Does anyone else feel like summer is going by way too fast? It's stressing me out!
The cure, of course, is to slow down and live in each day instead of worrying about what you should be doing, or could be doing. Sweet tea with mint helps me to slow down and live in the moment.
And it's only mid-July, which is like the middle of summer … for people with kids in school. I've got a preschooler and a 1-year-old, we don't have any back-to-school rush to worry about. Heck, we still go to the beach in September, because we can.
I want to encourage you all to keep taking in local summer produce. Fruits and vegetables ripened on the vine, stalk or tree will always beat out picked, refrigerated, trucked and sold somewhere down the line produce.
And one fruit to especially enjoy locally is peaches. I feel like quite a number of local farms grow peaches, and while Georgia is "the peach state," if you're in Maryland, that peach picked the same day as you bite into it is still going to taste better. In fact, I challenge you to go out and pick some peaches. Pack a picnic. Make a day of it.
And when you get home, you can use your bounty to make today's recipes.
First, let's start with peaches for breakfast, as in these peach crisp monkey bread muffins. Reread that. Now wipe that drool off the corner of your mouth. I haven't tried these yet, but I love monkey bread, and taking it up a notch with using cinnamon roll dough instead of classic biscuits, plus adding a peach, plus adding a streusel topping, ahhh, now that's summer.
Next, for lunch, a mid-summer dream salad, which is meant to be a hearty salad, not just lettuce with decorations. Here, you mix fresh sliced peaches, fresh cherries, sweet corn, green beans and pecans over kale and butter lettuce, and toss it with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.
And finally, for dinner, pork sausage and peach kabobs, flavored with a honey and harissa marinade. Harissa is a spicy and aromatic chile paste commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern cooking. This is a good recipe for giving it a try, where most of it will drip off as it cooks on the grill rather than in a sauce that would stay on the meat and might overwhelm your taste buds on the first try.
And as a bonus, a recipe for peach sweet tea. You know, to help you relax and live in the summer moments.
Enjoy!
Peach crisp monkey bread muffins
For the muffin:
2 cans (12.4-ounces each) Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls with Original Icing
1 peach, peeled and diced
For the topping:
3/8 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/8 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray. Open cinnamon rolls and set aside icing.
Separate dough into 16 rolls; cut each roll into 6 pieces.
Place 5 pieces in the bottom of the muffin cup; sprinkle with 1 ½ tablespoons diced peaches. Top with 3 pieces of dough.
Combine brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, salt and pecans in a small bowl; whisk until fully combined. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or fork until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle 1½ tablespoons of topping atop each muffin.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until topping and muffins are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool 2 minutes in pan before removing.
Transfer icing to a small microwavable bowl; microwave about 10 seconds or until melted. Drizzle over muffins.
Mid-summer dream salad
For the salad:
4 cups kale, finely shredded
1 head of butter lettuce, finely shredded
4 eggs, hardboiled
2 cups fresh green beans
1 ear sweet corn
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups cherries, pitted and halved
1 large peach, thinly sliced
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup basil, shredded
For the balsamic vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Heat a frying pan over medium high heat and add the olive oil, green beans, and sweet corn. Sauté until the beans and corn are heated through and have some charred color to them.
In a large salad bowl, add shredded greens, and then top with quartered hard boiled eggs, cherries, peaches, green beans, corn, basil and pecans.
In a small jar, add together dressing ingredients and shake. Pour over salad, and toss.
If not serving right away, keep the dressing and pecans separate, and add right before serving.
Harissa honey marinated pork sausage peach kabobs
3 medium firm peaches (not completely hard but still firm)
1 pound pork bratwursts
2 tablespoons low-sodium Tamari (or soy sauce)
2 tablespoons runny honey
2 tablespoons avocado oil (or coconut oil or grapeseed)
1 tablespoon harissa seasoning
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
If using wooden skewers, soak in water for at least 20 minutes before using.
Slice peaches vertically into approximately 3/4 inch thick pieces (creating 6 to 8 pieces per peach). Slice bratwurst into approximately 1 1/2 inch-long pieces, leaving casing on.
Add peaches and bratwursts to a large Ziplock or other marinating container. Whisk together tamari, honey, avocado oil and harissa and pour over peaches and brats. Seal bag or container tightly and shake to evenly distribute marinade. Refrigerate for at least four hours and up to 12 (more than that and the peaches will start to break down).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Drain peaches and brats in a colander, then add to skewers in whatever order you like. Place skewers on parchment-lined baking sheet.
Heat an indoor or outdoor grill to medium high heat and grill skewers on each side; I grill the first side for 3 to 4 minutes, and the other side cooks more quickly so 1 to 2 minutes. While they're grilling, discard the parchment paper on your baking sheet and add a fresh piece.
Cut into a piece of your brats. If they have nice grill marks but aren't cooked through all the way, add skewers to your freshly-lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes until cooked through. Serve immediately with torn basil leaves. Leftovers will keep tightly sealed in the refrigerator up to 4 days.
Perfect peach iced tea
For the simple syrup:
1 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup water
2 ripe peaches, thinly sliced, plus more for serving
For the tea:
2-3 tablespoons loose leaf black tea (from 3 to 4 tea bags), depending on how strong you prefer it
8 cups filtered water
Bring sugar, water, and peaches to a boil in a small saucepan. Then lower heat and use a wooden spoon to stir and crush the peaches to infuse the flavor.
Once the sugar is dissolved, cover, remove from heat and let steep for 25 to 30 minutes.
In the meantime, brew your tea using either a large pot or a tea maker. Try not to let it steep longer than 4 to 5 minutes or it can get bitter.
Once brewed, remove tea bags or strain out loose leaf tea and transfer to a pitcher. Refrigerate to cool.
Once your simple syrup is finished, pour into a bottle or container over a fine mesh strainer to strain out peaches. You can reserve the peaches for later use, such as to place over oats or ice cream sundaes.
To serve, either set out simple syrup and add as much to the tea as you like, or add all of the simple syrup to the tea and stir. Serve tea over ice and fresh sliced peaches. Yields about 10 servings.
Source: minimalistbaker.com
