It’s hot and lately, my go-to meal has been some form of a salad. I posted a quinoa salad recipe on Friday and I have a Swiss chard salad coming your way this week that I can’t stop making.
But let’s face it, not everyone loves salads.
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Yes, I know I didn’t put DIY Wednesday in the title of this post. I’m not losing it. Or if you didn’t notice, I’m not a crazy person just prattling on about post titles. Ok, maybe just a little…
Anyways, I’m starting a new “series” if you will but it isn’t really a series at all, just more helpful recipes for the middle of your week. Wednesday is when most of us feel done with the week. We are exactly the same amount of days away from Friday as we are from Monday and for some reason, it feels like the weekend will never get here. We’re tired of work and we come home and realize we have nothing to make for dinner. That’s where many of us throw in the towel and order pizza.
Or maybe you’re like me and prep a few things on the weekend so you don’t have to figure out your dinners but you are getting bored of the exact same meal and want to throw a little variety into your food. That’s where these Wednesday recipes are going to come in handy. They are all things that are made with simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen and can be thrown together fairly quickly. 
I don’t have a catchy name for these recipes yet. I know DIY Wednesday was creative genius so I will have to top that one. But I do know this basil hummus dressing is amazing and goes well on anything. It’s like summer in dressing form. Just a few ingredients and a quick whir in the blender and you can use this for salad, coleslaw, chicken, fish, zoodles, or as a dip for vegetables. Plus, if you want to keep it bean-free you can just use a few tablespoons of raw cashews that have been soaked in hot water for 15 minutes to thicken your dressing. 
See? I’m always thinking of solutions for you!
Basil Hummus Dressing 
You can use any type of hummus you would like whether it’s your favorite store brand or your own homemade. I just happened to have a little of my favorite hummus leftover so that’s what I used. Enjoy!
Since summer is (almost) officially here, I thought I would share some of my best summer recipes to get you ready for the warm months ahead!
I could eat this on repeat and never get tired of it. I love the bite of vinegar, the crunch of the cucumber, and the sweet of the tomato/basil combo. Make a huge batch of this and eat it throughout the week because it gets even better with time!
This is a great dish to bring to a BBQ or potluck because it makes a lot and doesn’t have to be served hot. Plus it’s free of gluten, dairy, eggs, and meat so it can please a lot of diets. Oh, and it’s delicious.
This is a re-do of my original BBQ sauce and it’s one of my favorite things in the summer. I use it on vegetables, in marinades, and try to put it on every dish. It comes together quick and doesn’t have any funky ingredients.
Ok, hear me out on this one. I know cold soup sounds really unappetizing and for a long time, I avoided gazpacho because gross. But when it’s really hot out and nothing sounds good because it involves heat in some way, gazpacho is really refreshing. And this one is super creamy and delicious and you can have a refreshing dinner quick.
I like making this casserole ahead of time and then serving it up cold or room-temperature. It’s best if you do all of the cooking in the morning so you don’t have the oven on during the hottest part of the day. And the tahini BBQ sauce is finger-lickin’ good. Yeah, I said it.
Have a vegetable garden and 20 lbs of vegetables that you don’t know what to do with? Send 10 lbs to me and then use the other 10 lbs to make this ratatouille!
If you like key lime pie and popsicles then boy are you in luck! These take a little bit of prep work but once they’re done you will be thankful you made them! Cool, tangy, and refreshing, they’re perfect for hot summer days!
My husband is a bread fiend. You know the saying “Man cannot live on bread alone”? Yeah, it doesn’t apply to him. I could put a hunk of bread down in front of him for every meal and he would be happy. I wouldn’t even have to change the kind of bread just get the carb-y goodness into his mouth as fast as possible.
He married a woman who doesn’t really eat bread.
Not that I don’t like bread, it just doesn’t like me back very much. Plus, if I ate as much bread as the man I married does I would probably be 600 pounds. 600 pounds of bread. 
Over the years, I’ve made various kinds of gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free bread and while they were good enough for me as a stand in for traditional bread, Adam never really took to them. Which is fine because while he also likes eating bread he really likes the process of making it too. But I wanted to make bread that both of us could enjoy and could get as close to real bread as possible.
I think I might have gotten it. Are these exactly like traditional dinner rolls? No. But Adam did eat 5 (or 6) of the 9 rolls I made and I think that’s good enough for me! You can make these rolls ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to bake them. You could even freeze a bunch and then just pull them out when you’re ready to use them!
Dinner Rolls- Makes 9-10 rolls depending on how big you make them. Based off these Honey Biscuits from Against All Grain. 
When I was coming up with the recipe for these tasty pizzas I had such a great idea/method. I was going to make a hashbrown like crust and then broil some delicious melty cheese, tomatoes, and basil on top. It was going to be awesome because I was going to use my waffle iron to make this wonderfully crispy crust and then pop everything under the broiler for the final touch.
My waffle iron is now in a garbage dump somewhere in Illinois. 
Long story short, if you have an awesome waffle iron that you love you can still make these the way that I intended. If you have a waffle iron that is literally the spawn of Satan you can use my alternative method and still have pretty delicious results.
Also, just a quick reminder to myself and anyone around me: Don’t decide to test a new recipe on a Saturday night when you’ve completely lost track of time, haven’t eaten in like 5 hours and it’s almost 9 p.m.
Yes, this really happened.
Yes, Adam had to deal with a hangry wife.
The things I do for you guys. 🙂
Sweet Potato Caprese Pizza
The fun part about this recipe is it can be dinner or it can be breakfast! Or lunch. Or a snack. Or if you’re a bit odd, dessert! I guess what I’m saying is eat this whenever the heck you want and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. You don’t need that negativity in your life. 
Happy Friday friends and enjoy your weekend!
*There are affiliate links in this post. If you click on them and buy the product through that link, I get a percent of the sale. Any money I get from affiliate links goes back into the blog to make it better for you, so thanks!
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