As the summer starts to wind down, try to enjoy all the seasonal produce on hand.

Each week I go to the farmer’s market there is more and more to choose from. It’s especially perfect timing for stone fruits like cherries, peaches, plums and apricots. And, you’ll find a ton of ripe and ready to eat vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, salad greens and summer squash.

It’s one of the best times of year to enjoy seasonal salads for dinner or grilling vegetables as a side dish. Everything is just so fresh!

So what other recipes are there make this month?

What’s In Season in August

• Apricots
• Bell peppers
• Cherries
• Corn
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Plums
• Saskatoon Berries
• Tomatoes
• Watermelon
• Zucchini

Recipes to Make in August

Summer fruit; fresh salads; fruit-forward cocktails; easy desserts – I’ve got you covered with recipes to make in August.

Summer breakfasts & baked goods

Stone Fruit Breakfast Crumble

Saskatoon Berry Scones

High Protein Peach Baked Oatmeal (with fresh peaches)

Zucchini Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Quick & Easy Puff Pastry Apricot Tart (beginner friendly!)

Grilled Peaches with Oat Crumble: An Easy Summer Dessert

ALL things salad!

Kale & Peach Salad with Feta and Toasted Pepitas

The Best Italian Chopped Summer Pasta Salad Recipe

Easy Summer Tortellini Pasta Salad

Blueberry Basil Summer Green Salad with Goat Cheese

Roasted Summer Vegetable Salad

Burrata Panzanella Salad with Tomatoes and Stone Fruit

Quick and easy appetizers

Burrata Bruschetta: Easy And Delicious Summer Appetizer

Whipped Ricotta with Honey Roasted Plums Appetizer

Easy Peach & Pecan Baked Brie (summer appetizer)

5-Ingredient Baked Goat Cheese with Apricot Jam

Quick and Easy Boursin Bruschetta Dip Appetizer

Fresh Cherries, Burrata and Prosciutto Appetizer for Summer

Fruit-forward summer cocktails

Cherry Bourbon Lemonade Smash

Strawberry Rosé Spritzer

Refreshing Watermelon Mojito Cocktail for Summer

Peach Whiskey Smash Cocktails for Summer

Sparkling Blackberry Vodka Drinks Recipe

How to preserve fruits and herbs

How to Freeze Fresh Basil in Olive Oil (3 easy ways)

Easy summer fruit jams (you can freeze to enjoy later!)

Easy summer dinner ideas

Grilled Vegetables & Protein: Simply chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces and grill in a basket (season with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic). Grill your favourite protein like my chili-lime chicken thighs at the same time and serve together.

Add any protein to a big salad: Two of my favourite summer salads are my Easy Green Summer Chopped Salad and Summer Greens Salad. Make one of these recipes and add a protein for a full summer meal.

Pizza on the Grill: Grab some fresh dough from a local store and grill it to perfection with your favourite pizza toppings. Try my Zucchini & Prosciutto Pizza on the grill!

Burgers!: Try my tried, tested and true spicy turkey burgers with dill slaw. Full of flavor but quick to make!

The post 30 Seasonal Recipes to Make in August appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

If you planted a garden this summer now is the time to start harvesting all of the amazing produce.

And, it’s the perfect time to enjoy what you’ve grown in some August recipes.

I love the month of August for all the delicious produce still left to enjoy: tomatoes, peaches, plums, apricots, blueberries, corn and zucchini just to name a few!

You’ll find many of the seasonal recipes below feature these favourite fruits and vegetables. I honestly eat them on repeat until they are out of season.

We’ve kept our meals pretty simple this summer too and are guided by what’s in season.

Inspiration for easy summer dinners

Barbecue chicken & grilled veggies: Barbecue chicken and coat with your favourite barbecue sauce. While the chicken is cooking, grill a basket of vegetables – we love to mix peppers, mushrooms, snap peas and onions. But you could also add in seasonal favourites like corn, zucchini and broccoli too. Serve with a grain like quinoa and you’re set.

One Pan Baked Lemon Chicken: This blog recipe can be made anytime of year, even in the summer. You can make this chicken as a meal prep dish and take for easy lunches too. Lemons are always in season!

Roasted Vegetable Salad with Chickpeas: Make this salad ahead of time for lunches or a light dinner! Roasting summer vegetables brings out so much flavour – you’ll love it! Plus you get a dose of protein from the chickpeas to make it a full meal.

Fresh greens and a protein: Mix and match vegetables on top of salad greens and top with a protein of choice. Serve with a side of baguette for an easy, light meal.

Pizza on the grill: Grab some pizza dough from a local shop and top with summer toppings like zucchini & prosciutto! This pizza recipe is made in the oven but can easily be made on the grill.

Last year I shared some tips for how to store the vegetables harvested from your garden and you can find those tips here! I specifically chat about greens, beets and herbs and what you can do with your herbs too!

So, what other recipes are there to make in August?

Berries: Summer Berries on Toasted Sourdough

Frozen Fruit: Tropical Rum Slushie

Peaches: Grilled Peaches with Oat Crumble & Vanilla Ice Cream

Plums:  Easy Plum Jam

Saskatoon Berries: Saskatoon Berry Scones

Zucchini: Zucchini Fritters with Garlic Yogurt Dipping Sauce

It’s times to soak up all the last summer produce, sunny patio days and August sunsets.

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post What’s In Season – Recipes to Make in August appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

We have another summer month to look forward to copious amounts of fresh produce. It’s hard to know what to buy and what recipes to make!

The garden is in full bloom, our vegetables are being harvested and I have August recipe inspiration to share with you.I just returned from a cross-country roadtrip to visit my family in Ontario. It was pretty neat to see alot of this beautiful country we live in. Northern Ontario especially surprised me; there were so many lakes! I was literally in heaven.

Now that we’re back home and getting into the swing of things again I’m back to cooking allll the recipes.

We came back to a VERY full backyard vegetable garden which gives me endless inspiration. In serious full-bloom right now are lettuces and kale; golden and striped beets; more radishes; and, we finally have broccolini and hot peppers coming through!

So, this weekend I made us a full garden salad with our lettuce, sliced radishes, shredded golden beets plus pumpkin seeds, feta and a red wine vinaigrette. It was so fresh and delicious! I love being able to make simple recipes with the produce right from our garden.

If you’re harvesting a lot from your garden right now, here are a couple of tips for storing your produce:

Greens: Any lettuces and kale I wash as soon as I bring into the house. Dry the lettuces (towel or salad spinner) and then store in an airtight container in the fridge. Bonus tip: Add a paper towel to the top of the container to help collect any moisture so the greens last longer.

Beets: Remove the greens (which you can wash and sauté with a little butter for an easy dish) and store the beets in a perforated plastic bag for 1-2 months. Best stored in the crisper drawer.

Herbs: With herbs like basil and parsley you can make an easy pesto to freezer for later use. For heartier herbs like rosemary or thyme, they can be dried by placing in a paper bag with a couple of holes poked in it and stored in a cool, dry place for about a week. Remove rosemary or thyme from the stems and use as dried herbs. Or, you could also wash and fully dry the herbs; then, add a mixture of the chopped herbs to a ice cube container and top with melted butter or oil. Freeze into ice cubes and save for use with roasted vegetables or roasted chicken in the future.

Speaking of produce, right now we’re getting tons of fresh peaches and berries from BC. I’m especially jazzed about the peaches because there are so many ways to enjoy them! For dessert, in a cocktail and even a savoury appetizer.

So, what else is in season? Here are some more recipes to make in August:

Blueberries – Blueberry Bliss Smoothie

Fresh Herbs – Easy Basil Pesto

Peaches – Peach Basil Wine Spritzer

Plums – Easy Plum Jam

Saskatoon Berries – Saskatoon Berry Lemon Scones

Tomatoes – Chickpea Taco Bowls

There’s much to enjoy this month and I’d say it’s time to celebrate all of the locally-grown food we have. Happy cooking!

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post What’s In Season – Recipes to Make in August appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

Farmer’s markets are bursting with an array of seasonal food and I seriously cannot wait to dig in.

I’m definitely ready to cook allll the things with What’s In Season for August; so, come on over for all of the August recipe inspiration plus an update on my summer adventures and vegetable garden!

This past month Scott and I have been on a variety of summer day-trip adventures. One of our goals this summer was to get out and explore Alberta more; so far we’ve done just that!

We headed out to the Turner Valley Region for lunch at the Chuckwagon Café and then a tour of Eau Claire Distillery. The Chuckwagon Café was bumping so we sat at the counter for a classic diner experience. We both enjoyed burgers, fries and gravy; the gravy was something everyone told us we MUST have and it did not disappoint!

Next, we walked right next door to Eau Claire Distillery, makers of my favourite gin; the Parlour Gin. We took a tour of the facility and learned a bit more about the area; many of their ingredients for their gin, vodka and other spirits are harvested from surrounding farms.

We also enjoyed some time on the patio in the beautiful sunshine and tried a cocktail too.

We’ve also been golfing a few times since the weather has been pretty fantastic!

In between summer adventures, we’ve been cooking a lot at home, trying new summer recipes. Can we just talk about noodle salads for a moment!? I’m seriously digging these Spicy Peanut Noodles with Garlic Chili Oil from Half-Baked Harvest and Ambitious Kitchen also has this Peach, Corn & Arugula Pasta Salad that’s on my list to make this month. I find they’re so perfect for summer weather because most can be served at room temperature and many of the recipes involve minimal cooking.

Another fav dish we’ve been making from the blog is my Chickpea Taco Bowls which involves pretty minimal cooking too and lots of fresh vegetables! Perfect for #tacotuesday and can easily be meal-prepped for August.

So, let’s get in the kitchen and make all of the delicious things with What’s In Season for August!

Peaches – Peach & Prosciutto Summer Focaccia

Plums – Plum Tarts

Spinach – Mojito Smoothie

Strawberries – Easy Strawberry Jam

Tomatoes – Roasted Tomato, Arugula & Halloumi Salad with Pesto

Watermelon – Watermelon Mason Jar Salad 

And of course I can’t forget a garden update! We’ve enjoyed out first batch of radishes and planted another. Our carrots and beets are coming along nicely so we should be able to harvest those in the next couple weeks.

And, we’ve also been successfully growing jalapeños! I’m also trying to grow potatoes this year and that is a process for the patient ones.

But, I recently heard that you should wait until either 2 weeks after the first frost (let’s hope that’s still far away) OR once the plants flower, 2 weeks after that. So I’ll keep you updated on those spuds!

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

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I spent most of July on vacation, enjoying visits with family and friends and feasting on all of the amazing fruits and vegetables in season.

And, we’ve also been thoroughly enjoying sipping coffee on our back deck and reading on weekend mornings. So come on over for some travel adventures AND recipe ideas for what to cook in August!

We headed east to Toronto and area for visits with family and friends in mid-July and the weather was spectacular!

Scott and I went for a couple of lovely bike-rides along the Waterfront Trail along Lake Ontario.

We also spent a bunch of time around my parent’s backyard pool because you just can’t beat sunny, bluebird Ontario summer days. And, we always joke that it’s like being at an all-inclusive resort – there’s always snacks and drinks! (Thanks Mom & Dad for being the best hosts!)

Much of our vacation centred around enjoying the outdoors and food with family and friends. We even took a day-trip out to Prince Edward County for lunch at the Drake Devonshire which has the most lovely lake-view from their patio.

Then, we then toured around to a couple of wineries.  We stopped in at Rosehall Run which has one of my FAV sparkling wines, the Pixie, and checked out The Grange’s variety of wines plus their new cider and stunning views.

We stopped in at Hinterland which I had not been too before and absolutely LOVED their Les Etoiles Sparkling Wine.  The tasting room was beautiful and open-air concept which continued to a patio that looked out at the vineyard.

I find Prince Edward County so magical and serene; I love visiting when I’m back in Ontario when I can for the scenery, wine and the food. If you are ever in Ontario I highly recommend going!

Before we headed back to Calgary we spent a couple of days in Toronto. One morning we had croissants and these Italian ‘donuts’ called bomboloni which are one of the best bites of food I’ve ever had at Sud Forno. I will DEFINITELY be going back there again! And, we also made a lovely family dinner on the weekend featuring an epic rib-eye steak that was made for sharing.

It was truly a wonderful trip and when we got back to Calgary it was hard to get back into the swing of things! But one lovely surprise when we returned was our garden in full bloom, specifically the radishes! These French Breakfast Radishes are AMAZING.

I’ve been enjoying them on sourdough, making many lunches of my Toasts with Radishes, Pea Shoots & Feta recipe. They’re also delicious with just butter and a sprinkle of salt on toast too.

We’re definitely cooking seasonally lately, especially with all of the fresh produce we get weekly from our YYC Growers food share and from our garden. So, here are some of my favourite recipes that you can make in August:

Apricots: Easy Apricot Jam

Berries: Aloha Breakfast Bowl

Corn: Roasted Summer Vegetable Salad

Peaches: Peach & Prosciutto Summer Foccacia

Strawberries: Strawberry Lemonade Rosé Punch

Tomatoes: Heirloom Tomatoes, Mozzarella & Sourdough Bread Board

I can’t wait to make some of these recipes on repeat the next couple of weeks while all of the produce is in season! AND if you’re looking for a cool treat, I made three easy Fresh Fruit Popsicle recipes for the Italian Centre Shop here in Calgary including Strawberry-Basil and Peach & Mint flavours!

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

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