#grilled summer squash

[inthecityofgoodabode]

August & September 2024 : Labor Day Weekend

He's hard to spot but there is a Goldfinch enjoying our echinacea seeds in there:

All the scouting lakes & ponds finally paid off. We caught over thirty fish on Sunday but almost all of them, like this Green Sunfish, weren't keepers. It is a pretty fish all the same. My queen & I call them Green Meanies because, despite their size, they strike the bait like they were at least twice their size:

My queen & the lake. The lake is in an undeveloped section of a suburban neighborhood plot. We'll fish here until they put up the "no fishing. Lake access for HOA members only" signs:

Out of the thirty plus fish caught, this bream & green sunfish were the only ones that we harvested. The rest were released to hopefully grow bigger:

Labor Day dinner:

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

There's nothing he can't do. Yet.

(Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll!)

[morethansalad]

Grilled Summer Vegetables with Easy Romesco Sauce (Vegan)

[sea-salted-wolverine]

Both me and my cats have eaten so much salmon that we are currently entering a nirvana like amateur of true enlightenment that is indistinguishable from a food coma and in fact I belive it might just be me and Toko in grilled salmon nirvana while Swix is just achieving a vegetative state and becoming one with the hat and glove bin. The neighbors kid just road by on her bike blasting sweet child of mine. There's a cool breeze and warm slanted sunshine. I have so much squash. The fireweed is blooming but its a long ways from the top. Its a good summer.

[beautyandlifestyleblog86]

These pairings not only highlight the natural flavors of the ingredients but also demonstrate the importance of using herbs to add depth and complexity to a dish. Whether it's a simple grilled peach dessert with honey and thyme or a classic pasta with basil pesto, the combination of seasonal ingredients and herbs can create a culinary experience that is both delicious and memorable.

Examples of delicious pairings -

1. Grilled salmon with lemon and dill: Pairing fresh salmon with the bright flavors of lemon and dill creates a mouthwatering dish that is perfect for spring or summer. The citrusy notes of lemon complement the richness of the salmon, while the herbaceous freshness of dill adds a pop of flavor.

2. Roasted butternut squash soup with sage: Butternut squash is a fall favorite, and when roasted and blended into a creamy soup with fragrant sage, it becomes a comforting and flavorful dish. The earthy sweetness of the squash pairs beautifully with the savory, slightly peppery flavor of sage.

3. Grilled peaches with honey and thyme: Grilling ripe peaches and drizzling them with honey and a sprinkle of fresh thyme creates a deliciously sweet and savory dessert or side dish that is perfect for summer. The caramelized peaches, sweet honey, and aromatic thyme combine to create a flavor explosion that will tantalize your taste buds.

4. Lemon rosemary roasted chicken: Roasting a whole chicken with lemon slices and fresh rosemary sprigs creates a mouthwatering and aromatic dish that is perfect for any season. The tangy citrus of the lemon complements the woodsy, fragrant notes of rosemary, infusing the chicken with flavor and creating a deliciously juicy and tender result.

5. Pasta with basil pesto: Fresh basil pesto made with basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil is a classic pairing that creates a bright and flavorful pasta dish. The herbal, peppery notes of basil combined with the nutty richness of pine nuts and the salty tang of Parmesan cheese make for a deliciously satisfying meal that is perfect for spring or summer.

[rivetgoth]

Want to create a restaurant that’s like a fast food vegetable restaurant that sells like drive thru vegetable dishes only, salads and stir fries and summer rolls and tempura, or just like, bowl of steamed broccoli, bowl of grilled yellow squash and zucchini, bowl of gai lan with oyster sauce, etc etc. And it’s called Leafs In Front Of Me and it’s dinosaur themed with like statues of dinosaurs out front. Maybe animatronics dinosaurs inside. Maybe they have a daily “carnivore attack” where the lights turn red and the T rex animatronic awakens and roars and all the herbivore animatronics start crying or something idk. Anyway and we’d partner with local farmers to always have seasonal veggies so we’d be environmentally and socially concious too.

[kitchenwitchtingss]

WITCHY SAGE SKEWERS

They've got witches at the barbeque now????

I rarely ever see witchy grilling recipes for summer, so when in doubt, make your own!

The witchy part comes from the seasonings mostly, but also the intentions. Any food cooked with good intentions goes much farther than that with none.

That being said, sage, rosemary, black pepper, and thyme are kinda like the go-to bad vibes be gone type herbs lol.

I use bok choy and yellow squash in this recipe, but you can totally use whatever vegetables you have on hand at the time.

Oh! You could also try to spice the recipe up by subbing the butter for some sort of BBQ sauce. Sounds yummy.

INGREDIENTS (seasoning measurements are just suggestions):

4 chicken thighs, skinless + boneless (can be substituted for pork, tofu, or any fatty meats)

1 yellow squash, washed.

1 bunch of bok choy, washed.

1/2 tbsp Dried Sage

2 cloves Garlic, Minced

2 tsp Ground Thyme

1.5 tsp Black pepper

1 tsp Onion powder

1 tsp brown sugar (you don't need it if you don't really want anything too sweet)

1 tsp honey (or more brown sugar)

1 tsp salt (plus more for the chicken)

0.5 tbsp Paprika (plus another half for the butter)

1 tsp Dried Rosemary

1/4 cup (4 tbsp) Unsalted Butter

Zest of half an orange (if you don't like orange, you could use lemon instead.)

1 tsp orange juice (or more to taste)

You can add lemon juice if you like a little more tang along with the orange juice

PREP: Mince garlic, soak wooden skewers, wash veggies. Slice yellow squash vertically into thin slices, along with bok choy, slicing vertically across the center. Set aside.

DIRECTIONS

Cut chicken thighs into about one-inch pieces. Season chicken thighs with salt, pepper, paprika, brown sugar, ground sage, and onion powder. Massage chicken until coated nicely. I like them pretty seasoned but really it's up to you!

Soak wooden skewers in water for at least 12 minutes so they don't burn on the grill.

In a bowl, combine mix melted butter, minced garlic, onion powder, salt, paprika thyme, black pepper, honey, and rosemary together in a bowl. Add in orange zest and a tsp of orange juice. I also added a little bit of lemon juice. Set aside.

Toss chicken thighs, bok choy, and yellow squash in olive oil.

To assemble skewers, string on a piece of bok choy, gently folded over itself a couple of times, and pierced through to keep it folded on the skewer. Then, string on a piece of chicken. Next with your thinly sliced yellow squash fold that over just like the bok choy. You could also cut it into bite-size pieces and pierce right through it without needing to fold it over itself. Repeat this pattern until the skewer is full.

Heat the grill, clean the grates, and oil them. On medium high-ish heat, cook the skewers on each side for 5 minutes. Each time you flip the skewer, brush on your sage butter sauce. Make sure the chicken is done before taking it off the grill. It could take more than 5 minutes on each side to cook. To be safe, I cook them for another 3-4 minutes after flipping both sides.

Take off the grill and brush with more sauce if desired!

Enjoy! I made these with some herb-crusted potato wedges and grilled peach salad. They were delightful.

RECIPE NOTES:

I love skewers because you can put any fruits, veggies, and meat on it, and it works. A fun lunch idea is to skewer some peaches, cook them slightly on the grill, and throw it into some sort of salad. Very tasty lol.

I like using Bok Choy because it's very absorbent, and any marinade you put it in, it will soak up all the flavor. Just be careful not to share it on the grill.

Yellow squash is also what I use in this recipe, but the good thing about skewers is that you can use any vegetable. The more colorful, the more fun!

[airfryerburrito]

Erin Clarke's Summer Celebration Orzo Salad

I found this recipe in Erin's Well Plated cookbook and made some tweaks. The cookbook version includes roasted or grilled squash and corn, halved cherry tomatoes, arugula, orzo, chickpeas, feta, and basil pesto. I used less squash and added in a pepper, used store-bought sun-dried tomato pesto, and topped it with some parsley and avocado. The orzo (I used Jovial gluten-free cassava orzo) is a great blank canvas for a lot of different flavors.

Another plus: this salad works as both a main dish and as a side salad.

[mariacallous]

Shawarma eggplant is a satisfying plant-based dish that has all the spices and flavors of your favorite grilled meat. This vegetarian main is versatile and customizable, and can be prepared in advance, making it ideal for hosting. A slather of Michael Solomonv’s herbaceous, spicy Yemenite zhug on top adds necessary zing and heat. For a little extra protein, drizzle the roasted eggplant with tahini, serve it on a swirl of labneh or add roasted chickpeas on top. 

Olive oil is eggplant’s best friend, making it satisfyingly rich. First you’ll brush oil onto the eggplant before it’s roasted, then drizzle it mid-bake, and again when it comes out of the oven. Crusted with spices, the eggplant emerges from the oven browned and fork-tender. You can swap the homemade shawarma spice blend with your favorite store-bought mix; and if you’re not an eggplant fan, you can swap it for thick-cut cauliflower steaks or large zucchini and summer squash.

Note: Eggplant can be made in advance, stored in the refrigerator and reheated in a covered baking dish until warm.

[iguessyouwonderwhereivebeen]

don’t wanna work, want a summer vacation, a week spent on a beach, a surfing excursion or a yoga retreat in Malibu, Costa Rica.. wanna go to Mexico City, Pueblo and Oaxaca, and drink fresh fruit smoothies, coconut water from a straw, and eat papaya and mango in the morning and squash blossom tacos and dark mole sauce and whole grilled fish at night

[nateslehky]

so instead of actually working on my restaurant au fic, i decided to write a review for the made-up restaurant in the fic, mostly as a writing exercise, but also to help me understand what a mackinnon-led kitchen would be like.

in all likelihood, this won't make it into the final product, so below the cut you'll find a review of a denver restaurant with a kitchen operated by a fictionalized version of nathan mackinnon <3

Restaurant Review: Twenty Nine on 29th 

A restaurant opening in a refurbished brick warehouse is nothing new for River North. Twenty Nine on 29th looks to be another standard, run-of-the-mill joint hoping to find its footing in the up and coming arts district, but what it lacks in curb appeal it more than makes up for with what matters the most for restaurants in the end: the food. 

In a kitchen led by head chef Nathan MacKinnon, you’d expect nothing less. Food and Wine lists him among the best up and coming chefs in the nation–and for good reason. 

Mackinnon’s cuisine, previously described as “like an uncut gem, yet still a rarity”, seems to have finally begun to polish. Everything I ate felt refined; MacKinnon’s mind and hands crafting some of the best food I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting.

Not just in River North. Not just in Denver. But in all my life.

The appetizers and entrées rotate seasonally, so what I describe may no longer be available if you’re lucky enough to snag a reservation, but I’d be shocked if anything leaving the kitchen wasn’t carefully cultivated by MacKinnon and executed to perfection.

To begin, I started with something that came highly recommended by a friend and colleague: the summer soup. Other appetizers called my name, most notably the squash blossoms, but I promised I’d try what she described as “summer in a bowl” and I’m not one to break my promises. 

So shout out to Amy; the soup was an excellent call.

It perfectly encapsulates what it’s like to dine at Twenty Nine. Similar to the restaurant itself, the dish is unassuming both in its description (a medley of fresh vegetables) and its look (a smooth green blend swirled with cream, topped with charred sweet corn and cherry tomatoes, a whipped ricotta crostini on the side), but still managed to blow me away. It felt like velvet on the tongue and the flavors were simultaneously familiar and unexpected. It transported back to the late-Julys of my youth, sun shining high in the sky with my father at the grill.

Summer in a bowl, indeed.

I had not made any promises for what to order for my entrée, so I teetered between the home-made tomato pasta or the scallop skewers, but in the end I ordered neither. A plate sizzled by my ear as I deliberated my choice, and I was met with the spectacle of an entire spatch-cocked chicken on a plate, the smell of its herb-crust too tantalizing to pass up despite the menu indicating it was meant for two or more patrons. 

Boy, am I glad I went with my gut (or my stomach, I suppose). It had a simple yet striking flavor, the accompanying butter sauce coating my tongue with such luxury that I felt as though I was dining at a five star restaurant beneath La Tour Eiffel, rather than among my fellow Denverites between artsy brick walls. 

After the chicken I was nearly too full to try a dessert, but went with a classic: the tarte tatin. Like everything at Twenty Nine, it was executed well, the pastry flaky, the apples crisp, the caramel sweet. An excellent end to an excellent meal.

A soup. A roast chicken. An apple pie.

Three things I like to think I could make in my sleep, and yet, it’s one of my favorite meals I’ve had in a long, long time.

That is how MacKinnon thrives: executing simplicity with striking efficiency, delivering mouthwatering menus that appear on paper like something you’d find buried in the back of your mom’s recipe book, but on the plate come to life so vividly and with such bold flavors that they feel like something you won’t find or replicate anywhere else.

Reservations at Twenty Nine are becoming harder and harder to come by, the cozy booths and tables full nearly every hour from lunch through dinner. The bar is full service and first-come, first-serve, but good luck trying to find an open seat. Like the rest of the restaurant, it is busy at seemingly all hours of the day. 

Plus, you’ll have to work your way around me. I plan to plant myself there until I’ve tried everything on the menu myself.

[icleanedthisplate]

Dine-Out Meals of October 2023, Ranked

I ranked the following based on taste alone. I made no consideration for ambiance or the general dining experience or whatever. I included meals I got to go. I included food trucks, catered meals, and fast food.

I got into burgers this month.

Should you be interested in the pictures or reading the few words I had to say about each meal, click on the home page and scroll down or see the archives.

Apolonia ‘Classics’ Tasting Menu (Yellowtail Crudo, Roasted Mussel Toast, Fiorentini al Sugo, Mediterranean Branzino, The Pistachio). Apolonia. Chicago, Illinois. 10.1.2023.

Samantha’s Steak Salad. Samantha’s Tap Room. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.9.2023.

Signature Sweet Hot Burger w/Fries. Copper Grill. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.10.2023.

Half Rack of Ribs, Broccoli, Baked Sweet Potato. Corner Grub House. Sulphur Springs, Texas. 10.25.2023.

Chopped Sirloin w/Mashed Pots, Creole Salad. The Faded Rose. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.23.2023.

The Ranch Salad w/Salmon. Standard Service. Heath, Texas. 10.27.2023.

Whiskey & Aged White Cheddar Burger w/Steamed Veggies. Yard House. Irving, Texas. 10.26.2023.

Fried Chicken Livers w/Pepper Jelly (shared), Eggs Benedict. The Second Line. Memphis, Tennessee. 10.22.2023.

Baleadas Con Todo w/Carnitas. El Sur Street Food Co. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.9.2023.

Chicken Spaghetti Lunch Special, Side Salad. Cache. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.16.2023.

Meatloaf w/Green Beans, Baked Potato. Samantha’s Tap Room. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.30.2023.

Veggie Sandwich w/Potatoes. Blackberry Market. North Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.17.2023.

Angry Wife Roll, Hibachi Chicken Lunch. Wasabi. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.6.2023.

Santa Monica Cobb Salad w/Chicken. Summer House (ORD). Chicago, Illinois. 10.4.2023.

Chicken Leg Quarters, Peas, Broccoli & Cheese Casserole. Platnum BBQ (River Market). Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.18.2023.

Chicken Leg Quarters, Green Beans, Broccoli & Cheese Casserole. Platnum BBQ (River Market). Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.5.2023.

Steak Sandwich w/Steamed Veggies. Huey’s (Germantown). Germantown, Tennessee. 10.21.2023.

Noodle Bowl w/Tofu. Three Fold Noodles + Dumpling Co. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.19.2023.

Lunch Catering (tacos, chips, etc.). Blue Coast Burrito. North Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.22.2022.

Bangkok Noodles w/Shrimp. Bangkok Thai Cuisine. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.24.2023.

Buffalo Tempeh + Sesame Cauliflower. City Silo. Memphis, Tennessee. Germantown, Tennessee. 10.21.2023.

White Bean & Ham Soup. Cache. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.31.2023.

Catered Buffet (buffalo chicken chimichanga? Shrimp tacos, assorted pizza, fried chicken sliders, etc). Acebounce. Chicago, Illinois. 10.2.2023.

Breakfast Catering (Bacon, Eggs, Fruit, Pastries). Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center (Catering). Grapevine, Texas. 10.26.2023.

Catered Buffet (Pasta, Pasta, Pasta, Minestrone Soup, Doughnut). Hilton Chicago (Catering). Chicago, Illinois. 10.3.2023.

Catered dinner (Steak & Chicken pieces, butternut squash, Brussels, mashed potatoes, ice cream w/toppings). The Glass Cactus (catering). Grapevine, Texas. 10.25.2023.

Tacos (Tipsy Chick, Crossroads, Mr. Orange). Torchy’s Tacos. Rogers, Arkansas. 10.12.2023.

Chef Salad w/Turkey, Pizzas (Pineapple, Sausage). Vino’s Brewpub. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.20.2023.

Chicken Wrap (?). Unknown Caterer. Irving, Texas. 10.26.2023.

Chicken Fingers w/Side Salad. Stickyz Rock’n’Roll Chicken Shack. Little Rock, Arkansas. 10.11.2023.

Oatmeal, bacon. Residence Inn by Marriott. Germantown, Tennessee. 10.22.2023.

Turkey Bacon, Cheddar & Egg White Sandwich. Starbucks. Benton, Arkansas. 10.25.2023.

Turkey Bacon, Cheddar & Egg White Sandwich. Starbucks. Chicago, Illinois. 10.2.2023.

Turkey Bacon, Cheddar & Egg White Sandwich. Starbucks. Chicago, Illinois. 10.3.2023.

Turkey Sandwich, Pasta Salad, Cookie. McCormick Place. Chicago, Illinois. 10.2.2023.

Chicken Sandwich, Pasta Salad, Cookie. McCormick Place. Chicago, Illinois. 10.3.2023.

[ccdcbruins]

Grilled Squash and Zucchini Zucchini and yellow squash are tossed with lemon, butter, salt, and pepper for a nice light summer side dish.

[stepdownonhell]

Spiders

I’m 6, sitting on the concrete outside of our open garage doors.

Criss cross apple sauce,

June sun setting,

And I let the cellar spiders crawl near me. On me.

Onto my hands, my arms, legs.

My parents in their togetherness, cooking on the grill outside. The air is easy to breathe and I can feel the setting sun on my skin.

I wonder, now, why I’m so fearful of spiders in my grown body.

It’s June, not the same June that it once was.

I’m 10, double digits now, a little less curious and a little more cautious.

The sun is beating on me, Im with my mom while she tends to chores, I’m playing with the water hose on the concrete outside of our barn.

She doesn’t know what happened to me 3 summers ago, I’d like to keep it that way.

The cold water feels nice, a relief from the burn of the sun and the burn of that summer.

I look down to the puddle below my feet and back up to my mom whilst she feeds the dogs.

Quickly, back down to my legs I look.

I have never seen a spider so large, so gone-unnoticed, and it was there, on me.

I don’t think. I scream, I kick, i feel my pulse in my chest.

A familiar feeling, nauseatingly familiar.

My mom comes in a hurry.

The spider seems to vanish into thin air.

Like it wasn’t there. Like it never happened, it wasn’t witnessed.

And my mom she laughs, but my hands are shaking, my heart is racing, I look down to see that I had kicked so hard I broke my flip flop.

I don’t know whether laugh or sob.

I wake up in my bedroom to the shouting of my parents, I’m 16. It’s 12:46 in the morning and my dad just came back from the bar. He’s drunk and I hear him slurring his words as they fight.

I move the sheets off of my warm body, to make my way to listen through the crack of my door.

Before I do my eyes pan to a corner of my ceiling, I see a shape. 8 legs and almost unnoticeable. Immediately I know what it is and panic sets in.

Spider, small really, barely bigger than a grain of rice.

And I’m scared of it, to where my eyes well up and my breath becomes shaken, my ears ring.

If I take my eyes off of it, the chances that it will disappear are too high.

I grab the closest thing near to me, a book, and before I go in for the kill, I hesitate.

What if it runs? What if it jumps toward me? What if I miss? What if I were minding my own business and someone took my own being from me? Squashed every amount of trust I ever had for anyone close me?

What if—

The book makes contact with the wall, spider in between.

I feel relief, I feel safer.

I peel my book from the wall, the ringing in my ears fades.

I no longer hear my parents yelling.

[transsextual]

12 and 28 for the question thing :^)

12: brand of haircare / bodycare / skincare that you trust 100%?

ehhh. depends on the product. generally i really like ogx for shampoo & conditioner and i swear by as i am's coconut cowash (i use it as leave-in conditioner and it does SO MUCH for my curls). i like the idea of cerave but it's too expensive to justify buying anything by them except the tubs of lotion. which i love. usually like bath&bodyworks or goodfellow&co for body wash. love acure's brightening facial scrub & harry's foaming shave cream because it smells nice :) i don't know if i'm super dedicated or "trust" any of those brands but I'm happy with them

28: last meal on earth?

god. there's this teppanyaki bar in the town I grew up in whose miso soup is like. my idea of Thee miso soup. and this chinese place that went out of business when I was like 12 that had insanely good orange chicken, best I've had in my whole life, miss it every day. both places were across town from where we lived so we'd only go on special occasions. and my parents make really fucking good salsa and caprese salad together in the summers, they make a whole afternoon of going to the store and getting all the right ingredients and this specific brand of corn tortilla chip and my dad roasts all the veggies on the grill for hours and hours and we all get to eat together. and my mom, one fall a few years ago, cut a butternut squash in half and roasted it with olive oil and brown sugar and i think some cayenne and salt and pepper and we ate it for dinner together in the kitchen while my dad and brother were out. so probably those things, but in order like:

chips and salsa & caprese salad -> miso -> orange chicken -> butternut squash

& also the tea my grandpa gets from our family in egypt w/ 2% milk and sugar and some plums, figs, and fresh orange juice from the trees at my grandparents' house. and maybe one of those vanilla häagen-dazs bars to finish it off just because my other grandma always gave those to me and all my cousins when we came to swim at her house after school when we were little. mostly just nostalgia foods that make me feel like it's summertime. and they would need to give me 12 hours beforehand not to eat anything and then a whole day to eat all of it because food is so much better when you're hungry and also because i'd need long breaks for crying. and then i could die happy.

[lyzablogsworld]

Eggplant Omelet

Turtang talong also called as eggplant omelete,this is the one dishes of Filipino people , is an omelette or fritter from Filipino cuisine made by pan-frying grilled whole eggplants dipped in an egg mixture. It is a popular breakfast and lunch meal in the Philippines.

Eggplant has a flavor similar to summer squash: tender, mild, and sweet with a slight vegetal bitterness. Eggplant will absorb the egg .This delicious, classic recipe is a perfect go-to in most Filipino households. This is because it is quick, easy, and best of all, absolutely tasty without sacrificing nutritional value. This is also perfect with some rice and a couple dollops of ketchup.

This food is so delicious that even if you eat it every day there is no problem because it is so delicious, it is delicious and it is very easy to cook ,and now I will teach you how to cook an eggplant omelet,and what are the ingredients and how to do it step by step.

The main ingredient for this recipe is:

•Eggplant and

•Egg

Procedure

• first you need eggplant, you need to grill it, it's up to you what you use to grill our eggplants, you can use an oven or you can use a stove, stove is the most modern thing used to grill eggplant or you can use an water and boil the eggplant.

• Second, when you see that the skin of our eggplant has turned black, you can remove it and peel it

• Third, in a deep pan, crack an egg, it's up to you how many eggs you will put in, and put some spices in the egg to make our omelette delicious

•Fourth, on a plate, mash or flatten the eggplant with a fork, then put it in our egg mixture

•Fifth, heat the pan, when it's hot, add oil, then heat it again, when it's hot, you can fry our eggplant

•Sixth, fry the first side for 6 minutes and do the same on the other side but only on medium heat, after that it is ready to serve

You can serve the tortang talong ,with sause or ketchup.

That's the basic procedure and that's my way how to cook and eggplant omelet ,

I hope you enjoy reading ,and also I hope you liked what I prepared, so what are you waiting for, start cooking and enjoy the deliciousness of the eggplant omelet.