Let's celebrate the official beginning of summer with some delicious treats! Many of these light, flavorful recipes have a healthy twist thanks to the addition of seasonal fruits and vegetables. (The crisp, though, is admittedly mostly for pleasure.) These recipes were shared at AllRecipes.com, and you can find more summer houseboat cooking ideas on our Pinterest page!
Best Lemonade Ever
Recipe and photo by Jo
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups white sugar
8 cups water
1 1/2 cups lemon juice
Directions:
Grab a small saucepan and combine the sugar with one cup of water. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Allow it to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until chilled. Remove the seeds from your lemon juice but leave the pulp. In a pitcher, mix the chilled syrup, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups water. Enjoy!
Super Summer Salsa
Recipe and photo by CCRINAZ
Ingredients:
2 (10 oz.) cans sweet white corn
1 (14.5 oz.) can black beans
1/2 red onion (chopped)
1 red pepper (chopped)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
salt to taste
Directions:
Stir the corn, beans, onion, red pepper, and sugar together in a large bowl. Mix in the rice wine vinegar, and season to taste with salt.
Chicken Salad with Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato
Recipe and photo by Britt
Ingredients:
5 slices bacon
3 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
2 stalks celery (thinly sliced)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons green onion (minced)
1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
salt and ground black pepper to taste
12 leaves romaine lettuce
1 large avocado (sliced)
Directions:
Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until browned (around 10 minutes). Drain the bacon on paper towels and crumble. Mix the chicken, bacon, tomato, and celery together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the mayo, parsley, green onions, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and black pepper together until smooth. Pour the dressing over the chicken mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate until chilled (at least 30 minutes), stir once more, and serve over romaine lettuce leaves with sliced avocado for a garnish.
Blueberry Zucchini Bread
Ingredients:
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries
Directions:
Preheat your to oven to 350 °F and lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans. Beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl and fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon, then gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer the batter to the pans and bake for 50 minutes (or until a knife poked in the center of a loaf comes out clean). Cool for 20 minutes in the pans, then turn out the loaves onto wire racks to finish cooling.
Triple Berry Crisp
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
4 tablespoons white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups butter
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 °F. In a large bowl, gently toss the assorted berries and white sugar together. In another large bowl, add the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Press half into the bottom of a 9-by 13-inch pan, pour in the berries, and sprinkle the rest of the crumble mix on top. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Try serving with whipped cream!