Cool & Creamy Cucumber Tzatziki
Plus, 5 Dinners in Real Life
Hello!
Wherever you are today, it’s probably a hot one. At this point in the summer my motivation is wilting and I’m guessing yours is too? Shouldn’t we all just be hanging out together at the pool?
I spent a few days this week chiding myself for not getting more done and feeling more motivated. I was caught in the frustrating trap of not working productively but not fully relaxing either. The worst of both worlds. Then I realized I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. It’s not me, it’s just summer!
As a freelancer with kids, I’m lucky that I can step back from my work somewhat during the summer. From the outside looking in, it probably seems ideal. In reality, it can be stressful. I don’t earn as much, for starters. It’s also hard to balance the needs of my kids and my desire to enjoy time with them with the need to get at least a little bit of work done. Remember during the pandemic when your kids were home all the time and you were trying to work? That’s what summer is like for freelancers who can’t afford two months of kid camps (and we are many).
It’s also hard to step back from my work during the summer when it feels like all the other recipe developers on the internet are churning out a steady stream of gorgeous salads, colorful frozen desserts, homemade cocktails, grilled everything, and on and on and on. I truly enjoy a lot of the summer food content that I see, but to be revealingly honest, it can sometimes make me feel inadequate and yes, envious.
Summer envy comes in different forms. You might be feeling envy of different sort this summer. Maybe you feel envious of other people’s vacations or their summer homes or their effortless ability to throw summer parties. Maybe it’s the amazing summer camps your kid’s friends are going to or the cute summer dresses your co-worker keeps wearing. Maybe it feels like everyone else is having a great summer and yours is turning out to be pretty average.
As my husband pointed out to me, what feels like summer envy isn’t always envy, it’s longing. Summer is filled with longing for carefree days and simple pleasures. We’re all chasing a feeling, trying to get back to a moment in time when we woke up on a summer morning to the sound of sprinklers switching back and forth and the smell of cool, wet grass. Our plan that day was to ride our bike, go to the pool, eat popsicles and hang out with friends. We weren’t thinking about the future at all. We were perfectly content. We were happy.
As an adult, truly carefree summer moments are fleeting and harder to find, but they are there. The really great thing about being an adult is that my expectations are extremely reasonable. On Monday evening we sat on our back patio to watch the sun set while our kids bounced a ball around. Even if only for 20 minutes, life felt just about perfect.
Recipe of the Week: Tzatziki, two ways
I have a simple recipe for you today that can be the centerpiece of a summer dinner that I love. I think you’ll love it too!
Here’s what you do:
Make homemade tzatziki, which is a cool and creamy cucumber dip/sauce made with fresh herbs, garlic, olive oil and lemon. You can make it one of two ways:
Make a Greek salad by slicing up cucumbers, green bell pepper, red onion and tomatoes. Add kalamata olives, chunks of feta, fresh parsley or mint, a generous squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil and salt + pepper.
Buy chicken thighs, either pre-marinated or make your own marinade. Grill the chicken thighs (12 to 15 minutes).
Mediterranean chicken - an olive oil & red wine vinegar marinade with garlic, dill and spices
Spiced yogurt marinated chicken from Dinner a Love Story
Buy pita chips or pita bread to serve alongside the tzatziki, Greek salad and grilled chicken. Open a bottle of rosé or sparkling lemonade. Enjoy summer!
5 Dinners in Real Life
I’m always curious about what other families are eating. Aren’t you? I hope that my week of real life dinners will provide helpful recipes & cooking ideas for your family. Here’s what my crew ate last week:
Monday: I was out running errands and as the afternoon got later I realized there wasn’t going to be time to cook dinner. I picked up a rotisserie chicken, a baguette and corn for a quick and easy dinner. Rotisserie chicken isn’t my favorite, but it’s totally fine, especially when it makes my life easier.
Tuesday: A friend mentioned awhile back that she’d found the perfect easy dinner after evening sports practice…sandwiches! I’ve been following her lead and I’m now 100% Team Sandwich. Early in the day I made two platters, one with sliced turkey, salami, ham and provolone and one with shredded iceberg lettuce, sprouts and pickles. That evening after swim practice the kids made their own custom sandwiches which they loved (we use a baguette or Bolillo rolls for a sub sandwich feel).
Wednesday: Lately one of my back-pocket vegetarian dinners has been warming about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste in a non-stick skillet with chopped garlic, a teaspoon of coriander and a generous glug of olive oil. I add a can of drained chickpeas and saute for about five minutes. Then I add 2 to 3 cups of cooked white rice and mix it really well. I also served naan (frozen from Trader Joes) and broccoli.
Thursday: We celebrated the 4th of July at a friend’s house and they served a dinner much like the one I recommend above: grilled shawarma chicken with pita bread, hummus, tzatziki, feta and grilled zucchini.
The great thing about this type of meal is that everything can be cooked ahead of time and served cold or at room temp. Our hosts were able to relax and enjoy the evening with us, instead of standing over the grill all night.
Friday: I’ve been working on a salmon recipe for paid subscribers, so we had salmon for dinner with orzo pasta and a Greek yogurt cilantro-lime sauce. I’ve tested the sauce about five times over the past few weeks and this time, I think I finally got it right! Here’s a sneak peek:
Cookbooks
Make it Japanese has a mix of simple and more complex recipes that chef Rie McClenny calls “homestyle” Japanese cooking. To be honest, I haven’t tried cooking any of the recipes yet because I’m still slowly reading through the cookbook, absorbing Japanese cooking techniques & ingredients and enjoying McClenny’s stories about growing up in Japan.
If you’re not already familiar with Japanese cooking, this isn’t the type of cookbook you should just jump into and randomly choose a recipe. You’ll want to first skim it cover to cover, learning the basics of Japanese home cooking. Then, choose from comforting recipes like curry rice, baked lemon-miso salmon, easy soy sauce ramen or simple homemade Yakisoba.
That’s it for this week! Hope you stay cool and find some simple summer moments to enjoy this weekend.
xo
Jenny
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