Main Course Menu Plan: Week 4  Summer II

Day 1: Grilled Scallops with Fresh Tomato Salsa

Total time: 15 minutes
    Scallops only take a few minutes to cook They should just go from translucent to opaque.  If you cook them longer they can get tough. We do ours on the barbecue grill but a hot skillet would work just as easily.  Be careful not to crowd and have the pan or grill hot.  They can give off a bit of liquid and you want them to brown, not steam. These are flavored with chili powder and garlic and finished with a spicy Tomato Chili Salsa.

Grilled Scallops Ingredients:

Fresh Tomato Salsa Instructions:

Notes:  Scallops could also be quickly sautéed in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat for about the same amount of time.
Any leftover salsa can be eaten with chips, crackers, whatever.... I just like to have some around!

Day 2: Savory Beef Kebabs

Total time: 45 minutes
    These are best if prepared earlier in the day and allowed to soak up the flavors - plus it makes dinner a breeze!  By doing the meat and some of the vegetables separately you can cook the skewers for different times: allowing the onion to get done to your liking without overcooking the beef. 

Savory Beef Kebabs Ingredients:

 Instructions:

Yogurt Dipping Sauce

yogurt sauce Ingredients:

 Instructions:

Day 3: Chicken Salad with Roasted Potatoes, Shallots and Onions

Total time: 30 minutes
   Grilling the chicken breast and vegetables adds the perfect summer flavors to make this salad an easy hit.  Grilling the shallots and onions brings out and caramelizes their natural sugars.  The entire dish is made outside on the barbecue (hopefully).

Chicken Salad with Roasted Potatoes, Shallots and Onions Ingredients:

 Instructions:

Day 4: Grilled Honey Mustard Pork Chops 

Total time: 30 minutes
   The heat of a good Dijon-style mustard is nicely tempered with the sweetness of honey.  I use the grocery store honey that comes in a squeeze bottle for marinades rather than the single-flower artisan honey that I like on my bread.

Grilled Honey Mustard Pork Chops Ingredients:

 Instructions:

Note:  If you cook it too long pork tends to be dry - unless you cook it really, really long - but that's winter cooking ... this is summer.

Day 5:  Niçoise Pasta Salad

Total time: 25 minutes
   Traditionally (besides being served on lettuce) this should have the small, black Niçoise olives but I use the dry-cured Greek - because I didn't want to bother pitting the small ones.  Get the best canned tuna you can find.  Salade Niçoise always uses canned, never fresh.  The pasta takes the place of the potatoes.  

Niçoise Pasta Salad Ingredients:

 Instructions:

Day 6: Balsamic Glazed Turkey Cutlets

Total time: 25 minutes
    Turkey cutlets are an economical and flavorful meat, cut from the turkey breast, and can be used in place of, more expensive, veal scallops.  They should be about 1/4 inch (.6cm) thick.  Because they are so thin they take well to marinades and cook quickly, without a chance of drying out.  They can be quite large; cut to a more manageable size.  If you are unable to find them, and don't have an accommodating butcher to cut them for you, use chicken breasts or buy turkey tenderloin and slice it yourself with a sharp knife.

Balsamic Glazed Turkey Cutlets Ingredients:

 Instructions:

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