I apologize if you thought you might be getting an adoption-related post today. 😉 I have at least one of those brewing, I promise. In the meantime, you get my light and easy re-entry into the blogisphere so I don’t let a whole YEAR go by between posts. Not that 11 months is that much better… oops.

Anyway, I have yummy foods to share! I always feel the need to freshen up my recipe rotation this time of year when school is out, the garden has been planted, and the produce section becomes more varied and enticing. If you do the same I hope you’ll be inspired.

I’m including links to some of the allergy-friendly ingredients I use, but I feel obligated to say that there is NO benefit to me if you purchase from these links. I do think Vitacost is a good source for healthy foods, and the prices are good, but I’ve also gotten this stuff at WalMart and Azure Standard for great prices, so… do what you like!

With disclaimers out of the way, let’s get to the FOOD…

Salads:

Addictive Asian Cabbage Salad from Michelle at Sunkissed Kitchen: it’s easy, light, colorful, and allergy-friendly. If you needed to serve the almonds on the side, or use a different sweetener than honey for strict vegans, you could easily do it. This one seems like it would be kid-friendly, too, but I haven’t tested my theory yet.

Vegan Italian Chopped Salad from Well Vegan : we’re not a vegan household, but because I need to avoid eggs I use it as a keyword when I’m searching for recipes, and then things magically show up on Pinterest, and… you know how it goes. This salad became our new favorite when we tried it a couple weeks ago. I made it once for dinner, then again the following week for a potluck lunch. It’s delicious! The only allergy swap I needed to make was to use gluten free pasta, so instead of ditalini I used my favorite rice “elbows”  which are always in my pantry. If you don’t need to be vegan, it would be fun to throw in some pepperoni slices.

Watermelon Salad from Erin Gleeson via Design*Sponge: such a fun summer appetizer! I avoid dairy for the most part, but fresh mozzarella is hard to resist and doesn’t bother me too much, so I go for it with this recipe. I think you could use goat cheese if you needed to. We like to add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to spice it up a bit.

Main dishes:

15-Minute Coconut Curry Noodle Soup from The Woks of Life: this is one of those recipes that actually comes together as quickly as it promises to, so you don’t generate a lot of heat which is probably the last thing you want in the middle of summer. You can make it spicy-hot as you want, though! Some might not want to eat hot soup as a summer meal, but for us we don’t mind when it’s light and fresh like this one. Plus, it’s very allergy-friendly.

Grilled Chicken Shawarma from Edyta at Eating European: this chicken is capital-F Flavorful. We love it. My husband isn’t a fan of bone-in meat, so we use boneless chicken thighs, and usually end up cooking them in the oven. This gluten-free flatbread would be a perfect complement, and I think this pea and lentil salad would be a nice side dish.

Dessert:

The Best Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies from Holly at Keeping Life Sane: not a summer-specific dessert, but when is it not the right time for chocolate chip cookies??? This is my new favorite cookie recipe because it tastes as close to “the real thing” as I’ve been able to get! The only allergen accounted for is egg, but I’ve still had success using my favorite gluten-free flour blend and allergy-free chocolate chips. When I’ve made these, I have just used regular butter, but considering the rate at which I consume them, I should really switch to a dairy-free substitute. I don’t have a favorite butter substitute, but I’m guessing Earth Balance or whatever you can get your hands on would work. You may need to adjust the flour, water, or oil to get the right consistency. But in my experience, if a recipe can go gluten-free and still turn out good, it can handle other substitutions.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I hope you’ll find something here that you like, and feel free to share a favorite recipe in the comments! Happy Summer!