With warmer weather in full swing, guest
food blogger Donna Joseph retools classic homestyle cooking for families on the go.
Here's her summer best!


Reasons to love summer? Swimming
pools, long bike rides, water balloon
bombs, sprinklers, boating, outdoor
movie-watching and music, picnics….
Get where this is going? You just can't
do as many things during the other
three seasons of the year. So, with
that said, why not enjoy the best it
has to offer? For families on the go,
I've gathered some easy-to-prepare,
light fare that anyone can make. On
the menu: a fruity and refreshing
gazpacho, a tasty one-dish jasmine
rice with chicken, salmon salad with
pasta, and two family-friendly sta-
ples, turkey and lamb meat loaf, and
good old-fashioned mac & cheese.

Funny thing... I can distinctively recall
having cold soup but I know I’ve never
made one. Recipes for gazpacho (a soup
originally from Spain that is traditionally
made with stale bread and vinegar) are
plentiful on the Internet, so in this case
I used a basic recipe from the Whole
Foods website.

After sautéing all the vegetables (except
the cucumber) in a tablespoon of canola
oil to encourage their flavors, I pureed all
the ingredients, chilled them for a couple
of hours, filled see-through containers and
stored them in the refrigerator to pull out
for lunch or a pre-dinner appetizer. No
need to heat here, just stir and pour.

Another make-ahead dish is the jasmine rice with chicken.
As a personal favorite, it holds for me a special culinary
victory of sorts in its simplicity (as a young Latina cook,
I tried, unsuccessfully, to emulate Mom’s recipe for making
the perfect rice—a popular staple in our cuisine—so getting
this just right is particularly rewarding). For starters, dark-
meat chicken pieces are simply boiled in water with a bit
of salt (save the stock for future recipes). The jasmine
rice is cooked (I just followed the package
directions but added lemon zest and a table-
spoon of lemon juice). And the following
herbs and aromatics are sautéed in canola
oil: sage, thyme, rosemary, onion, and
garlic. Toss all of these things together and
add defrosted frozen green peas and chop-
ped parsley for the perfect rice dish anytime!

Continuing with the theme of make-ahead
dishes, we have a delicious turkey–lamb
meatloaf. Get out all of your ingredients
and toss them all in a large bowl and mix,
then form your meat loaf, and bake. Serve
with individual macaroni and cheese for
everyone and a salad. The real reason to
turn on the oven for this dish: meat-loaf
sandwiches! With a little mayo on some
sliced bread (or your favorite bun), this
loaf goes a long way, and kids love finger
foods like sandwiches. This can be stored up to four or
five days in your refrigerator.

Our final dish, salmon salad, is the perfect summer dish.
It takes a bit more prep time than the others on the list
but can be prepared ahead of time. So, a little work be-
forehand is the key. There are four major components:
pan-fried salmon, sautéed aromatics, dressing, and
pasta. The pasta can be boiling while you plan your
next day trip with the kids. A quick dressing with
ingredients straight out of a jar are simply com-
bined in a bowl. However, the aromatics and
the fish have to be gently cooked and carefully
watched. But once all are done, they can be
stored separately until right before serving,
then re-heated or enjoyed at room tempera-
ture. Treat everyone to a cool and refreshing
banana–strawberry yogurt smoothie for desert
(I have them for breakfast too). So simple and
satisfying! Always crush the ice in the blender
first, then throw all ingredients in and continue
to crush and blend. Add milk last and just mix.

Summer lasts only a short time, so let’s get
outside and catch the warm rays of the sun and
the summer breeze between our toes…. Prepare
some of these dishes and you won’t have to
think twice when everyone asks, ‘What’s
for dinner tonight?’

Donna Joseph


For more delicious recipes and special posts follow Donna on
Facebook or visit her blog at NothingChocolate.

Dishes photographed by Nichelle Ryan.