A Summer Dinner Menu [incl. 5 Recipes]

It's already that time of the year when the days are long, nights are enjoyable, and you can sit in your garden and enjoy dinner with friends. During such a gathering, these foods were prepared, and they just looked so good on our plates, that I had to take some pictures of them. And there is no use of me taking these images without posting the recipes.

The base for two dishes is a Parsley Pesto, that we will make first. I used it for the potatoes, and the Caprese salad. So let's start with that. You will notice that once the pesto is done it will enrich all the other dishes, and really make them easier to prepare and season.

Parsley Pesto Recipe

Ingredients:

- Big bunch of parsley
- 1 clove of garlic
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Vegetable Oil
- Salt and Pepper

Method

I'm not giving any exact measurements, I go by eye here. Place a bunch of parsley in your food processor, add the clove of garlic and a good shot of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Wiz everything up. Add the regular vegetable oil (cca. 1/2 cup, 125 ml.). Mix again, this time longer, until everything is amalgamated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

New Potatoes with Parsley Pesto

Ingredients

- 10 new potatoes, small
- Parsley Pesto

Mehtod

Cut the potatoes into chunks. Boil the new potatoes in water until they are fork tender, but not mushy. This is very important for texture. Drain them thoroughly, and let them cool. Add the Parsley Pesto so that the potatoes are nicely coated, but don't swim in the pesto. Add salt to taste if needed.

Caprese Salad

Ingredients

- 2 plump tomatoes, salt to taste
- 15-20 slices of best mozzarella
- 2-3 tablespoons of Parsley Pesto

Method

Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella into slices. Arrange in circles on a plate, salt the tomatoes a bit, and dress up with 2-3 tablespoons of Parsley Pesto over the top.

Fried Chicken Fillets

Ingridents

- 2-3 chicken breasts
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons milk
- flour and breadcrumbs for coating

Method

Prepare the chicken breasts by cutting each in half and pounding them. Make sure they are thin, so they will fry up nicely. Season them well with salt and pepper. Coat each chicken filet in flour, then in a egg and milk mixture, and lastly in breadcrumbs. Fry in a skillet in which you have added oil. Fry on each side for 2-3 minutes, or until crispy and browned. Make sure the oil is hot enough, otherwise they will turn out soggy. You will need to fry them up in batches. After each filet is fried, drain it on some kitchen towels so that the excess oil can drain off.

Simple Green Salad

Ingredients

- 1 big green lettuce
Dressing:
- Juice of one lemon
- The Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil (three times the amount of lemon juice)
- 1 tablespoon of mustard (I use Tafelsenf, but you can use Dijon mustard)
- Pinch of good quality Sea Salt Flakes

Method

Slice, clean and dry the lettuce. Place in a bowl. Now for the dressing. Put all the ingredients for the dressing into a small jar, and shake thoroughly. You won't need all of it for the salad (maybe you will). If there is some left over put it in the fridge for later use. Put the dressing on the lettuce before serving, and toss everything well.

Looking for a refreshing summer desert?

Why not try my Lemon Sorbet recipe, and if you are in the mood for ice creams I have a French Bean Vanilla Ice Cream, Strawberry Ice Cream, Peach Ice Cream and Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe as well on this blog.

Hope you enjoyed these, and that they inspired you for your own summer dinner.

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