We are about to enter the last full month of Summer which means if you haven’t gotten your fair share of endless days outside, lazy days on the beach, and addicting summer food it’s time to start taking advantage of the weekends and making plans. Being as obsessed with food as I am, my main concern is being sure that I take full advantage of all the foods that tend to be linked with this weather. While there really is a never ending list of recipes that are great for this season, I’m sharing five of my most loved recipes below.
Image Credit: Lauren Brennan
No Bake Granola Bars {via lauren’s latest}
I make granola bars year round but my normal recipe includes baking time in the oven. Turning it on during the summer months doesn’t always seem appealing, even for people obsessed with baking like myself, so I make this recipe a lot around this time. They are super quick and so much better than the store-bought ones because you are able to control what is in them. I’d suggest making these every or every other Sunday so that you can eat them throughout the week.
Summer BBQ Quinoa Salad {via howsweeteats}
If I told you that I’ve made this every other week since June would you believe me? It’s simple, delicious, light, relatively healthy and — due to the quinoa, chicken, and chickpeas — extremely filling. I’ll make this on a Sunday to eat as lunches during the week but a small portion also makes a great snack before or after a workout. Don’t feel tied down to this recipe either – I omit the roasted red peppers and accidentally forget the green onions almost every time I make it. Still turns out delicious.
Fruit Salad
Infomercial voice: Is it common for you to buy a bunch of fruits then have them go bad before you get to eat them? No recipe needed for this one, but I find that the easiest way to avoid this is to clean, cut, and turn them into a fruit salad. There are so many yummy fruits in season in the Summer and having them ready to go in the fridge makes snack time brainless. Just include what you like — and make sure to choose fruits that won’t go bad after a few days if you aren’t planning on squeezing lemon juice on them.
Image Credit: Jessica Merchant
Summer Pasta Salad {via twopeasandtheirpod}
Similar to the quinoa recipe above, this is a great meal to have stocked in your fridge for an easy lunch or snack but it can be a full dinner as well. This recipe makes a hot pasta salad, but I actually prefer it cold, so I’ll normally make it and let it cool before eating. The dressing on this is so addicting that I really recommend bookmarking it and using it in the future.
Burgers Wrapped in Lettuce
I’m not normally one to drop the bun off the burger (that is the best part, right?) but there is something so satisfying about a burger with a lettuce wrap instead of a bun in the Summer. It might be that wearing a swimsuit, or at the very least less clothing that normal, gets into my brain but I find that these are the three months a year that I choose lettuce over a bun to wrap the burger in. Bonus points to the fact that lettuce tends to hold the burger in more than a traditional bun – all the more reason to load it up with toppings!
Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles {via annie’s eats}
I’m not normally one to drop the bun off the burger (that is the best part, right?) but there is something so satisfying about a burger with a lettuce wrap instead of a bun in the Summer. It might be that wearing a swimsuit, or at the very least less clothing that normal, gets into my brain but I find that these are the three months a year that I choose lettuce over a bun to wrap the burger in. Bonus points to the fact that lettuce tends to hold the burger in more than a traditional bun – all the more reason to load it up with toppings!
What are you Summer staples? Did I miss anything that you can’t get enough of?
The Hudsucker 
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