Monday, June 9, 2008

Recipe Freedom

We made it to the beach and G is napping, so I am typing on my laptop while I watch the surf from my in-law's balcony.

Life is good.

I was thinking recently how in the summer I tend to do a lot of recipe-free cooking. You know what I mean...lots of grilling, salads, pasta salads and sandwiches that don't really require anything fancy, just some imagination and a few ingredients.

What is your favorite summer recipe-free meal? Here's one of mine:

Cherry Tomato, Basil and Corn Pasta Salad

1/2 pound of pasta--we use rotini if it is a side dish, cheese tortellini for a main dish
a couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes, halved
a handful of basil, chopped
half a package of frozen corn (or fresh off the cob if you have it)
olive oil
salt and pepper
shredded (not grated) parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta. While it is cooking, put everything but the parmesan in a bowl. Mix the pasta in when it is done, and then let cool a bit. Mix in parmesan cheese. Yum. Perfect for an easy meal or taking to the pool for a dinner al fresco.



I am off to the beach...
SPC

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love calling it "recipe free". And I ditto your idea. The pasta sounds good. My "recipe free" meal I made tonight. A bottle of Yoshida sauce poured over chicken and either grilled, or baked in the oven, or in the crockpot. Whatever I'm in the mood for. We love the Yoshida sauce! We buy it by the gallon.

Charisse said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Charisse said...

Hi,

Cute blog! I found via a google search for horizon whole milk with dha, which I have just started giving my 1-yr-old. Did your babies have any trouble drinking milk? B/c my son won't have anything to do with it. Any suggestions other than presenting it over and over and over... ... and over and over and over again? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Slacker Mama said...

Our go to meal in the summer are:

Grilled chicken/steak/fish
Corn on the cob
Tomato and mozz salad

Seriously...we eat this pretty much every night over the summer.

Sweet Pea Chef said...

Charisse,

I know that sometimes parents will mix the milk with the formula or breastmilk to help acclimate baby's tastebuds...perhaps start with mostly formula/breastmilk and slowly increase the cow's milk each time.

One thing that helped with R was that I needed to make sure the cow's milk was warm.

Hope this helps!

Charisse said...

Thanks! I will give that a try. Was hoping I wouldn't have to pump during the day anymore, but I guess it will just take a little while to get there.

Kiki said...

Sweet Pea Chef, Thanks for the link to the Wehani Rice, I am off to the market to get some and I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm not so gifted at making rice that isn't burned...ugh!

Steel Magnolia said...

Thanks J-I am making this for a party this weekend. You seem to have just what I need. Happy Anniversary and enjoy the vacation...

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