Grilled Lemon Dill Potato Salad

Happy two months to this little lady!

It's really hard to believe Carson is two months old already, and in one short month I'll be going back to work. It's been such a joy to be home with my family this summer, watching Carson grow and packing Riker's days full of fun. And packed, they sure have been!

Even though I'm often tired, I get stir crazy staying inside all day, so it seems like almost every day/night we're out doing something, newborn and energetic toddler in tow. We've had the county fair, rides and fireworks at the boardwalk, beach days and pool days, countless walks in the park, a day trip to Philly, a birthday party at a bouncy house, a family day at a local winery, and even a float down the creek.

In between all the fun, we've also done a ton of work on the house, which we're trying to finish up quickly since we're having my sister's engagement party here next weekend. I've also been able to do a lot more cooking now that Carson is sleeping more. I am really loving this summer!

One thing I've loved the most is the number of friend's BBQ's, family parties and impromptu dinners we've gone to. Speaking of BBQs, if you're getting a little sick of the same old side dishes every weekend now that we're at the end of July, I present to you the grilled potato salad.

I've made this twice for family parties this summer and it was a hit each time. It's a refreshing twist on a classic potato salad, which I love because I'm not a big fan of the traditional mayo-laden kind. It has great char flavor from the grill, a little crunch from the onion, a nice zing from lemon, vinegar and capers, and a fresh flavor from the garden herbs.

Love those grill marks!

I'm also a sucker for warm salads. This can be served right off the grill or at room temperature, which makes for an easy dish to make and then take with you to a party.

Off to the beach!

Grilled Lemon Dill Potato Salad

Serves 8

Ingredients
5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced thick
1/2 red onion, minced
2 Tbsp. fresh dill, minced
2 Tbsp. parsley, minced
4 Tbsp. capers
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
Zest and juice of one lemon
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Salt & pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil; parboil the potatoes for about 5 minutes, until they are just fork tender but not quite cooked through. Drain and set on a baking sheet. Drizzle potatoes with olive oil and then grill for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until they are completely cooked through and slightly charred.

To make the vinaigrette, add olive oil, vinegar, mustard, lemon zest and juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper to a jar; shake or whisk until combined.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked potatoes, onion, dill, parsley and capers. Pour half of the vinaigrette over the salad while the potatoes are still warm so they absorb some of the dressing. Reserve the other half of the vinaigrette to pour over the salad just before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Atypical Memorial Day

Happy belated Memorial Day! I have really been slacking on the blog posts lately so am pretty late on this one. I've been really tired and going to bed early every chance I get, and the days have been filled with trying to wrap things up at work and frantically getting everything ready for the baby's arrival. She is coming verrrry soon.

This wasn't our typical Memorial Day weekend, which usually involves pools and beaches and fun with family & friends, but it did feel great to get so much accomplished, and we were still able to squeeze in a BBQ and a fire with some good friends.

Among the absolutely gigantic list of chores and errands Matt and I put together for the weekend (amazingly, all of which got done), big items included furnishing the new patio, finishing the baby's nursery and planting our garden.

 I decorated the room in pinks, browns and greens, with lots and lots of owls. I love the way it came out! It's cute but not too cutesy, and girly but also warm.

As for the garden, this year Matt built raised boxes (4 in all) instead of doing our usual square plot with a fence around it. We didn't want to keep the fence up now that we have a nice large patio, but need the plants to have some kind of protection from Butters and other little animals. I love the way his boxes turned out; they add a lot to that little corner of the yard. And I can't wait for fresh heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, strawberries and all the other goodies to start cropping up.

Saturday was actually Matt's birthday, so after a long hard day of work around the house, our little family headed out for a Mexican dinner followed by some ice cream. They were his only two birthday requests. Not hard to make that boy happy!

Sunday we participated in our big neighborhood yard sale, and had some friends over to sell their stuff with us. It was actually pretty fun to hang out all together on the front lawn while the kids played and we tried to sell our wares. I think we all caught the sales bug - it's quite the little excitement to negotiate with yard salers and actually make money selling stuff you're planning to get rid of anyway. Matt and I made a nice little bundle of cash, and are planning to use it towards a new farm table we're buying for our kitchen area.

Sunday evening more friends arrived for some snacks and a fire on the new patio to celebrate Matt's birthday. Not a bad little holiday Sunday. :) I did wake up Monday morning feeling completely wiped out though, so after a few errands, Matt made me relax on the patio couch while he worked on the yard. He's so good to me.

I'm halfway through a new dystopian novel, Halo, and loved laying in the sunshine reading in the afternoon, dozing off here and there. Can't remember the last time I did that!

After Mexican food and BBQing all weekend, I wanted something fresh and light for dinner by Monday night. I had a bunch of red and golden beets sitting in the fridge, so I roasted them off and made big salads for dinner, which we ate outside. On the plate:

- Mesclun greens dressed with flax seed oil and pear white balsamic vinegar

- Red and golden beets

- Goat cheese

- Dried cranberries (I found organic unsweetened ones at ShopRite!)

- Toasted walnuts

- A drizzle of aged truffle balsamic glaze

Soooo good. Dinner may have been veggie-filled and healthy, but we quickly ruined that with a quick trip to the playground so Riker could play and then soft serve cones at our favorite ice cream shop. I forgot to snap a pic, but my small chocolate & vanilla twist with chopped peanuts was fantastic. Just the way I wanted to end the holiday weekend.

After such a busy weekend of chores, I am feeling a little tired but also now, for the first time, ready to have this baby. If she comes tomorrow, we'll be ready. Eek!

How was your holiday weekend?

Farewell Sweet Summer

It's been quite the fun filled weekend. My whole family came into town on Friday, including my mom, stepdad, grandma, sister, her boyfriend, my aunt and her two kids. A couple family friends came over to visit too. We had a packed house but it was a lot of fun being all together and enjoying everything the summer has to offer for one last beautiful weekend. It will still be summer for a few more weeks, but with school starting back up this week, chilly nights and early sunsets here to stay, and pumpkin scented candles already on the store shelves, fall is well on its way. We said goodbye to summer in style.

Happy Labor Day!

Honey Grilled Peach Salad with Avocados & Macadamias (Product Review)

A few weeks ago I came home from work to find a box on my doorstep with a brand new product to try: Nektar Honey Crystals. The company sent me a box to test out, and being a honey lover, I couldn't wait to try out this new version of the sweet stuff. Nektar Honey Crystals are pretty simple - just granulated honey. Nothing else added.

The company's founder decided to make Nektar Honey Crystals because he was sick of the sticky mess and bottle cap that won't close (I know the feeling). I don't mind the honey bottle until it gets down to the end and I have to turn it upside down on a dish in my cabinet and it starts to ooze everywhere. I am also a big tea drinker in the winter, and I find that most coffee shops don't carry honey; I hate using white sugar in place of honey, so being the little neurotic that I am, I can see myself carrying packets of this stuff around with me in my purse when it gets cold out.

Other pros: the crystals are GMO free, which is really important to me.

But I digress. We're here for a recipe! I loved the honey crystals as soon as I tried them, but I thought there had to be more ways to use them other than just in tea. I've sprinkled them over yogurt, coated shrimp with them for "honey lime shrimp", and most recently, made honey grilled peaches.

Peaches are gorgeous right now, and these ones were giant and super sweet. I coated them in olive oil and then sprinkled on a few packets of the Nektar Honey Crystals. Then, to the grill they went!

I originally planned to eat these as dessert, but I felt like I needed a little frozen yogurt or something to bring them together, so instead I decided to use them in a salad for dinner.

Um, delish! I love, love the colors of this.

I started with a bed of romaine, then added red onions, cucumbers, avocado and macadamia nuts, then tossed it all with a honey vinaigrette. The peaches were really the show stoppers, though.

I added them to the salad when they were still warm, and they were so perfect. The honey crystals formed a crust on the outside of the peaches, so after they were grilled they were crispy on the outside (imagine the top of a creme brulee) but warm and juicy on the inside.

I served the salad as a side dish to burgers on the grill (veggie burger for me of course), but if you wanted to make this a main meal you could just add some grilled chicken or shrimp for extra protein. It would totally stand up as a full lunch or dinner on a hot day, and it begs to be eaten outside on the patio. It reminds me of a salad I loved to get in San Diego when Heather used to live there years ago.

If you want to grab some honey crystals of your own, the company is running a Groupon special right where you can order two boxes for 20% off. Check out the deal here.** Give 'em a try!

Honey Grilled Peach Salad with Avocados & Macadamias

Serves 2-4

Ingredients
2 large peaches, quartered
2 tsp. olive oil
4 packets Nektar Honey Crystals
2 heads romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
1 cucumber, seeded and sliced or chopped
1/4 red onion, sliced then
1 avocado, sliced
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Honey Vinaigrette
1/8 cup walnut oil (or other mild oil)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
Pepper, to taste

Coat peaches with olive oil and sprinkle with Nektar Honey Crystals. Cook an a grill over medium heat for 3 minutes on each side; turn once so each side is charred.

On a platter, lay a bed of romaine lettuce and top with remaining ingredients. Pour vinaigrette over the top. When peaches are grilled, place gently on top of the salad and serve.

Vinaigrette
To make vinaigrette, mix together all ingredients except oil. Then add oil slowly, whisking as you add it.


**The company provided the samples of this product. As always, views expressed are my own.