Oh hi, stereotypical summer meal!
I’ve been cooking more low carb meals recently, and a struggle I have is finding meals that feel like a whole meal, not like there SHOULD have been mashed potatoes on the side of this steak, you know?
This is that. It’s the most perfectly light but complete low carb/gluten free meal, and it’s full of huge flavor to boot.
…Oh hi, summer.
My basil plant is doing GREAT this year, in a new sunny spot from years past, so prepare yourself for a gazillion “but it’s seasonal” basil-using recipes. You’ll get no apologies from me on that one.
I’ve been playing around with broiled chicken more, and after a few tries I’m definitely liking the method for a few reasons. It’s super quick and doesn’t smell up the house OR require walking outside to get to the grill, two things that can be a deterrent for me sometimes. This particular broiled lemon chicken is broiled on just one side because the pieces of chicken are super thin. If you don’t feel like cutting the chicken pieces in half (or buying thin-cut chicken) you don’t have to, just flip the chicken and broil on the second side.
This entire meal is done in half an hour or even less if you make the basil sauce another day as part of meal prep. Let’s do it!
…It’s the first day of school! Beck left this morning to great fanfare and WAHHHHH MY BABY and also guilt because honestly who needs school at age two and a half so if she stop school after high school that’s still sixteen more years of freaking school and also I’M FREE and also thirty weeks pregnant today so not free for long, sucker, and I’m hungry. 
It’s also 90 degrees here because of course it is. Climate change is a myth.
But we may as well soak it up, right? Even people who hate summer love summer; the nostalgia of freedom from school and longer days, more daylight, and freaking perfect fresh summer produce. Spring and fall greens and gourds are just nothing compared to tomatoes, corn, watermelon, and fresh herbs, so I’m going with it as long as the weather stays this warm. It’s my payment for excessive heat while pregnant – watermelon.
So today we’re using tomatoes and basil that are still everywhere in panzanella, aka bread salad, aka of course we should have bread in our salad. The dressing base is actually juice from the tomatoes, then we have salt, sugar, and shallot to round out the most delicious dressing. The bread gets crispy in the oven while bacon gets crispy on the stove, and honestly by the time we factor in the bacon and bread we should be just eating this for breakfast, shallot breath be damned.
I’m not above it.
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Because everything should have corn and tomatoes in it right now, you know? It’s true. 
Today! Monday, ugh, sorry. Another summer week! Yay, awesome! The first day of school???? for some, how. HOW. And, the week of our anniversary! It’s on Friday, and it’s been 5 years. A milestone! We are going to paint a room to celebrate and Jay might upgrade his phone because it doesn’t stay charged for more than a few hours. Big stuffs.
Another big stuff is this risotto, for real. It’s so perfect for this time of year, cozy from the creamy rice and fresh with corn and tomatoes that are still so good. It works in warm or cool weather, and if you’ve never made risotto the secret is to stir between sips of wine so…you can definitely do it. Risotto gets a bad rap for being hard to make, and it does take some time, but can still be done in 45 minutes and isn’t hard at all. Perfect for an anniversary dinner or a weeknight where you have a few extra minutes to cook.
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Ok, here is our detox-but-its-still-a-holiday-week compromise dish for the next few days/weeks/months. 
How was your fourth? We did a party on Tuesday and yesterday with friends/toddlers/grilling, I ate way too much beef and loved slash regretted it, and I feel like I can’t shower enough times to become not sweaty. Suggestions welcome for that one. The humidity around here is quite excessive.
So let’s talk about this compromise food. Wonderful veggie base, corn and tomatoes that are getting just so good this time of year. Garlic for your health and happiness. Then for mental health and protein pancetta and cheese because you’re worth it, basil at the end because of course there is. The best part of it is that it’s made super quickly so the ingredients stay super fresh and not mushy at all, and we have a healthy + worth it meal in half an hour or so with very little fuss.
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