Once again, I have blinked and an entire month has passed. Tell me, HOW is it the last week of August? We got a teeny taste of fall weather last week – breezy, mid-sixties days – and it was tantalizing and smelled of tall boots and wood fires and school supplies and hearty soups. But as much as I love fall, I was not ready then, and I still don’t feel ready. I’m hoping summer sticks around a few more weeks. Just a few more.
Even though I feel a gentle pull toward fall meals, dinners this week are going to be staunchly SUMMER FARE.
Dinners for the Week of August 26 to August September 1
- Zucchini Pesto Pizza: Maybe I do not have the abundant zucchini production of my dreams, but I can still buy local zucchini at the grocery store and make my own pesto with basil from my garden. Also, I have been craving pizza like whoa.
- Peach and Avocado Green Salad: I am not a huge peach fan, but the peaches look SO GOOD lately, I am dying to put them on a salad. I will add some chicken and/or salmon as a protein.
- Szechuan Stir Fry: You know what else is an beautiful abundance lately? Bell peppers. I LOVE bell peppers. Especially when they are barely hot and smothered in spicy sauce. YUM.
- Sheet Pan Fajitas: Aha! Another recipe that tastes great with bell peppers, AND I could throw in a zucchini as well!
- Portobello Mushroom Tacos: This recipe ticks a bunch of boxes: uses the grill, which I have been neglecting since The Mouse Incident; veggie heavy; TACOS.
I have not made the plum cake “muffins” yet! Will I get to do it this week?!
Hmmm. Seems I am trying to all-caps summer into staying put. Are you ready for the seasons to shift? How are you celebrating your preferred current season? What’s your favorite summer or fall food?
We had a cool rainy Saturday and it was SO welcome, I got some baking done and have been doing actual cooking! It’s been all salads, all summer, and now I’m starting to shift into regular cooking again.
We had a cool spell but now we’re headed back to another heat wave. C’mon, can we just compromise and have a “warm but not super hot” spell? And yes, let’s keep summer around for a bit!
I didn’t do a garden this year – or last year – but my SIL is overrun with tomatoes so I volunteered to “help her out” and take some off her hands. I made a really bomb pasta sauce last week and then a really meh tomato soup yesterday. Sigh, can’t win ’em all.
YES to the mushroom tacos! And I have the pizza you describe FROZEN from Whole Foods just waiting for me in my freezer… (but it is too hot to use the oven here).
We are in the midst of a REALLY HOT AND HUMID stretch. I ran 8 miles in terribly humid weather yesterday and was ready for fall during that run. But overall I am not ready for summer to go away and I am reminding myself that just because school is starting soon doesn’t mean that summer is over!
We are kid-free this week so meal plans feel especially easy! Last night we had grilled greek turkey burgers + asparagus + corn on the cob. Tomorrow night we’ll have some seared ahi tuna steaks + asparagus + Asian-style rice. Yum yum yum!
Intrigued about the zucchini-pesto pizza, thx for sharing that one!
I’m ready for FALL. Soup, lasagna, cozy breads! We had the cooler temps this weekend, too, but forecast includes some 97s this week, ugh!
Oooh, yes to peach and avocado salad. We are having fried rice and pork char Sui and French dip sandwiches and Olive Garden chicken this week. And my neighbor is making everyone homemade Chinese noodles for dinner tonight so YAY.
Mhm mushroom tacos. Mushrooms is such a fall ingredient. I have passed them by earlier today in the store. Not yet.
I do look forward to fall but I don’t mind some glorious late summer days in September.
I also can’t believe we are at the end of August. I expect we still have a bit of summer left over here.
I’m ready for the seasons to shift. It’s been a gorgeous summer here in the PacNW but I do love fall. My daughter makes an excellent kale salad with peaches, goat cheese and barley. Sounds weird (I don’t like kale that much) but it’s tasty.
That peach avocado salad looks amazing. I think I’m going to make that tomorrow night, either with salmon or crab cakes. Who am I kidding, it will be crab cakes. It’s going to be hot tomorrow, and I have a hankering for crab cakes. Also, in my house I have the following that need to be used: arugula, avocado, and nectarines. YAY!
During lockdown, I made all the kids to cook their a meal. Lad made zucchini pizza boats or something. Reg hated them so much that he gagged on his. It still comes up in conversation and we all die laughing. I think there is even a photo of Reg not gagging, but not enjoying his dinner. Your zucchini pizzas made me think of it.
I love summer and I will be sorry when it is over, but I also will be ready for warm sweaters. Sort of? Coach grilled brats tonight and I made a low FODMAP recipe of lemon chicken and rice and it was surprisingly very good. I think I will make pesto chicken in the crock pot tomorrow night. Then Italian Beef in the crock pot.
BTW – the plum torte was a huge hit at book club and my family gobbled up the leftovers. Happy to add it to the rotation of recipes.
Yum, that pizza sounds good. And I’ve made that szechuan stir fry sauce many times- I think I originally got it from you.
I am SO ready for the seasons to shift- but we won’t get a cool down until almost November. Sigh! I know you’re not ready, but I’m envying your weather. Mid 60s sounds like heaven to me!
It’s supposed to get up to 101 degrees here tomorrow, and I am over that kind of weather. It’s easier to bear though when I know it’s almost over. I like the shoulder season while it’s still warm but not miserably hot.
Peaches and berries are my favorite summer fruits. I like apples and pears as much as the next person but I don’t get excited for them the same way.
I am all about mushroom tacos! I would eat everything on your meal plan, I just couldn’t be bothered to cook anything on your meal plan.
We’ve had a terrible summer in Wales. It’s supposed to be 70ish and sunny this week but it rained yesterday and today. 70 and Sunny would be highlight of summer. Last week I made black bean soup in the slow cooker which feels like a very autumnal recipe. But nectarines are still pretty delicious so summer fruit isn’t over yet, yay!
I also can’t believe it’s September and while I know that summer will stick around for a little longer, I am already noticing that the days are getting shorter. Eek.
Mushroom tacos sound amazing. I don’t think I ever made them, so thanks for the suggestion!
I could have sworn I commented on this – I must have read it at work where I can’t comment on WordPress blogs.
I don’t like bell peppers, but I’m thinking of forcing myself to so we can get on the same page again. I also love peaches beyond all description, what has HAPPENED to us, Suzanne?
We were in Charlotte for the long weekend where it was hot, and now we’re home and it was cool for one day and now it’s hot again.
I made a big salad and a soy sesame dressing tonight and put sliced steak on it that my husband grilled last night. This is the kind of thing I want to eat almost every night in summer and fall and somehow I can’t find my way through the steps to make it.