{"id":13802,"date":"2023-06-04T16:02:04","date_gmt":"2023-06-04T16:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/?p=13802"},"modified":"2023-06-07T18:02:21","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T18:02:21","slug":"easy-summer-recipes-to-dazzle-your-friends-and-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/spring-summer-2023\/easy-summer-recipes-to-dazzle-your-friends-and-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Summer Recipes to Dazzle Your Friends and Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Carolyn Worthington<\/p><\/p>\n

T<\/span>is the season for getting back out in the garden \u2026 Whether you are a pro or finally have time to start a vegetable garden, the rewards are healthy food (of course) plus an opportunity to exercise and relax in your outdoor hobby, thereby improving mental wellness. To say nothing of which, the feeling of accomplishment can be enormous!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>If you are looking for solid advice on starting or fine-tuning your vegetable garden, author Kayla Butts offers Garden to Table<\/em>\u00a0Cookbook: A Guide to Growing, Preserving, and Cooking What You Eat<\/em><\/a> (Fox Chapel Publishing).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I began growing and preserving my own food, I truly learned how cultivation and garden-to-table living feeds mind, body, and spirit,\u201d Butts said.<\/p>\n

What sets this cookbook apart from others in the home gardening category is how Butts leads you through her health journey, the importance, and benefits of locally sourced and homegrown foods, to helpful tools for your bounty such as preserving, canning, and storage, and recipes for each season.<\/p>\n

Butts, a dietician nutritionist, shares her experience of watching her mother recover from epilepsy through a change of diet and her weight loss she attributes to \u201ceating food free of chemicals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are three recipes we especially like from her book:<\/p>\n

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Vegan Spring Roll. Photo courtesy of the publisher.<\/p><\/div>\n

Vegan Spring Rolls \u2026<\/h3>\n

Rice paper wrappers filled with crunchy vegetables \u2026 cabbage, carrots, jicama, red bell pepper, and spinach, and served with a side of dipping sauce made of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, mirin, brown sugar, and chili paste.<\/p>\n

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Grilled Broccoli with Furikake. Photo courtesy of the publisher.<\/p><\/div>\n

Grilled Broccoli with Furikake \u2026<\/h3>\n

Broccoli takes on a new flavor with Furikake, a mixture of dried fish, seaweed, sesame seeds, and spices. Slice the broccoli into steaks, brush with sesame oil, and season with the sauce.<\/p>\n

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Berry Dutch Baby. Photo courtesy of the publisher.<\/p><\/div>\n

Berry Dutch Baby …<\/h3>\n

Is an easy and impressive dessert that uses a similar technique as popovers or Yorkshire pudding. It\u2019s perfect for any of the seasons\u2019 berries.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Modern Bistro<\/h2>\n

I may have found my next go-to cookbook with new twists on old favorites. It\u2019s Modern Bistro\u2026 Home Cooking Inspired by French Classics.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Why do I say that? Because I have already made several of the recipes SEVERAL times! My family and guests have loved them all!<\/p>\n

Perhaps, it is because my culinary training began in France, so this book called to me. The theme is \u201cbistro cooking,\u201d harkening back to France\u2019s small, family-owned neighborhood restaurants. The classic American versions, noted by the authors of America\u2019s Test Kitchen, were popularized by the likes of Julia Child, James Beard, and Jacques Pepin. Among the standard classics were simply French onion soup, coq au vin, sole meuniere, steak frites.<\/p>\n

America\u2019s Test Kitchen published\u00a0Modern Bistro <\/em>in part because they have tested so many French recipes over the years. So, they decided to offer 180 of them, many as modern versions. They have tweaked some techniques to make the recipes easier but still just as delicious. Yes, you will find the classic onion soup with the new twist of replacing the hard-to-eat baguette topper with chunky croutons. Coq au Vin appears with the suggestion of replacing the whole chicken with bone-in chicken pieces so readily found these days. Steak frites are here with the suggestion of using peanut oil for frying.<\/p>\n

In addition to those classics, you will love these and many more from the book:<\/p>\n

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Photo used with permission of the publisher.<\/p><\/div>\n

Broiled Shrimp Cocktail with Creamy Tarragon Sauce<\/h3>\n

Forget the chili sauce and try this creamy mayonnaise-based sauce flavored with lemon juice, scallions, and tarragon.\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Scallops with Fennel and Bibb Salad<\/h3>\n

Scallops are called coquilles in French. A popular recipe is Coquilles St. Jacques … scallops in a cream sauce. This recipe ditches the heavy cream sauce and lets the scallops shine in a salad of sauteed scallops tossed with fennel and radishes in a lemony vinaigrette flavored with tarragon.<\/p>\n

And, for the grand finale!<\/p>\n

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Photo used with permission of the publisher.<\/p><\/div>\n

White Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Sauce<\/h3>\n

This dessert is so easy to do and is a WOW dessert. Simply melt white chocolate with egg yolks, stir in whipped cream, pour into individual dishes (I chose margarita glasses \u2026 fun!), and chill. Top with pureed raspberries and chopped pistachios! Note the recipe calls for frozen raspberries, but I used fresh. Fantastic!!<\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/p>\n

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