Summer loving!!! 

This chickpea pasta salad is chock-full of summer garden veggies, tiny pasta shells, chickpeas, fresh herbs, smoked provolone and drizzled with my super zesty italian dressing for the perfect bite. 

This is such a wild amount of flavor in this little bowl, you won’t even believe it. Seriously. 

It doesn’t look like much. And it doesn’t look very special. But it’s just over-the-top good and every time I take a bite, I wonder why I don’t make this dish year ‘round. 

This is the pasta salad that I’ve been talking about all summer!

It’s embarrassingly easy.

And very satisfying. Perfect for lunch!

It is versatile and you can throw in whatever you want. 

But this exact one? This exact one is the one I’ve been making on repeat. That I’ve been loving. It’s been my go-to pool lunch and also a great side dish for summer nights. 

I actually AM embarrassed to tell you how many times I’ve made it! 

This is how I do it! 

First, I make the dressing. This is my zesty italian with a little dill zing. It’s quite possibly the most made dressing in my house. We love it. 

Next, I make the pasta. I love using shells with this. It’s cute and delicious when the chickpeas get buried in the shells! Fun. 

Then, I marinate the shallots and zucchini and summer squash. I slice these as thin as possible and let them hang out in the dressing a bit. If you’re not eating the salad right away, you don’t need to do this. They will marinate nicely right in with the pasta and chickpeas. 

Finally, everything goes into the bowl. I throw in chopped cherry tomatoes, smoked provolone (the best!) and a bunch of fresh herbs too. Basil is my first choice, but really any herb you have and love works. 

This stays great in the fridge for an extended period of time. A few days – a few hours, whenever you need it, it’s ready.  (more…)

The post My Favorite Summer Chickpea Pasta Salad. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Dinner is ready!!

This orzo salad is so delicious and filling for a summer meal. Juicy, grilled shrimp, sweet corn and tangy feta is tossed with tender orzo and drizzled with a chili lime vinaigrette. It’s incredibly flavorful and super satisfying. 

And it’s really easy to make for dinner tonight! 

It’s been a few months since I shared a recipe for you with orzo. Which is crazy, because it’s a huge staple over here. You know that I can’t get enough. My entire family loves it and it’s so versatile! 

I will pretty much combine orzo with anything and call it a meal. 

In this case, I’m using shrimp and corn, which can feel summery and seasonal if you want to slice that fresh corn right off the cob. However, it will also work if you find yourself craving this meal in the cooler weather. 

I love a warm pasta dish like this. It can be served like pasta or salad or like a bowl of pasta for dinner. And it’s easy, tastes better as it sits and is a dish that can always be prepared ahead of time for the ultimate flavor. 

Best part ever! 

The first thing I do is make the dressing. That way, it’s ready to go as soon as everything is combined. The chili lime vinaigrette is from Everyday Dinners and one of our go-tos. It elevates so many different dishes. 

I also cook the orzo, or at least bring the salted water to a boil.

Grilling the shrimp takes mere minutes. I love doing it this way in the summer months, but you can also throw this in a pan with some olive oil. It cooks so quickly and is ridiculously simple. I use a grill pan when mine is on the grill, because this minimizes shrimp fallout! It can easily fall in the grill gates and then you’re out of luck.

This is my favorite grill pan and I use it almost daily. It is 100% worth it and the best I’ve found. It also cleans up very well and I put it in the dishwasher too. 

The other parts are so easy! The corn: I will either cook frozen corn or slice it right off the cob. The fresh corn is so crunchy and sweet this time of year. Sometimes I also grill it, right along with the shrimp. 

I chop up fresh cilantro and chives – also easy! (more…)

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Who wants a sandwich!!

Feels like that’s the summer call. Who wants a perfect tiny little summer sandwich?! Complete with smoked turkey and provolone and lettuce salad and chips and honey mustard and more.

UM YES PLEASE.

Me. 

I want a sandwich! 

When I was a kid, there was nothing better than a sandwich when we came up from the beach or pool. And that sandwich had CHIPS ON IT. 

I’ve been a huge proponent of potato chips on sandwiches my entire life – they are one of my most favorite things ever. 

And so here we have the best summer sandwich slab that you can throw together for the day. Lunch, dinner, poolside snacks or more.

Here’s how our sliders come together!

First, you need a slab of slider rolls. You can use hawaiian rolls, but I really love the buttery brioche rolls over the sweet bread version. Slice them in half lengthwise, creating a bottom slab and a ton slab. 

Next, a spread. I go with honey mustard since it is our favorite. My family has been obsessed with this honeycup mustard for over 20 years. It’s the best. 

Okay – my favorite part. The chips!! For me, it’s a toss up between kettle cooked potato chips and baked potato chips. I also need to emphasize that I am not really a chip person, like I don’t care about them as a snack. Not my salty snack of choice. But on a sandwich? Dreamy. 

Next, smoked turkey. 

After that, provolone slices.  (more…)

The post Smoked Turkey, Provolone & Potato Chip Summer Sliders. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Lunch time!!

This chopped grilled chicken caprese bowl is filled with fresh mozzarella, juicy tomatoes, bright basil and a balsamic vinaigrette. It’s tangy, satisfying and great to enjoy any time of day. 

How on earth do I still struggle with lunch ideas? I love having a bunch in my arsenal, and I get bored easily. So I must always have something exciting to eat for lunch. 

My secret is to compile a big list in the notes app on my phone. I categorize it by season too. On the weekends, I can peek at this list and see what I should make for lunch that week if I don’t have leftovers. 

Occasionally things work best if they are prepped ahead of time. Others take just a few minutes to throw together right before eating. 

This is one of my favorite things to prep for lunch because it’s SO EASY.

And it’s super versatile too. 

Remember my grilled chicken caprese pasta salad? I love to serve it layered in a clear glass bowl? 

This is a scaled down version of that. It’s kind of like that, without the pasta. I’m putting it in a separate post for you in order to throw it under my lunch category. 

And selfishly, because I look at my lunch ideas all the time here on the website to decide what to eat during the week! 

I also can’t express how easy it is. 

Once I have the caprese salad and the grilled chicken done, the options are endless. I can eat it just like that – chicken and caprese salad.

Or, I can add in a grain. Farro, couscous, etc. Maybe add some leftover pasta or rice or quinoa, whatever I have on hand.

Sometimes I bulk it up with greens. My favorite is arugula. I love how peppery it is and it adds such great flavor to the chicken and tomatoes and mozzarella.

Other times, I will have it just like this with some toasted (or grilled!) sourdough. Hello, my name is Jessica and I could live on sourdough. 

And the really great part is that this can just be inspiration! If you have leftover grilled chicken, regardless of the marinade, it will work. Combine it with some tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil and you have a fresh, satisfying lunch in minutes. (more…)

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Get ready for the most flavorful meal! 

This Italian chopped salad can be served as a lunch or dinner, a party appetizer or even a happy hour snack. The salad is super flavorful, the bread is crunchy and toasty. Combined, it’s a delicious bite of heaven that is satisfying and simple! 

And the best part: you can assemble the salad ahead of time. Always a win. 

One of my favorite meals to make in the warmer months is grilled bread piled high with some sort of salad. I love it! It’s easy and versatile, can be a great clean-out-the-fridge meal and can be customized to whomever you’re serving. 

Oh and it can serve a crowd or you could even dial it back and make it an easy dinner for two. 

I can’t even tell you how often I make a version of this in the hot summer months. Not having to turn on the oven? Dinner gold. 

Of course, you CAN turn on the oven if that’s how you prefer to make your garlic breads. Whatever works for you!

This is what I love to put in my chopped Italian salad: 

Salami

Fresh mozzarella

Smoked provolone

Cherry tomatoes 

Roasted red peppers

Chickpeas 

Thinly sliced red onion 

Shredded iceberg lettuce

Radicchio 

Sliced banana peppers

And the zestiest, most delish Italian vinaigrette ever. 

This little chopped salad is fabulous on its own. You’ll be eating it out of the bowl as you’re preparing it. But it’s even better with some bread!

Warm and golden and toasty garlic bread, grilled so it has a touch of smokiness. 

Meals like this never seem like a big deal but they taste AMAZING. Loaded with lots of flavor and texture, they are one of those meals that makes dinner time FUN. It’s easy, yet it feels like a restaurant quality meal. 

And obviously, you can add in anything or leave something out, depending on what you love. This is a garlic lovers’ paradise. Garlic bread, a garlic-heavy dressing, all tangy and zesty with a bite. You can change that up if you wish or even do something cool like add in spicy peppers.  (more…)

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I’ve got over 90 lunch ideas for 2024 today! Lots of my faves all in one place.

Whether you are still working from home or heading into the office, these are lunch ideas for 2024 that you can make and prep ahead of time. Woohoo!

While I’m all about having a fried egg for lunch or topping my avocado toast with a fried egg or grilling and roasting some vegetables for lunch, when you work out of the home I know that just isn’t feasible. These are all dishes that you can make or prep ahead of time and ones that will taste great come lunch time.

That’s the biggest thing for me. No matter how fantastic the salad was that I would make for lunch when I sat behind a desk, whether it had croutons or last night’s chicken on top, it still tasted like a sad desk lunch and I just wanted something more delicious. Now I AM sharing a bunch of my favorite substantial salads below, but there are a ton of other lunch ideas here that range from soups to bowls to full blown meals! Eddie requires an actual MEAL, so there are some of those below too.

You can always find me sharing lunch ideas over on instagram too!

100+ Make-Ahead Lunch Ideas for 2024

(more…)

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I’ve got the best winter salad we can enjoy for the next few months!

This hearty citrus farro salad is satisfying and delicious, tossed with arugula, pistachios, radish slices, orange segments and feta cheese.

It tastes incredible, looks pretty, is the perfect combination of sweet and savory and hits the spot. 

I can’t get enough of this! 

Sure, the combo of ingredients is one of the reasons that this is so good. The texture and crunch, the chew of the cooked farro, the creaminess of the cheese and the tang of the dressing. 

But there is one other big thing. 

The reason this farro salad is so delicious? The farro is cooked in orange juice! 

I cook the farro in a mixture of water and orange juice. It’s delightful. Sweet but still savory, chewy with a hint of the citrus tanginess. It brings a real depth of flavor to the salad too. Trust me, you’ll want to eat a few spoonfuls of the farro alone. 

Once the farro is finished, I toss it with the arugula. This adds a peppery bite that complements the citrus very well. 

I also make a pomegranate vinaigrette that I drizzle on the base – all over the farro and arugula. This dressing is so delicious! It has hints of maple, red wine vinegar, pomegranate and garlic. It’s wonderful for the season and very versatile too. 

After the dressing shower, I toss the salad over and over before adding the rest of the goods. 

The toppings!!

Let’s just call them the best part. 

Thinly sliced radish, for that extra crisp with a bite.

Orange segments, with all their juicy, refreshing flavor. 

Chopped pistachios, because they are everything. 

And creamy feta! I live for feta. 

Toss it all together and boom, the ideal winter lunch or dinner bowl. (more…)

The post Winter Citrus Farro Salad with Arugula. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

This is as fall as it gets!!

A cozy and comforting grain bowl, complete with massaged kale, roasted squash and chickpeas, creamy goat cheese, salty pepitas for crunch and a maple vinaigrette. It’s like what I want to eat for lunch every single day in the fall. 

This bowl is satisfying, easy to throw together and super good. I love how customizable it can be, how the dressing gives it a sweet and savory kick and how crunchy the kale and pepitas are. It’s filled with texture and crunch – which is the key for a meal to be swoon-worthy for me.

In my book Everyday Dinners, I share my grain bowl formula. The way I like to do it? A favorite grain, something crunchy (a nut or seed), something creamy, like cheese or avocado, a bunch of roasted vegetables and a dressing that makes it extra special. That is just a summed up version, of course, but you can see how I put it to use in this dish!

This grain bowl formula: 

• I almost always use pearl couscous. I love how big it is, how the dressing can really coat each piece. I also prefer the texture over quinoa or farro. 
• For vegetables, I’m obviously going with squash today because HELLO FALL!! I’m also using some kale. I chop up the kale then massage it with a drop of the vinaigrette, letting it sit and soften for a few minutes. This removes some of the bitterness and also helps in be less chewy. 
• I want things to be a little extra satisfying, so I’m adding chickpeas! I roast them right with the butternut squash. This adds some protein and fiber and all around delicious flavor. 
• Creamy crumbly goat cheese is my favorite option for this bowl. Feta will also work. So will parmesan! 
• Salted, roasted pepitas give this dish an extra nutty crunch. I love them so much. And I love their size! Perfectly medium and crunchy.

The dressing is an apple cider vinaigrette with maple syrup. Oh my word, it is delicious. I love how truly MAPLE-Y it is – and how it doesn’t have mustard. Don’t get me wrong, I am a mustard freak. But without the dijon in this dressing, the maple really shines.

It’s a true, light vinaigrette – tangy from the vinegar, sweet from the syrup and excellent on any fall salad. 

My favorite thing about bowls like this is how versatile they are. They can be great for lunch or dinner, even served warm or chilled, right from the fridge. (more…)

The post Butternut Couscous Bowls with Maple Vinaigrette. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Hello hello!

Welcome to the side dish I make multiple times a week every single summer. Grilled bread, the most delicious and insanely garlicky tomatoes with fresh basil and balsamic spooned on top… HEAVEN. 

Absolute summer heaven. 

This is one of those no-recipe recipes. It’s embarrassingly easy. It’s more of a method than an actual recipe. Tomatoes on toast? Why yes, I am sharing this!

But it’s more of an idea for your meals, rather than a “here’s how to make this” type of recipe.

If you ever read my week in the life posts, especially in the summer, you usually see my grilled bread escapades for sunday dinner. I love throwing sourdough right on the grill when we’ve making a delish summer meal and have tons of tomatoes to pile on top. 

This is the perfect easy summer side dish when you don’t know what else to make. Aren’t sure what to serve with your grilled chicken tonight? Make grilled bruschetta. Don’t know what to eat with your salad? Grilled bruschetta. It works on almost any occasion. 

And it’s very customizable!

I love tons of fresh garlic in my tomatoes. So much garlic that there’s a spicy bite. But if that’s not your thing, tone it down. You can also saute the garlic in some olive oil first to soften the flavor a bit. 

You can add diced sweet peppers to the tomatoes or even shallots. More herbs like rosemary, parsley and chives. Even a handful of leftover grilled corn!

Shockingly, I love the simplicity of this more than anything. And that is huge for me. I don’t often go for the simpler option.

But there is something about the charred toasty bread and sweetest tomatoes that do it for me.

Also, this recipe works double duty for us. If we don’t have sourdough, or if we’re eating a bread-heavy meal already (like burgers or something), I will make the tomatoes exactly as written below. Then I sprinkle in some feta or goat cheese. That is one of Eddie’s most favorite side dishes ever. He adores tomatoes that way. 

The bruschetta topping also lasts in the fridge for a day or two. Sure, the basil gets a bit wilty but the flavor is still there. You can throw the tomatoes in salads or even on pizza. 

Basically, you can do just about ANYTHING with these tomatoes. 

The limit does not exist!  (more…)

The post The 10 Minute Grilled Bruschetta I Make All Summer Long. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Summer salads are the best salads!

Seriously, there is nothing better than throwing a bunch of grilled vegetables together with pasta or grains or greens and enjoying the most delicious seasonal produce. And that’s what we’re doing today!

An orzo salad with grilled sweet corn, grilled zucchini, creamy goat cheese, tons of fresh basil and a lemon vinaigrette? Sounds like just about everything I want to eat.

And more! 

I love an orzo salad, and I love everything zucchini and corn in the summer. It’s a miracle that I’ve never shared this exact recipe before because it’s something I make on repeat in the summer. While my grilled vegetable orzo finds a way to our dinner table often, a version with just corn and zucchini is even more common here. I love to get the corn and zucchini from our local farms and it just tastes incredible. We eat SO much of it each season. 

See, I also make a zucchini and summer squash farro salad in the summer which is similar. Except that my family is weird about farro. I love it, but the kids… eh. They aren’t thrilled with it.

But give them a giant bowl of orzo and it’s game on. They will eat just about anything if I put it in orzo. 

Here’s what we have in our orzo salad!

Orzo of course. And you can use any grain you like! Or quinoa, or something similar. Or even turn this into a pasta salad with a bigger cut of pasta. There are no rules! 

Grilled zucchini and corn. I do this at the same time on the grill. Makes it super simple! Then I chop the zucchini and slice the corn from the cob. Easy. 

Crumbled goat cheese. I love the creamy, tart goat cheese with this combination. You could use feta or even chunks of fresh mozzarella. Or heck, cheddar works too!

Lots of fresh basil is key here. It makes the dish taste extra summery and refreshing. Not to mention, adds a beautiful shade of green throughout the orzo. 

I make a lemon vinaigrette, which is one of my favorite simple dressings for a salad like this. It’s also one that most people love, which allows this salad to be enjoyed by all.  (more…)

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