One of the things we love about the Australian Summer is the amount of wonderful fresh produce that’s floating around. It’s the perfect time for fruit, salad, and delicious carnivorous snacks that won’t bloat your beach-ready body. (And just in case that sounds boringly healthy, let’s not forget that Summer is also the unofficial mating season of the fruit-based cocktail.) Here’s a list of our favourite foolproof Summer recipes.
BBQ YA RIBS
BBQs will always be a staple of ‘Strayan Summers but things have definitely evolved past the one-time requisite 30-pack of supermarket snags into bespoke barbecuing for the gourmet meat aficionado. Ribs are big this season and the reason is kinda obvious: they’re delicious and eaten by hand. For inspiration head towards hot dog artiste Andrew Levins, and his cook book Diner, or dependable “pucka” purveyor Jamie Oliver. You can scope Jamie’s rib recipe in full here, or take your cues from Youtube user “BBQTalk”.
“YOU DON’T WIN FRIENDS WITH SALAD” SALAD RECIPES
Winter is over and with it sadly goes cold nights of carb-loading. Many of you will opt for lighter (read: bikini-friendly) recipes in Summer but that doesn’t mean you have to be boring about it. Low-carb faves of ours include Gourmet Traveller’s pork salad cups and Kath Eats Real Food’s pizzas made with sliced vegetables instead of dough. Try the recipe for Pork in lettuce cups with watermelon and bean sprouts here and dough-free pizza via Kath Eats Real Food.
Occasionally you can win friends with salad.
BYO TACOS
Soft shell tacos continue to enjoy their moment atop the food-trends ladder – but the price tag can occasionally tend to reach unnecessary heights. Fast food fact: tacos are just tiny sandwiches with Mexican-ish flavoured insides. There’s no reason you can’t run your own makeshift taqueria using fresh top shelf ingredients. These recipes for mini guacamole and crab tacos from Gourmet Traveller, and Carnitas pulled pork tacos by Healthy Food For Living will make your mouth water from their titles alone.
NON-TIGHTARSE FRUIT SALAD
You’d think it’d be pretty hard to screw up a fruit salad but the sad truth is that one in three cafes somehow manage to do it. The #1 cause of fruit salad failure is going all out on the cheap ingredients (like apple, orange or cantaloupe, i.e. the devil’s melon) instead of anteing up with seasonal special delights. You can end up with a superior fruit salad way if you’re not tight about it. Pineapple, mango, watermelon, and cherries can be pricey, but chuck them together and you’ve got the culinary equivalent of an Ibiza after party. We love this Self Magazine version served with greek yogurt or low-fat whipped ricotta. Anything fruit-related present in Instagram photos with gauzy 1970s filters is also fine.
ANYTHING WITH MANGO
Mango isn’t exactly the Ghost Orchid of Summer fruits but it’s not far off when you consider how much $$$ some greengrocers try to charge for them. Every year there’s a small window when the price comes down. That window is now open. These curvy little guys can be blended into anything – smoothies, frappes, daiquiris, face masks – and are also lovely when thinly sliced into a simple spinach leaf salad. Top of our list is mango kulfi, which is essentially the Indian street food version of ice-cream. This Gourmet Traveller version is delicious, healthy and super simple to make, but the mango is just as pleasurable a treat to eat on its own.
DIP IT REAL GOOD
For some reason there’s something about Summer that makes many of us crave grown-up versions of baby food, i.e. things that don’t require the use of teeth. Think ice-cream, margaritas, milkshakes and gazpacho. (Just kidding, nobody ever actually eats gazpacho.) Invest in a food processor or blender and prepare yourself for the most denture-friendly share food of them all: dips. Australia’s Queen of healthy food, Teresa Cutter, has a bunch of delish “skinny dips” on her website that can be made in less than five minutes. They’re so good that you don’t even need teeth to enjoy them.
Dip.
SHRED THOSE SALADS
Summer and salads go together like Winter and cheese toasties. One of the best we’ve come across is from a magazine published by Desi Sena retreat in Bali (see recipe below). It features the surprising addition of shredded coconut and is just awesome for a light Summertime meal. But if that doesn’t float your boat then you can always pick up a packet of Chang’s noodles and rewind back to your childhood. So crispy. So good. The Oriental Fried Noodle Salad at taste.com.au is a celebration of texture and regression!
ANYTHING FROZEN
When all else fails and you’re melting on a 47 C day, just eat anything that resides in your freezer. This BBC recipe for coconut and lime ice slice is freaking delightful and easy to prepare. Even more idiot-proof are these frozen choc-covered bananas that come with the added advantage of neverending phallus jokes and your daily required intake of Potassium. Yay!
Photo by Justin Sullivan for Getty Images.
