Recipe for Another Summer Super Salad Inspiration

We enjoyed the last summer super salad so much that I've pretty much added it to the weekly rotation.  This version has refreshing and juicy watermelon mingling with blueberries, feta and mint, a simple vinaigrette and a summer staple-grilled chicken.  Once again, Mr. ELEB did his magic on the grill and contributed perfectly cooked chicken breasts.  A quick vinaigrette whipped together in the blender, a toss together of the watermelon, blueberries, feta and mint, and dinner was on the table in just about 30 minutes.

Recipe for Pear and Prosciutto Appetizer

When I move to San Francisco, one of my neighbors ended up being a co-worker and good friend.  She is part Italian and introduced me to prosciutto wrapped melon which we used to lap up as an afternoon snack with a glass of wine on our roof top deck (on those days when you could enjoy the sun outside in San Francisco without a coat on).  The light and salty flavor of the prosciutto complemented the sweetness of the melon perfectly.  Those Italians know how to do food right!


Now in Maui, we can enjoy the outdoors pretty much any day we like (don't hate me!).  I still love prosciutto wrapped melon and thought it would be perfect as a nibble for when our friends were coming over to do some trip planning.  (Oh, and also some wine drinking).  However, I couldn't find a decent melon to save my life, so I improvised with the pears.   Turns out, the Mr. of the couple doesn't like ANY melon...things work out for a reason sometimes-I've learned not to fight it!  And the pears were beautiful with the prosciutto!

Recipe for Figs with Spiced Mascarpone Cheese

It's a rare thing, in my experience, to see figs on Maui so when I saw some recently I grabbed a basket.  Now what to do with them?  I wanted something simple and something that would complement the not-too-sweet taste of the figs.  I also wanted a little bit of decadence.  I thought about something with goat cheese and figs, which I've had in restaurants and know is a good combination.  Not really what I was aiming for, though.  I thought of Chef Dennis's mascarpone cheesecake recipe and thought "Brilliant!"

Recipe for Mango Crisp

We don’t eat a lot of dessert at home, it’s more of a treat when we go out and we tend to share.  Mr. ELEB loves fruit pies, crumbles, crisps, all those fruity possibilities for dessert.  Me, I’m more into chocolate, caramel etc.  So, picking something to share is often challenging.

I do recognize that for the most part, the fruit options are better for us but rationalize the chocolate because “I eat whole fruit several times a day” and “it’s a treat and a little bit of something richly chocolate goes a long way.”  Plus, as you can see from the nutrition breakdown here, just because something is a fruit dessert doesn’t mean it isn’t “Big Eats”.

Fruit Salad

Take five minutes on Sunday and enjoy a nice fruit salad for the next 3-4 days.  I’ve been trying to get back in the habit of prepping stuff a bit at a time so it isn’t always a start from scratch with every meal or snack.  Plus I find I eat healthier when I put some thought into it rather than just opening the cupboard or fridge and grabbing whatever catches my eye.    By then I’m usually hungry and want immediate satisfaction and won’t spend the few minutes it takes to put something like this fruit salad together.