Summer BBQ Kick-Off

 

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It’s almost officially SUMMERTIME!

School is winding down and my kids are ready to take full advantage of their carefree days.  Not only are we breaking out the super high SPF sunscreen, we’re also tweaking our grocery list and stocking up on essentials so we’re prepared for any impromptu summer picnics and grill outs.  Because we live in the concrete jungle of NYC, where our “back yard” is shared with hundreds of strangers, we seek out every opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, to go east and hang out and grill out.  Plus, our annual garden planting takes place in two weeks!

As I’m constantly learning each new summer, it’s important to stretch your imagination at the grill and to try to break the meat barrier.  And, there are plenty of veggie and fruit side dishes I’ve leaf-eared for our summer repertoire which I hope make it on to your summer BBQ hit list too.  So, enjoy, there’s lots more to come.

Do you have any unusual summer recipes for your grill?  Share them with us!

In the meantime, try these recipes:

Avocado Pudding

The type of pudding I remember eating as a child came directly from those square plastic containers that probably sat on the shelves of the supermarket for weeks.  This same pudding was endorsed ad nauseum in the 1980′s by Bill Cosby in those iconic commercial’s where he’s featured licking the chocolate Jello “puddin’” off his spoon while surrounded by dozens of salivating kids.  It’s probably safe to say every brown bag school lunch packed by Mom contained a jello pudding accompaniment for dessert.

My go to chocolate pudding as a kid….and a new mom

Continuing the tradition, up until very recently, my kids were beneficiaries of these ready-made dessert packs too.  However, much like my recent discoveries with the pre-made Nutella spread, outside of its convenience, I was desperate to find a healthier, less sugar-laden version.  It was also equally important for me to attempt to recreate this dessert using ingredients I could actually recognize!

You can imagine how thrilled I was to literally stumble upon a recipe for Raw Chocolate Pudding over at the Nourishing Gourmet!  My prayers were immediately answered.  The use of avocados as the base for the pudding is highly appealing to me, not to mention that it’s full of healthy fats.

Avocados are used as the base for the pudding

And, I love the natural sweeteners from the ripe banana and the raw honey as well as the antioxident benefits from the raw cocoa.

Ah, raw honey– a natural sweetener

Bottom line, all the ingredients can easily be found at your local market.  You might not have Coconut Oil in your pantry but, you should be able to find it in anywhere. Plus, the recipe couldn’t be simpler– much like the Pomegranate Smoothie.  You can’t argue with a recipe that only requires you to dump all ingredients into a mixer and push “blend” to finish the job.  After just 30 minutes of refrigeration, I had a light and creamy pudding snack….perfect to satiate an afternoon sweet craving.  Plus, I ate it the next morning for breakfast with some granola sprinkled on top.

Before I served some to my kids, I added in a teaspoon of agave nectar sweetener and mixed it throughout.  I knew it needed another dose of sweetness  to help seal the deal (for them).  While I did get one thumb up on the tough rating scale, I know it’ll take a couple more “raw pudding samplings” to help fade their years of memories eating those sugary puddings to which they’d become addicted.

Either way, I will be making this again and again, each time with little tweaks.

Now it’s your turn!  Enjoy.

Apricot and Melon Chilled Soup

apricotmelonsoup

It’s Seriously Soup day today, featuring one of my favorite bloggers, Serena, who authors a blog called Seriously Soupy.  Serena started Seriously Soupy as a creative outlet for herself after her first daughter was born, which combined her passion for cooking with an interest in learning more about soups and soup making.  Since it started, she has given soup tours and taught soup classes and has a catalog of over 100 soups on the site!  You can join Serena on her Soupy journey at SeriouslySoupy.com and twice a month you can find her here, at My Judy the Foodie, sharing her wisdom and helping demystify the world of soup.

I asked Serena to share a chilled summer soup with us (after all Memorial Day IS next week) and here’s what Serena has to share:

I love having cantaloupe in the summer – especially chilled cantaloupe.

melon

This refreshing melon is not only delicious but it is packed with vitamins A and C and dietary fiber. One of my favorite chilled soup recipes was the One Cantaloupe, Three Soups where I made a Green Tea- Infused Melon Soup, Triple Basil Melon Soup and a Prosciutto and Melon Mint Soup. Having some melon at home, I was looking for a quick soup recipe to test out using some ingredients I had at home like mint, lemon thyme, lemon and some delicious nectarines.

apricots

What resulted was a light and refreshing summer soup that can be easily modified with some other summer melons like honeydew or watermelon and peaches instead of apricots.

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