Summer Meal Ideas

Cambodian beef lok lak is a favourite easy summer meal. Can also be done with chicken breast, thinly sliced against the grain. Please excuse the state of my well used recipe card from a cooking class while on vacation. I deviate a little from the recipe because I don't bother to marinate, and I thinly slice the meat, and then shake it in a plastic bag or lidded food container to coat in cornstarch. I stir fry the meat with minced garlic (you need to do this in a good non stick pan or a seasoned cast iron pan or seasoned carbon steel wok--otherwise the cornstarch wants to stick) and then toss in the sauce, warm through and dump on plates of salad. I make a lot of extra stir fry sauce to keep in a squeeze bottle in the fridge. That makes it an easy dinner to throw together if you don't need to mix the sauce from scratch each time.
https://www.food.com/recipe/beef-lok-lak-cambodian-recipe-496461

Planning to do a dead easy summer meal tonight. Warming up some smoked mackerel fillets in the microwave. Serve with a squeeze of lemon. Will have some air fryer oven chips and warmed up frozen peas with that.

Kitchen hack dinner was pretty good. Ready made frozen oven fries went for 15 minutes in the air fryer. Dipped in ranch dressing we keep in the fridge. My mom's recipe of sauteeing frozen peas with a little butter, garlic powder, and a generous pinch of salt takes 5 minutes. Smoked mackerel was warmed up on medium for 2.5 minutes in the microwave.

Grilling, Texas white oak smoked brisket, roasted carrots, Brussels sprouts, & mushrooms. A little bit of heaven here in the boondocks

My favourite summer dinners often start with a beer can chicken cooked on the bbq. From that I can have roast chicken and salad, chicken Ceasar wraps, or chicken quesadillas. I also just re-discovered Scotch eggs. They were a standard summer dinner at my mother-in-law's house but I had forgotten all about them after she died. They are surprisingly easy to make (lots of recipes on the internet). I like sausage rolls from our small local the bakery. Last night I just had a big bowl of Greek salad.