I got the best email yesterday. It was from Springdale Farm, our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), stating that our first delivery would be on June 2nd, two weeks earlier than planned! Woo hoo! These early boxes are light as air, filled mainly with lettuces, but that is just fine by me, because, as I told you in a previous post, “Salad is the main dish.” All this talk of fresh produce got me motivated to look through my binder for my favorite early summer recipes for June meal plans.
I am not so organized as to plan out each calendar day a month in advance, but I have a file folder of recipes for the month that I will intersperse with our weekly go-to meals, like last night’s dinner of roasted chicken, baked potatoes, fresh green beans, and, of course, salad.
Here’s what we’ll be eating for dinner in June:
1. Turkey, Kale, and Brown Rice Soup with homemade bread and salad (If you have a turkey in the freezer, cook it up and pulse some of the breast meat in your food processor for this soup.)
2. Lime Couscous with Summer Veggies– this meal is light and refreshing; everyone except for my citrus-averse husband enjoys it. I have to say, my poor husband does suffer in the summer from an abundance of lemon-flavored meals. I love them so much, and he, being the good sport that he is, makes do.
3. Mushroom, Pepper and Spinach Quesadillas– a nice, meatless alternative to Tuesday Tacos.
4. White Bean Burgers with Creamy Cucumbers– I am looking forward to trying this one out. I may forgo the English muffins and just use homemade bread.
5. Tuna Salad Wraps and Avocado Tomato Wraps– this is a great, healthy alternative to traditional tuna salad, and I love the avocado wraps!
6. Lisa’s Lovely Lentil Stew from Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book:
Super Immunity: The Essential Nutrition Guide for Boosting Your Body’s Defenses to Live Longer, Stronger, and Disease Free (By the way, this is an excellent book.)
7. Summer Minestrone– I haven’t had this particular recipe, but any variation will do.
8. Chard, Tomato and Cheese Casserole (my whole family loves this meal, which always surprises me; it must be the cheese.)
9. Turkey Patties– these are so good!
10. Potato, Kale, and White Bean Hash (I haven’t tried this one yet; we’ll see.)
11. Spring Greens and Roasted Chicken– This is my favorite summer meal! If you don’t belong to a CSA, just pick up a container of organic spring mix from Costco. Also, a home-cooked roaster chicken is just fine. Yum, yum, yum!
12. Spring Chicken Stew (I haven’t tried this one either, but it looks good and you can make it in the crock pot.)
13. Avocado Basil Pasta – We rarely eat pork these days, but this is soooo good that I suspend judgment on the bacon. Don’t miss this one; it’s fabulous!
14. The Fork’s Chicken Salad– This recipe comes from a restaurant no longer in existence. I begged the owner to give me the recipe every time she came in to the grocery store where I worked. She finally scribbled it down for me, and it has become a summer staple. Here is the coveted recipe:
The Fork’s Chicken Salad
- 2 whole, skinless, boneless chicken breasts (cook in oven for 25 minutes and cut into bite size pieces) *You can use the meat from your roaster chicken for this, as well.
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 1/2 bunch scallions, finely chopped
- 1/8-1/4C fresh lemon juice
- 1/8C olive oil
- 1C mayonnaise
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1T tarragon (fresh would be lovely if you have it, but it is not necessary)
Combine the last five ingredients, then stir in chicken, celery and scallions. Best if served on a crusty country bread. Enjoy!
You’ll notices that many of the recipes repeat ingredients, which I find to be a cost effective and waste-preventing strategy for meal planning.
What are some of your summer standbys?
(photo credit for featured image: http://homeandeventstyling.com)
Anne Peterson says
Your site is lovely. And those recipe’s look very inviting. We love salads at our house. And I’m a lemon lover too.
Aimee Mae Wiley says
I had to laugh because I have had most of these recipes as original cutouts from their respective magazines, always worrying when one was misplaced, and here they all are, right on the internet! Thank you for the compliment and for stopping by!