EASY SEASONAL RECIPES – SUNNY AUGUST DISHES

We continue in our series of easy-to-make seasonal recipes with the month of August.

August is the second month of summer break in the northern hemisphere and is the hottest month of the year. Farniente is the order of the day.

Our Julian calendar comes from Julius Caesar who had his own month: July. But his successor, Augustus, also wanted to have his month, August (Augustus). However, it was not even conceivable for him that his month be shorter than Julius Caesar’s. So, August got an extra day, and February, well, it lost a day!

August is still a good month to harvest vegetables. So if you have your own vegetable garden, don’t forget to ask someone you know to harvest them for you, with some watering!

Breathe the sweetness that hovers in August.

Fruits are full of sun and water from July, so it’s time to enjoy the first summer pears. As for vegetables, it’s the peak season for green beans and zucchini.

A good kitchen is above all one where you eat quality products in a balanced way. It’s important to do this as much as possible. This is particularly true when we have young children and we start to diversifying their food.

But what are the fruits and vegetables of August? Which seasonal fruits and vegetables should you choose to eat this month?

Here are some easy and not too time-consuming recipes to make in August before school starts.

August’s vegetables and fruits

The fruits and vegetables of August are very similar to those of July. This is normal since we are in the middle of summer!

It’s great to enjoy fresh fruit salads or grilled vegetables on the BBQ!

Eating our fruits and vegetables in season means taking into account the rhythm of nature.

However, the seasonal fruits and vegetables are defined by the local climate of their cultivation. Therefore, what works for us, will not necessarily work for you.

Vegetables to eat

In August, we continue to recharge our batteries by eating vegetables such as cucumbers or lettuce, without gaining weight.

Eating vegetables allows you to fill up on fiber and vitamins while facilitating digestion and relieving stomach aches.

Favor short circuits to reduce the carbon impact and support the farmers in your region.

• Broccoli
• Green bean
• Tomato
• Zucchini
• Peas
• Spinach
• Carrot
• Cucumber
• Lettuce

Fruits to eat

It’s so good to cool down with mixed fruit salads. In addition to being healthy, fruit hydrates and is, therefore, an unbeatable ally in summer, when temperatures are particularly high.

We take advantage of the month of August to enjoy the following fruits:

• Apricot
• Cherry
• Strawberry
• Raspberry
• Melon
• Peach
• Plum
• Avocado
• Pear
• Blackberry
• Banana

August appetizers

August appetizers should be kept simple, especially when you regularly have people over for drinks. Here are some recipes or ideas to try in August that will please the little ones without them knowing that it is healthy. Some recipes can be prepared with the help of the children.

If you don’t already have all the spices on hand, don’t buy whole packages at the supermarket. Instead, buy them in bulk. It will be more economical.

The pita chips

Replace traditional appetizer chips with pita chips. It’s easy and good. I tested Ricardo’s recipe a while ago, so here it is

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tsp of chili powder
• 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp of ground pepper
• 5 pita bread
• Parchment paper

Preparation

• Oven should be preheated to 350F.
• Mix all ingredients together.
• Cut the pita into triangles. Normally 8 per pita.
• Cover the pita pieces with the mixture. You can either brush them or dip them directly into the bowl.
• Place the pita on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Bake for about 12 minutes and flip them halfway through.

Guacamole

Who doesn’t love a good guacamole? Oddly enough, the best one I had was in Playa del Carmen, Mexico at a very touristy restaurant. Plus, it was prepared right at our table.

Well I admit, not everyone can go to Mexico to taste real Guacamole. However, you can go to Restaurant Calaveras if you want fresh and real guacamole. You can order it to go!

Otherwise, here is a recipe from Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines. Personally, I love her recipes. Guacamole is an appetizer that kids in general enjoy. I sometimes put it on bread with cheese.

Ingredients

• 4 avocados
• 1 medium tomato to dice
• 2 or 3 tablespoons of chopped red onion
• 1 chopped jalapeno pepper (optional) or substitute it with chili powder
• 4 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime for its juice
• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper (each)

Preparation

• In a bowl, mash the avocado with a fork. Yes, you have to remove the skin and pit first!
• Add everything else and mix.
• Serve immediately.
• You can keep some of the avocado chunks if you want a little texture. Taste before serving and add salt, pepper or lemon juice as needed.

Pita chips go very well with guacamole.

Cantaloupe and Prosciutto

Here is a very simple dish to make. My mother introduced me to it when I was 11 years old while we lived in Milan, Italy: Prosciutto e melone.

Cantaloupe and prosciutto, which is actually raw ham, is a combination of flavors. It first appeared during the Middle Ages. Fresh and juicy products like cantaloupe were considered dangerous for your health. They were therefore served with hot or dry foods to balance it out.

The sweetness of the cantaloupe combines perfectly with the salty flavor of the prosciutto di Parma.

This refreshing plate is as versatile as it is healthy. It can be enjoyed at lunch or as an appetizer. Plus, it’s a snap to prepare. Just had to think of it!

Ingredients

• 1 cantaloupe

How to choose it? Just smell one end of it. A ripe cantaloupe will give off a scent. The riper it is, the more fragrant it will be.

• 200 g of prosciutto sliced as thinly as possible

Choose Italian if possible. It is even better if it comes from Parma, the capital of Prosciutto.

Prosciutto e melone is a dish that requires no cooking. It is prepared in two steps.

• Cut the cantaloupe into eight long slices.
• Remove the seeds and cut the rind from each slice.
• Wrap each melon slice in 1 or 2 slices of prosciutto. Leave the ends of the slices sticking out. And there you go!

Optional: drizzle a small drop of Porto over each already wrapped slice.

Try not to serve this dish too cold. Allowing the fat of the prosciutto to warm up will bring out the nuances of its flavor.

Cantaloupe and prosciutto is the perfect summer treat. It’s an appetizer that delights young and old alike.

Cucumber Salad with Cream

This recipe is very similar to Tzatziki. Again, it’s Joanna Gaines’ idea.

Ingredients

• 120 g mayonnaise (you could substitute it with plain yogurt)
• 12 cl. light heavy cream (15% M.F.)
• 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh dill
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 2 cucumbers

Preparation

• Peel every other strip of skin from the cucumber. Cut in half, then dice.
• Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
• Add the cucumbers to the bowl and coat them with the mixture. Add lemon or salt to taste.
• Place in the refrigerator, but not more than 2 hours before serving.

This little salad can be used as a dip, eaten on its own, or served with grilled fish on the BBQ.

Recipes for August main dishes

If we could feed the kids with just simple appetizers, it would be perfect. But that’s not always possible.

However, there’s nothing to stop you from preparing some great dishes. There are recipes that are not too complicated to make and especially not too long with August vegetables.

The first two are from the recipe book: Petite bible de la cuisine sans gluten.

Pasta with bacon and spinach

I discovered this pasta recipe when I was looking for something to make that would change us from our traditional Pasta Bolognese. Every Sunday night we eat pasta. It’s simple to make, not complicated and there’s enough left over for our lunches the next day. Besides, it allows us to enjoy it a little more time with the kids on Sunday night and watch a movie afterward.

I don’t know about you, but for me, I have the blues come Sunday night. Back to work for some and back to school for others. This is the way I found to counteract this moment of weekly blues.

Ingredients (for 4 people)

• 375 g gluten-free pasta
• 200 g smoked bacon, minced
• 175 g baby spinach leaves
• 300 g cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. pine nuts (optional but good)
• 6 tbsp. liquid cream
• 2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 stems of spring onion, thinly sliced
• Salt and black pepper

Preparation

• Cook the pasta.
• In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a pan. Sauté the bacon and onion for 3 to 4 minutes until the bacon is crispy and the onion is melted.
• Add the pine nuts to the pan and fry for 1 minute.
• Then add the spinach and tomatoes. Cook until the spinach is just wilted.
• Mix with the pasta.
• Stir in the cream, Parmesan cheese, and spring onions.
• Season and serve immediately.

For another pasta recipe idea to make in August, you can check THIS article.

Crispy Fish Puffs

Fish puffs are one of the things I loved to eat at the school cafeteria that we never ate at home. They are not difficult to make, taste really good, but I still need to get the hang of it.

Ingredients

• 500 g of skinless cod or haddock fillets, cut into large pieces
• 4 tbsp. milk
• 750 gr. potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
• 25 g butter
• 2 tbsp. capers, rinsed and chopped (optional)
• 1 beaten egg
• 75 g of polenta
• Olive oil for frying
• 1 large handful of watercress to serve
• Salt and black pepper

Ingredients for the fennel mayonnaise

• 6 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp. plain yogurt
• 3 tbsp. chopped fennel
• 2 tbsp. spicy horseradish sauce

Preparation

• Cook the potatoes for 15 minutes in boiling salted water.
• Place the fish in a pan with the milk. Season lightly, cover and cook for 5 minutes over low heat. Drain and reserve the cooking juices.
• Drain the potatoes and mash them in a bowl with a fork (not too much).
• Add the butter, capers, fish and 2 tablespoons of the cooking juices with the potatoes and season.
• Mix, trying to keep some of the fish and potato in pieces.
• Shape 8 to 10 balls and flatten them to obtain palets.
• Mix the ingredients to make the fennel mayonnaise in a bowl.

Cooking

• Pour the egg into one plate and the polenta into another. Coat the palets with egg and polenta.
• In a large frying pan, heat the oil to 5mm and fry the palets for 2 minutes on each side.
• Serve hot with mayonnaise and watercress.

Salmon Tartar

Salmon tartar is one of my favorite dishes. I recently tried ostrich tartar (no relation) and it was good, but I prefer fish. I talk about it in my article about ostrich in Quebec because I visited a farm recently.

This recipe comes from the book: Cuisiner avec les aliments contre le cancer. There are a lot of interesting recipes to vary the taste and pleasure while eating healthy and in season.

Ingredients

• 320 g salmon or trout fillet, cut into cubes
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 5 strawberries, diced
• 8 sprigs of dill, chopped
• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp. old fashioned strawberry vinegar or other
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

• In a bowl, mix the egg yolk with the mustard and vinegar.
• In the same bowl, slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking to make a mayonnaise.
• Add salt and pepper and cover. Put in the refrigerator.
• Mix the fish with the green onion, strawberries and dill in another bowl.
• Stir the mayonnaise into the fish until you have a smooth consistency.
• Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Salmon tartare can be served with fries and a simple green salad with homemade dressing.

August Desserts

Take advantage of market bargains to freeze your own fruit. I talk about this in the Strawberry recipes on how to freeze them. Don’t forget to cut your fruit before freezing it. Normally, they will keep for up to 1 year in the freezer if well sealed.

Peach and Raspberry Clafoutis

A long time ago, I tried this recipe found in the magazine Cuisine Futée. Fortunately, I had kept the recipe. My kids and I liked it, but we thought it wasn’t sweet enough.

Usually, clafoutis is made with cherries. It’s a good thing this recipe isn’t because I don’t like cooked cherries.

Its melting and soft texture has made clafoutis a classic of French pastry.

Clafoutis first appeared in France in the Limousin region during the 19th century. Its pastry resembles that of a pancake or flan pastry. It is both melting and soft. And if you don’t use cherries to make it, then it’s no longer a clafoutis but a flaugnarde.

Ingredients

• 3 fresh peaches cut into quarters
• 1 case of fresh raspberries
• 125 g light cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 5ml pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 whole wheat flour

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Divide the fruit among 8 ramekins or a large dish that cab go in the oven.
• Use an electric mixer to whip the cream cheese with the sugar. You should get a smooth mixture.
• Add the eggs, milk and vanilla to the mixture. Whip again.
• Sprinkle the flour thinly into the mixture while whisking on low speed.
• Pour the mixture over the fruit.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Continue baking for 4 minutes under the broiler until the clafoutis is golden brown.
• Let cool for 10 minutes and serve.

Banana Milkshake

There is nothing easier than making a milkshake. Personally, I don’t like it, but my kids love it!

Did you know that in the late 19th century, the milkshake was originally a drink made with alcohol, whiskey, and eggs?

Everything changed afterward with the arrival of the blender which allowed to emulsify the milkshake. It became easier to consume. It’s in 1922 that ice cream will be added to replace the alcoholic version with milk and syrup or fruits. Who had the idea? The Walgreens drugstore chain!

Ingredients

• 1/2 glass of milk
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream

Steps

• Peel and cut the banana into a container.
• Add the milk and ice.
• Blend well.
• Pour into a glass.
• Drink cool.

Double Strawberry

For a less cold version, try a smoothie.

Ingredients

• 110 g strawberries
• 1/4 banana
• 6 tbsp. strawberry yogurt
• 2 tsp. honey

Place everything in the blender. Blend until you get a nice smooth and creamy texture.

Enjoy!