Summer

For a fun weekend barbecue, these Cajun-style grilled shrimp make a great appetizer or main course. Served with rice and a wedge of lemon, they are a perfect way to celebrate the ushering in of summer.

This recipe uses bell peppers and onions, but feel free to substitute other vegetables and fruits, like cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, or pineapple chunks.

This is one of those desserts you make when you are in a pinch for time.  It's quick, it's easy...easy, as in...no baking skills required, since it's a no-bake dessert.  It's the dish you make when you get a call Saturday morning to come for a barbecue that evening and you are to bring dessert.  You'll have just enough time to get to the store and get this made.

Better yet, stock all the ingredients at home (with the exception of the kiwis) this summer, get it thrown together when the call comes in, and pick up the kiwis on the way.  You can easily add them at serving time.

The taste of this is really nice and refreshing...I guess I never put lemon and kiwi together as a flavor package but it works really well together.

Give it a try! It's a true time-saver!

Can you believe how many tomatoes and peppers a small plot of earth and few plants can produce? Wowza!

If your garden is like mine and those of my neighbors and friends, you are finding that those four little tomato plants you planted last spring are now producing on the vine way too many tomatoes for you to eat by yourself! Just how many banana peppers can one family consume, anyways? With a plethora of produce at our green thumbs (or farmer’s market) disposal, a salsa is an easy way to stay ahead, preserve, and split the bounty coming in by the bushels!

Share and share alike with this garden amalgamation of the freshest ingredients and flavors…trust me, you’ll want to keep a batch of this recipe on hand as a salad dressing, marinade, and relish for grilled chicken and pork. The versatility and flexibility of this dish is one of the best attributes, aside from the fantastic flavor.

We eat a lot of salads at La Touche, my father’s country house in the Loire which he shares with a couple of long time friends. Lunch typically consists of several salads, a panier of bread, and a substantial wedge of cheese. It is a meal large enough to satiate an afternoon hunger but is not overly filling because there is rarely meat served unless it is reheated from the night before. A main reason for the plethora of salads is the summer surplus of garden produce including the aforementioned courgettes de nice, tomatoes, potatoes, and haricots verts.

I wanted to do something creative with courgettes, the amazing little light green zucchinis, so I decided to make a carpaccio. Our kitchen is equipped with tons of culinary gadgets and the professional mandolin is one such toy perfect for cutting long translucent slices of zucchini. I arranged the slices on a large platter and dressed them a half hour before sitting down to lunch with lemon juice, olive oil, and sea salt. The brief marinating time gives the acidity in the sauce enough time to slightly breakdown the fibrous cells of the vegetable. I topped the zucchini with some shredded basil, a crack of black pepper, and a white impatient to dress up the presentation before we tucked in.