By Lisa Golden Schroeder

“Knee high by the fourth of July” didn’t quite hit the mark this corn season. In fact, we had local corn much earlier, thanks to an unexpectedly gorgeous spring. So as each crop this summer has peaked, we’ve gorged on whatever is piled up on tables at the closest corner farmer’s truck. And corn has been hanging around for weeks and weeks—still as sweet and delightful as those first golden ears we sampled in early July.

I got to thinking about simple soup suppers that work in the summer heat—big pots of something that I can count on for quick dinners. Tomato gazpacho is one of my favorites—chilled, spicy and refreshing. But it’s not very rib-sticking, so my gang really enjoys a rich chicken tortilla soup that is heartier and fills up hungry boys. I use chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces, but sometimes I use boneless chicken thighs, which have an even deeper flavor. And I’ve been adding oven-roasted corn to the pot this summer—I’ve even grilled extra corn when we’ve got the charcoal on, to have on hand to add to salsas or this terrific soup.

I have to admit that my boys really love the crisp tortilla strips I make to spoon on top of the soup, too. Sometimes we make more than we need, sprinkling the tortillas with garlic salt before toasting them, for snacking long after supper is over.

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP WITH ROASTED CORN

Makes 4 servings

One way to make a more traditional chicken tortilla soup is to simmer a whole chicken with hot chiles, tomato and lime juice. The chicken is shredded and stirred back into the rich broth. The soup is ladled over crisp tortilla pieces in shallow bowls—but here, thin strips of toasted tortilla garnish the top of the soup. Since summer corn is a natural partner with a Mexican-style soup, ears of corn are roasted and sliced off the cobs to add a touch of sweetness. You can also offer chopped ripe avocado, sliced green onion and fresh cilantro leaves to jazz up each bowl as desired.

INGREDIENTS

For the soup

3 ears corn, shucked

1 package (14 ounces) Just BARE® Chicken Breast Tenders

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large white onion, chopped

1 can (14-1/2 ounces) fire-roasted diced tomatoes with chiles, undrained

1 quart low-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

For the tortilla strips

4 (6-inch) corn tortillas

2 teaspoons olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat oven to 400˚F. Place corn on rimmed baking sheet; roast 15 minutes, turning once, until browned. Cool; slice kernels off cobs.
• Cut chicken tenders into thirds. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large Dutch oven or soup kettle over medium-high heat. Add chicken, coriander, and cumin. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove from pan.
• Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan; stir in onion and corn. Sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Return chicken to pan, along with tomatoes, broth, lime juice, thyme, salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, brush tortillas lightly with 2 teaspoons oil. Cut into thin strips. Place on rimmed baking sheet; toast about 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until crisp.
• Serve soup topped with tortilla strips.

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

I was inspired this weekend by a lovely Hmong farmer who makes the rounds of the local farmers markets with her gorgeous produce. Baby bok choy, Asian cabbages, slender Chinese eggplant, fat cucumbers, incendiary chiles, spicy radishes, and all nature of pungent herbs—peppery Thai basil, amazing bunches of lacy cilantro, a fragrant array of mints. Her table sat next to mine, where the children’s garden kids were selling their herbal vinegars. So we chatted about the growing season and how she cooks with her own harvest.

Because she’s a working mom, her kitchen repertoire relies on as little real cooking as possible this busy time of year.  And as the mercury has cleared 90˚F this past week—and the steamy weather promises to continue into this one—I’m all about avoiding the heat of the oven or stove.  Turning to the grill is easy, but so are quick marinated chicken thighs sautéed in a hot skillet. I’ve found that my kids will eat lots of tender fresh greens if they’re wrapped around a savory chicken filling, topped with crunchy raw veggies and toasted nuts. So here’s my take on refreshing lettuce-wrapped chicken, the answer to a “dog’s day in August” evening. Put out a platter of lettuce leaves, herbs, sprouts and carrots, along with a bowl of toasted nuts to sprinkle in. A little dab of additional condiments, like more chili garlic or Sriracha sauce, or even some sweet hoisin or toasted sesame seed would allow everyone to customize their wraps.

Lettuce-Wrapped Asian Chicken

Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons toasted dark sesame oil

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons tamari or low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon grated fresh gingerroot

1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce

1 package (20 ounces) Just BARE® Hand-Trimmed Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs

8 large leaves butter or Boston lettuce

1 cup mixed fresh mint and basil leaves

1/2  cup bean sprouts, rinsed

1/2  cup shredded carrot

1/3 cup toasted chopped cashews

1 large lime, cut into wedges

INSTRUCTIONS
•    Mix oils, vinegar, tamari, ginger, and chili garlic sauce in medium bowl; reserve 1/4 cup to use as a dipping sauce. Add chicken, turning to coat with marinade (or place marinade and chicken in large resealable plastic bag). Refrigerate at least one hour.

•    Heat grill to medium-high heat or a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade; place on hot grill. Or sauté in hot skillet with 1 tablespoon of marinade (discard the rest). Cook about 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear, turning once.

•    Chop chicken; serve wrapped in lettuce leaves, garnished with herbs, sprouts, carrot, nuts, reserved dipping sauce and a squeeze of lime.

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

Where has the summer gone? It’s already past mid-July, my deck still hasn’t been waterproofed, nor the new grill assembled. But we’re ready to start…the old grill is sitting under the deck now. Almost headed to Goodwill, but not quite yet. So tonight we’re pulling it back out onto the lawn (again) to grill a lovely bird with one of my summer favorites—dark, sweet plums.

The honey citrus glaze I usually make is flavored with chopped fresh rosemary, but if my lavender plants are blooming I’ll chop up a handful of leaves instead. And stir in some of the delicate lavender flower buds. The combination of floral honey, Mediterranean herbs, tangy citrus and peppery olive oil is what I imagine sunshine tastes like. Brushed on chicken near the end of grilling makes the skin crisp up into a golden mahogany, while the meat stays tender and juicy underneath. To speed up the cooking a bit I’ll cut the whole chicken in half, from head to tail, with heavy kitchen shears. You can remove the backbone so each half lies flatter, but it’s not necessary.

I love plums—and will always buy extra at the end of the summer to stew up in a large kettle with a splash of orange juice and cinnamon to freeze in small containers for a mid-winter compote. But other stonefruit, like fragrant peaches, nectarines or apricots, grill up as beautifully as plums—brush with a little melted butter before laying pitted halves over medium-hot coals. My boys like grilled peaches sprinkled with dark brown sugar—they taste like pie without the pastry! For tonight I’ll just brush some of the herbal honey glaze over the plums before laying them around the chicken halves, waiting until the last 10 minutes or so of cooking. A few chunks of fresh lime or lemon to squeeze over the finished bird and fruit, a pan of quick-cooking orzo pasta tossed with some crumbled feta cheese, and a bowl full of fresh arugula dressed in a vinaigrette is an ideal supper out on the unstained deck!

HERBAL HONEY-GLAZED CHICKEN with STONEFRUIT

Makes 4 servings

GLAZE

1/4 cup wildflower or lavender honey

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or lavender leaves

2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice

2 teaspoons grainy Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

CHICKEN

1 package (3 1/2  to 4 pounds) Just BARE® Whole Chicken

4 ripe plums, halved, pitted*

1 lime or small lemon, cut into wedges

INSTRUCTIONS

•    Lightly oil grill rack; heat grill to medium heat. Mix all glaze ingredients, reserving 1 tablespoon of oil, in a small bowl. Mix until well blended; set aside 1/4 cup to serve with chicken.
•    Cut chicken in half with kitchen shears, rinse and pat dry. Rub with reserved 1 tablespoon oil. Place chicken halves on grill, skin-side up. Cook, turning as needed, until juices run clear (40 to 50 minutes or until 180˚F in thigh meat).  Brush with honey mixture during the last 15 minutes of grilling.
•    Place fruit, cut-side down, on the grill during the last 6 to 8 minutes of grilling. Turn fruit once and brush with honey mixture.
•    Drizzle chicken and fruit with reserved 1/4 cup honey glaze and a squeeze of lime.

*Substitute small peaches or nectarines for plums.

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

As our Just BARE® team rode in the inaugural Nice Ride bicycle tour down Nicollet Mall a few weeks ago, I spied the first-of-the-season farmers market stalls. For downtown Minneapolis workers, there’s nothing more convenient and Mary Tyler Moore-esque than when the flowers and produce appear on the walking mall in the spring and summer. Buckets of gorgeous bouquets stand proudly alongside bins of fresh, Minnesota-grown green beans, asparagus, broccoli, beets, potatoes and apples.

Each Thursday throughout the growing season it’s easy to pick up ingredients for a weekend’s worth of meals, plus a few sweet-smelling lilies or wild stalks of gladiola to bring the summer inside. I had my friend Marcela from Argentina with me that day, and she marveled at the overflowing baskets of early produce. In particular she loved the plump sugar snap peas, which she told me are never available in Buenos Aires. In fact she said that they don’t have farmers markets like ours in her city, which is in a cattle ranching region. So while we navigated our way through the market and the Nice Ride bikers, we loaded our arms with bagfuls of snap peas, spring onions, radishes, strawberries and a precious find of a few wild mushrooms.

We also grabbed a crusty loaf of locally baked bread, then headed home to turn our bounty into a screened porch supper (it was rainy that day)—roasting a whole Just BARE® bird rubbed with olive oil and some dried herbes de Provence, a blend of rosemary, lavender, oregano, thyme and fennel seed. We tucked a halved lemon and some fresh sage leaves from my garden inside the bird and slid it into a 425 degree oven for about an hour. Then we quickly sautéed the sugar snap peas with some sliced green onions and coarsely chopped mushrooms, just until they were tender and juicy. We enjoyed our supper with a lovely Malbec wine that Marcela brought to us from her home. It was a delicious celebration of our locally grown food—and a splendid conclusion to a very fun day.

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

All of a sudden it’s really hot! And even as the kids’ school activities wind down, I’m feeling less and less motivated to cook anything that takes more than 20 minutes. So I’m reinventing my kitchen time—the more I can do to maximize my time prepping, the faster dinner will arrive on the table. My family is no stranger to leftovers—reheating soups, chili, or really pretty much anything left from a previous meal is totally okay at my house. But I’ve long been enamored with the idea of “planned overs”: cooking once, but enough for two meals. And these aren’t leftovers; the second meal is a riff on the first.

So tonight I’m grilling seasoned boneless, skinless chicken breasts. But I’m planning on cooking twice as much as I need for a light pasta primavera. When the chicken comes off the grill part of it will be cooled, then wrapped up for another meal. I’m thinking it might be for fajitas—I’ll slice the chicken, than quickly stir it into sautéed sliced onions and sweet bell peppers that are seasoned with chili powder and herbs. The chicken will be in the pan just long enough to reheat it. Set out on the counter alongside bowls of chopped ripe avocado, fresh cilantro leaves, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, and fresh salsas. A stack of warm flour tortillas completes the buffet—let everyone file through, building their own wraps to taste. I love to make this dinner (I think I’ve talked about it before), as everyone is happy—down to the kid who only eats the tortillas wrapped around a bit of chicken and cheese.

Another summer quick fix is based on the same concept—grilled chicken, either breasts or boneless thighs—cooked ahead for picnics on the go. Rather than buying pre-sliced luncheon or deli meats, slice up the grilled chicken and stow in a covered food container. Pack up soft pita fold bread or wheat chappatis, a container of garlicky hummus, a ripe tomato and cucumber (don’t forget your picnic pocket knife), a cluster of grapes, some cookies, and a water bottle or two filled with lemonade! Everyone can make their own chicken ‘wiches, leaving very little waste behind—and if you’re on bicycles, pack individual soft lunch bags (with a little ice pack) that fit into a bike basket. More on biking and using your own green pedal power in the coming week…in the meantime make this pasta for a balmy early summer evening.

This ultra-simple pasta dish celebrates the freshness of spring and early summer produce. “Primavera” simply means the first tender offerings of the growing season. Look for English peas in the pod at early farmer’s markets—if you have trouble finding them, substitute sugar snap peas. To make the long thin strips of carrot, just use a vegetable peeler, cutting lengthwise after peeling off the skin—or just shred them with a veggie grater.

GRILLED CHICKEN PRIMAVERA PASTA

Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 package (14 ounces) Just BARE® Hand-trimmed Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Fillets

1 tablespoon dried garlic-herb seasoning

8 ounces uncooked whole-wheat or regular linguine pasta

3 medium carrots, cut into thin strips

1-1/3 cups fresh or frozen peas

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

4 green onions, sliced

Shredded Parmesan cheese, if desired

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS
•    Heat grill to medium-high heat. Rub chicken with garlic-herb seasoning. Place on grill; cook for about 8 minutes, turning once, or until no longer pink in center.
•    Meanwhile, cook linguine as directed on package. In last 2 minutes of cooking, add carrots and peas to the pot. Drain pasta and vegetables well; place in large serving bowl.
•    Beat olive oil, vinegar, and thyme together with a fork. Toss with hot pasta mixture; add green onions.
•    Slice grilled chicken and serve over pasta, sprinkled with Parmesan, salt and pepper.