Ten All-Time Favorite Summer Recipes

20 minutes* to Best Ever Barbecue Ribs

There is good reason that the Best Ever Barbecue Ribs is at the top of the “Ten All-Time Favorite Summer Recipes”.  Along with truly being the best-ever ribs, you spend only 20 minutes hands-on time making them and they magically do their thing in the oven for 2-3 hours, while you lie in the hammock. Super easy and falling off the bone just the way you want.  They have disappeared at every event I’ve ever served them at. Click here to get the recipe.

Fresh Lemonade with lemons from my tree!

I wrote this recipe using Fiji Water a few years ago at Camp Blogaway. This lemonade is one of the most requested beverages at our cooking classes. We use filtered water when we make it in class. With an electric juicer and a few lemons, you can whip up a quart of fresh lemonade in a few minutes. Why buy bottled or powdered lemonade, when you can have fresh squeezed? Also, this is a perfect project for the kids. Click here to get the recipe.

Red Tomato Gazpacho

Get started now making this delicious, cooling Gazpacho soup with the ruby red tomatoes you will be finding at the farmers markets or in your own garden. Use only the ripest, ready to burst tomatoes for this dish. At the farmers market, ask for the juiciest tomatoes they are ready to throw out because they are so fragile and you’ll probably get a nice discount on them. You’ll need a plastic carrier to bring them home in. Click here to get the recipe.

4th of July Cheesecake

Be a star with this beautiful festive dessert. You will wow your guests with your creativity AND the delicious creamy dessert decorated with fresh summer raspberries and blueberries. Click here to get the recipe.

Chicken Satay Burgers

Every time I bite into one of these burgers, I wonder why I don’t make them more often. The fresh ginger and peanut butter mixed into the chicken really makes these burgers sing. Top it with a salsa from a lowly cucumber mixed with rice vinegar and you are in burger heaven. Click here to get the recipe.

Lemon Boy Tomato and Opal Basil Caprese Salad

Everyone loves a Caprese Salad. The sweetness of the summer tomatoes matched with a soft and salty fresh mozzarella cheese and the exotic taste of fresh basil. Change it up a little with some special heirloom tomatoes and herbs like this beautiful Opal Basil from my garden. Click here to get the recipe.

Mexican Street Corn

I grew up in Minnesota where the corn was expected to be “knee high by the 4th of July” and hopefully higher. Every farm road had field corn to feed the cattle and farm animals. I remember going to the farm and picking the corn we ate. A pat of butter and some salt completed the recipe. When I discovered this recipe from ShockinglyDelicious, my corn consumption changed to add this delicious spread, cotija cheese and some lime juice to some succulent California-grown corn. I added the Mexican Street Corn to the menu in our Modern Mexican cooking class and there is no looking back. Click here to get the recipe.

Grilled Pineapple with Caramel Sauce

Get a really good pineapple, leave it on the counter to ripen from green to yellow, then grill it with this amazing delicious fresh recipe. This is an old post that constantly gets visited by readers. We made it for 20 people at a cooking class in a private home. Make it yourself and you’ll feel good about serving this fresh fruit dessert.  Click here to get the recipe.

Mango Lassi

Everyone is making smoothies with the new fancy blenders that are out.  KitchenAid gifted me with their Diamond Blender and the newest Torrent Magnetic Drive Blender, which ripped into the frozen mango slices, milk, yogurt and ice without breaking a sweat.  Fancy blender or not, you’ve got to make this delicious beverage, perfect with spicy Indian food or on its own. Click here to get the recipe.

Caesar Brussels Sprouts

I was inspired to create this delicious salad after tasting it at Baco Mercat restaurant in Los Angeles. Readers who have eaten at the restaurant are apparently happy to have found my copycat recipe, judging by the traffic this post constantly receives. I hope you enjoy it too. Click here to get the recipe.