Sloppy Joes

Despite my STRONG aversion to the store-bought, meat-in-a-can version of this dinner, I do love homemade sloppy joes, and to keep up with my recent ode to summer meals, I thought I'd share this recipe with you all! You can find the recipe here. It's originally from Rachel Ray, and love her or hate her, these "sammies" are pretty dang good. Serve them with grilled corn on the cob, watermelon, and fries for an easy summer meal that promises plenty of leftovers throughout the week! Happy eating!

Perfection

There's not really a recipe to go along with this, but I wanted to take a minute and brag about my husband- he cooked this teriyaki chicken on the grill a while ago, and it was almost too beautiful to eat! Luckily, I overcame my hesitation to desecrate his art because this chicken was SO yummy! Way to go Dean!

Pico de Gallo

No, this is not salsa. Yes, it is delicious.Slice up watermelon, jicama, cucumber, mango, pineapple and any other assorted tropical fruits you like (papaya is also excellent). Arrange fruit in large glasses. Pour a few tablespoons of lime juice over the fruit, and top it with a good sprinkling of cayenne pepper. Enjoy the best summer treat ever!

Chicken Tacos

Ingredients
Shredded chicken
Sliced Squash- we used a mix of green and yellow then cooked it for a few minutes with butter on the stove
Corn- fresh would be better, but we used canned and it was fine
Black beans
Whole grain tortillas- something we just recently discovered-inauthentic but so good!
Radishes
Cilantro
Avocado
Limes
Valentina (optional I suppose, but I couldn't imagine these without it)

Limey Dressing, adapted from a salad dressing in ATK Cookbook, p. 78*
5 tablespoons e.v. olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 small jalapenos seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 pepper

* this could be used as a marinade if you are the kind of person who plans ahead. As I'm not, I just cooked the chicken in half of this and dumped the second half on after cooking.


Mix all dressing ingredients together- cook the chicken on a skillet with half of the dressing mixture until cooked through. Then, shred the chicken and place in serving bowl with rest of dressing poured on top. Spoon chicken, corn, cilantro, radishes, and avocado onto a warmed tortilla. Spinkle Valentina liberally and then squeeze a lime on top for maximum deliciousness. Serve with warm black beans, squash, and fruit on the side.