Summer is officially here, and SO is the heat in Texas… the upside to that is the fresh produce and all of the ingredients that are in season and available. Juicy tomatoes, vibrantly green okra, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, and on and on! During this time of year it can often be difficult to come up with a delicious dinner that still sounds enjoyable on a hot summer evening. This post features flavorful stove-top chicken, a crisp and light salad, and a savory & spicy okra and tomato side dish. Finish this off with a cold ramekin of raspberry sorbet topped with mint and you have the perfect week night or special occasion meal.

Spinach Summer Salad – serves 4

Chop and add all of the below in a bowl and toss (make ahead and store in the fridge)…. add the dressing immediately before serving.

• 1 bag pre-washed baby spinach leaves (remove stems and tear into bite size pieces)
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 1 can artichoke hearts (quartered)
• 1 can hearts of palm (diced)
• 1 small cucumber, peeled and chopped into small pieces
• corse black pepper & sea salt to taste
• (optional) – bleu cheese crumbles
• the dressing is up to you, however, I recommend using any type of vinaigrette, especially the Brianna’s brand – or click on my housemade salad dressings post to get ideas on making your own dressing from scratch!

Pan-Seared Chicken with Scallions

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, use parchment paper or stick in a ziplock bag and lightly pound them out… this will speed up the cook time
• one bunch scallions / aka green onions… it’s all in the same, the geography of where they are grown differentiates the name
• light sodium soy sauce
• lemon pepper seasoning
• salt & pepper
• cooking spray

Directions:

• in a prep dish or glass bowl toss chicken with light soy sauce, lemon pepper seasoning, salt and pepper
• trim the ends of the green onions and wash
• in a large pan or skillet spray non stick cooking spray
• turn the stove to medium high heat and add the chicken
• after 5 minutes flip the chicken and add the scallions to the pan along with more soy sauce (a little goes a long way)
• cook another 5-7 minutes until chicken is white in the center

Okra and Tomatoes

• add all of the below in a medium sized pot on your stove at medium high heat in the following order….
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small container pre-chopped onion, or dice your own onion (add to olive oil, brown it, add S&P, stir)
• add 1 bag fresh okra, diced… stir
• add 2 fresh tomatoes chopped OR 1 large can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• let this cook until okra is tender