Caprese Salad to Beat the Summer Heat

Mindy here and we are definitely in the dog days of summer.

104 in the shade. :0

Then again, this is Texas, the Lone Star State. Home of longhorns, wind farms, oil wells... And heat and humidity. Not that any of that can diminish our Texas pride. So I can’t help but give you a glimpse of our new front doors that arrived last week.

Still, when it’s this hot, the last thing I want to do is cook. So we settled for caprese salad instead. I mean when something this good is so easy, not to mention cold, why not?

First, we need some yummy tomatoes. Like this Campari variety.

Very tasty.

 

Chop three or four of those babies and toss them together with some cubed fresh mozzarella.

Fresh mozzarella is the kind that comes in a ball, not a brick. Very soft with a mild flavor.

 

Then we add some chopped basil, a bit of olive oil, a pinch of sea salt, and some fresh ground pepper.

Toss it all up and voila!

Heaven in a bowl.

You know, even though I complain about the heat,

there's still plenty to enjoy here at the ranch. Like some creative photography on the pier.

Not to mention another gorgeous sunset.

Yep, when I've got things like this to help me beat the heat, I'd say life at the ranch suits me just fine.

Speaking of ranches, have I mentioned my latest release? This is the first book in my Rocky Mountain Heroes series and, as of today, it’s available on Kindle and other e-book versions, as well as paperback.

Isn't that a great cover?

Now it's your turn.

What's your favorite hot-weather dish?

Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband and the last of her five children. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com 

Food for the Hot Days: Chickpea Couscous Bowl with Mango

Some days you don't really want to cook or eat.

When the AC is only in your bedroom, this is just not fun. My sister, she loves this kind of weather. Me? There's a reason I dream of living in Maine.

But my husband worked a long, hot day and he's hungry, so the kitchen is open.

Pork chops, rice, and applesauce for him, but I needed a different variation.

I also need to get back to healthier eating. This has been a long, stressful school year that has taken a toll and it shows when I look in the mirror. Tonight's "dinner" began with iced coffee and Pepperidge Farm Maui cookies when I got home at 6. Just for curiosity, I checked the temp in Maui tonight -

No thanks, I'll stick with Portland.

But, I did come up with something healthier which if it pans out, I'll share next week when I will only have one day of school left.

Tonight I'm sharing my daughter's dinner: Chilled chickpea, couscous and mango salad bowl.

First she cooked the chickpeas and couscous earlier in the day and let them chill. (Note: she uses dried chickpeas so she set them to soak in water very early this morning.)

Tonight she added roasted and chilled sweet potatoes, very slightly toasted kale, and carrots.

She asked me to mention that this mango was overripe so it mushed into kind of a dressing.


And then blended it all together. And chilled it briefly in the freezer.

I'll confess, I have never eaten a mango. I had relatives who had severe allergies so I never tried one, but my daughter loves them.

It looked delicious and perfect for a hot night!