish and even for a party.

Coeboy Caviar is the dish of the summer. It's the perfect cool and easy dish for a steamy day. Make it and enjoy its' tasty mix of veggies and chili powder.