Cilantro

Shrimp Burgers with Fennel-Cilantro Coleslaw

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Granddaughter Piper w/ me in Michigan

You’re right. If you’re a regular reader, you might say this looks more like FRIDAY FISH (my 7-week Lenten posts) than August but August it is. Where is the summer going?! After over a month away from the blog (scroll down to LIFE GOES ON) getting ready for, celebrating, and taking a family trip for our 50th wedding anniversary, it’s feeling just plain old good to be home and to share a new –to me–dinner with you.

As always, when I arrive back home, I’m focused on making big over our 10-year-old flat coated labradoodle, Rosie; getting the unpacking/laundry going; stocking up at the grocery store; reading the mail and email; and enjoying my own coffee pot and bed. This time, as fall approaches (school starts in one district here today), I also did a good check of the freezer to see what needed to be used before its yearly defrosting and readying for fall cooking–think soup, of course. A big bag of partially used shrimp stuck out, oddly placed on the top shelf with baked treats and baguette. Time to do something fun with it before it turned all icy-crusty, as shrimp will do. There are a lot of shrimp recipes on this blog but right off, a quick burger came to mind as summer will soon be tapering off and burgers often feel like summer to me. I read through my blogs for Pepperjack Cheese Fish Burgers and Crab Burgers, as well as the one for Caprese Salmon Burgers to find a quick path to dinner. A run to the store for buns and some produce for the Fennel-Cilantro Coleslaw and I soon had dinner on the table. Both dishes, for speed, depend on the food processor but can also be done by hand if that’s your druthers.

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Bruschetta for Dinner

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Who said dinner couldn’t be fun?!

Bruschetta (broo-SKET-ta), the incomparably attractive Italian appetizer, is simply too big of a starter come the dog days of summer. I mean, it’s like eating pizza for hors d’oeuvres before Thanksgiving dinner when the temps are 95 F in the shade–like today. Typically grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with chopped silky ruby-ripe tomatoes and a scatter of fresh basil slivers, I like to instead offer it up with a variety of toppings for an al fresco dinner and let everyone make themselves happy. And while I thought I was being somewhat imaginative this July, when I dug out some of my Italian cookbooks to get a little background, I of course discovered that while not everyone, certainly certain someones have been there before me. (Curses, foiled again.) Folks like one of my favorite food writers, Lynne Rosetto Kasper.

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Colorado Springs Omelet

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Here in Colorado and perhaps even elsewhere in the U.S., there’s no diner breakfast more famous than the Denver Omelet — except maybe biscuits and gravy. You know how the Denver Omelet goes — lots of browned onions, green peppers, diced ham and some ooey-gooey orange cheese. It should be cooked firm and golden brown unlike the pale and buttery French omelets. And while I’m totally fond of a Denver omelet or a French omelet (mushrooms, please), for that matter, I have for quite a while enjoyed a different sort of southwestern egg breakfast here in my kitchen in Colorado Springs. My tender little elegant omelet is whisked with salsa rather than cream or water. It’s cooked slowly and gently in a covered skillet rather than at breakneck speed with constant whisking in an open pan à la française (like the French). Occasionally I turn the burner off toward the end, but leave the covered pan on it for another minute or two to slowly finish cooking my omelet. Good trick to have up your sleeve for any eggs (and some other things, too) you make to avoid an overcooked fry-up.

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Salsa-Black Bean Dip

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…for garlic lovers only
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I’m not a football fan. At this point in my life, I don’t think it’s going to change. I’m occasionally somewhat nasty or worse about it, but skip that here because in the U.S., if there’s a get together on any Sunday afternoon in January or early February, it’s likely to involve football. Hmm. The Super Bowl (February 13, 2022–6:30 pm ET) is coming like a freight train barreling down the track to your family room as well as to your kitchen and mine. So just to get my two cents in, I usually make a concerted effort to at least add something tasty and even healthy to the game day food lineup. This year, it’s an addictive, pantry-centric southwestern black bean dip that’s perfect with a cold beer at kickoff or even for dinner some other time. (Why can’t we have dip for dinner? I think we can. I’ll write you a note.)

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