Simple Summer Dinner

One of the things we found when we opened this week's box from the CSA was fennel.  I have to be honest, I haven't used fennel that much because the flavor can be a little much for me (and Drew).  It was most recently featured prominently in a Christmas dinner a few years back via inspiration from Mario Batali - great Italian Stuffed Pork Loin.  So, I guess you could say it's been a while.

I recently came across a recipe for fennel salad that sounded interesting, but the ingredients were less than desirable for our family.  So starting from there, I went online and looked for fennel salad recipes.  Most I came across included citrus.  This was a no go for us as well, so I settled on the most simple one I could find.  This was proof that simple ingredients (if fresh), prepared simply are the best.  Here is the recipe.  I was also able to use one of the red onions from the CSA.

So once I got the salad, I decided to do simple sandwiches to go with them.  It is insanely hot and humid here this week (not normal for the desert of So. Cal.), so I didn't want to turn on the oven.  This turned out to be a simple summer dinner.  Drew especially liked the salad dressing (I used a good amount of pepper).

Are you interested in fennel?  Do you have a favorite recipe that utilizes this crazy vegetable?  Please let me know, I am going to need to some if we get any more fennel.

Back in the Swing

It's been quite some time since I posted an actual meal on here.  I have been slacking in the proper meal making department, as well as the proper picture taking department.  Sometimes I guess you just need to take a break!

Break over...Here's the latest dinner from our house...

drum roll please!  Taco Salad.

Can you tell I have been slacking lately?  So, this recipe is not inspired by any recipe rather a reminder I got from my email letting me know how much I like taco salad (Don't you get those types of emails all the time?).  So I ran out and got a couple ingredients and used some of what we had on hand to make up the rest.  "What goes on my taco salad?"  I hear you ask.  

Here is the rundown of ingredients:

Lettuce

Sharp Cheddar cheese

red onions (organic from our CSA!)

taco meat

cilantro
green salsa
black olives
cucumbers (organic from our CSA!)
creamy cilantro dressing

This is a sad salad indeed.  But because Drew does not like much more on his salad than lettuce and cheese, this was stepping out there.  If the avocados from our CSA were ready, they would have made the cut.  Overall, it was a nice summer meal. 

Drew's contribution to our dinner was a cocktail of his imagining.  It all started a couple days ago when we found a liquer on sale for $4.00/bottle...crazy, right?  So, we snatched up a bottle and Drew started brainstorming what we could do with it.  He came up with a rasberry-lime concoction that was pretty tasty.  The recipe still needs a little tweaking, but it looks pretty, doesn't it?

Summer Shrimp Salad

Continuing the Mexican theme for this week, I found a great recipe for a Shrimp Taco Salad out of the current issue of Cooking Light. 

Let me just begin by saying this was a fabulous salad.  I am surprised it was so light in calories.  I am not sure if it is still light in calories when you take seconds, but I don't think the food scientists at Cooking Light take that into consideration. 
The salad is pretty simple.  It starts with a dressing made with lime, cumin, chipotle, and (oddly enough) maple syrup.   I did a little modificaiton on this one because I didn't have any chipotle hot sauce (haven't seen that in the store before, will have to check on that), I used some Knorr chipotle seasoning and a little Tobasco.  Drew must have liked the combination because he commented on the spice of the dish. While getting the corn going on the George Foreman, I got the shrimp skewered and put in on the grill.  After adding the rest of the ingredients (beans, avocado, cilantro, I added red onions, and lettuce) to the deskewered, cooked shrimp and the decobbed (new word, I think) corn, and tossing; it is ready to go! 
It turned out beautifully and I will definitely add this one to my list of summer salads because it did not heat up the house at all!  As stated above, we did have seconds and didn't feel guilty or ashamed.  Thanks Cooking Light!