8 Fresh and Easy Summer Recipes
Celebrate the season with these salads, light meals, and fruity desserts.
Summer calls for delicious alfresco dining with family and friends, basking in the warmth. When the weather heats up, many of us like to turn to lighter meals, refreshing foods, or something we can cook outside.
Whether you're looking for tasty brunch food or a meal to serve at a dinner party, celebrate the season with our round-up of fresh and easy dishes, including summer salads, light main meals, and fruity desserts.
And of course, if you want to make your soiree or midweek meal extra special, look no further than our fabulous Tableware and Curated Table Bundles.
1. Tofu Larb in Lettuce Cups
This vegetarian version uses tofu and mushrooms in replace of the meat, which beautifully soaks up the zesty, fragrant sauce. Served in a refreshing lettuce cup (Maryah Ananda uses iceberg but she notes butter lettuce would work just as well), and you've got yourself a refreshing dish that can be served as an entree, finger food or light meal.
2. Grilled Broccolini, Lemon, and Lentil Salad With Crunchy Breadcrumbs
This salad is worthy of being a main event in its own right. It really has it all – creaminess, crunch, freshness and a good zing from the lemon. With a generous dose of buffalo mozzarella to top it all off, it isn't your average garden salad.
3. Broccolini, Roasted Almond, and Lemon Spaghetti
Packed with fibre from an abundance of vegetables, freshness from herbs, crunch from roasted almonds, zest from lemon and creaminess from the cheese, every mouthful of Stephanie Alexander's vegetarian spaghetti is an explosion of different textures and flavours that all work in harmony.
4. Fried Egg Bánh Mì
Jessica Nguyen's vegetarian take on the Vietnamese sandwich is comprised of baguettes smothered in mayo and filled with a medley of fresh ingredients like cucumber, chilli, pickled carrot, and a fried egg. It's so delicious we guarantee it won't disappoint.
5. Traditional Italian Pepperonata
Making this comfort side dish is incredibly simple and sees charred and peeled capsicums marinated in an oil, vinegar, parsley, and garlic concoction. The result? Tender capsicums add a wonderful pop of flavour to pretty much anything and everything. It's the perfect snack for alfresco lunches/dinners.
6. Barley Salad with Preserved Lemon Dressing
Danielle Campbell's barley salad recipe boasts a wonderful flavour combo of asparagus, feta, and parsley. It's dressed with a preserved lemon dressing and topped with dill and sumac to take it up that extra notch.
7. Tomato and Ricotta Galette
Combine creamy ricotta and juicy tomatoes with a buttery, melt-in-your mouth pastry crust and you'll have yourself a wonderful summer dish that tastes both light and indulgent, courtesy of Anastasia Zolotarev.
8. Passionfruit Tres Leches Cake
If you're partial to creamy desserts, this delightful Latin American cake will not disappoint. It's made from a sponge that's soaked in three types of milk – regular, condensed, and evaporated – and topped with whipped cream, making it a light and luscious treat. The passionfruit gives it a tasty tropical punch.
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