Happy July, everyone! I just love this time of year because there is so much in season for everyone to enjoy – berries galore, melons, tomatoes, and corn, just to name a few. Here’s what you can look forward to in July:

Collards
Corn
Cucumber
Eggplant
Melons
Passion Fruit
Peas, Black-eyed
Spinach
Tomatoes

For starters, there are tomatoes everywhere at the farmers market, and they’re just gorgeous. Paired with a thinly slice cucumber and some shallots, and you’ve got a great salad. This one goes great with some grilled salmon or chicken!

Summertime might seem weird for soup, but I just LOVE corn chowder. For an added bonus, grill your corn first. You won’t regret it, I promise.

Of course, I put this on the blog last week but as a reminder: Watermelon Feta Salad is easy and a great choice for hot nights. Add a grilled salmon to this and you’re in for a great weeknight dinner.

And, if you’re in the market for a popsicle that’s seasonal, try these Cucumber Margarita Ice Pops. They’ll keep you cool, they’re boozy, and they’re not too sweet – perfect on all fronts, I’d say.

This gives you an idea of what to make this season, but check back through the month for more great recipes to keep your wheelhouse growing and to take advantage of all the great veg and fruit that’s available this time of year!

Summer is here! July Fourth is Monday! School’s out, and it’s time to head to the beach! July is one of our favorite months – long days, sun’s out until 9, and endless summer nights outside grilling, eating delicious foods, and enjoying perfectly cold beers. We hope you make this your background immediately and get at all the summer foods that make this season our favorite.

July Fourth is coming up soon, and have I got a salad for you to serve or bring to your BBQ. Now, everybody grills on the Fourth of July, but I want to take care of your sides. Because let’s be honest, everyone can use a little more veg and fruit next to the hot dogs and hamburgers. I mean, I love a bag of ruffled chips as much as the next person, but I do try to at least get a couple of fruits and veggies in on this day of mostly indulgent eating.

I love a good macaroni or potato salad, but sometimes you just need a little green. This salad is so easy and so delicious I don’t know why I don’t make it every day. It’d be great with grilled shrimp or even steak, honestly, and it’s also great on it’s own.

The salty of the feta and the sweet of the watermelon are the perfect match, with cold crunchy cucumber. This is perfect on the side of any grilled meats, and honestly can be made even without the lettuce, though I love a good crispy salad, too. Topped with a little balsamic and some salt and pepper, this is easily a new go-to salad for this summer. Recipe below – feel free to hold the leafy greens!

Type: Salad

Author: Jennie

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 4-6 Servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 watermelon, diced
• 4-6 ounce feta, diced
• 1 large cucumber, diced
• 10 cup mixed green salad
• balsamic vinegar
• s/p

Directions

1. Dice watermelon, feta, and cucumber.

2. Add to green salad mix, and top with balsamic and salt and pepper to taste.

Happy Monday! Mondays can be a drag, but luckily I have another breakfast recipe for you to dream of for this weekend from my breakfast in bed series for JDV Hotels. This one’s for Carmel Valley Ranch, located in Carmel, California – a gorgeous ranch on 500 acres of playground. There is so much to do onsite and all of the rooms are suites, which means lots of space to relax in – a home away from home meant to calm and soothe every visitor!

This sprawling ranch needed a breakfast that could stand up to whatever the days were going to bring – so I wanted to have a delicious breakfast that would give you a solid base for your days of adventuring, hiking, or just relaxing. There is an apiary on site, and so I thought it fitting to feature honey in this recipe. You guys, I love bees, so so much, and I love local honey and the idea that you could get onsite honey at this place almost makes me hop in the car to head to the ranch and live there forever. Anyways, needless to say I used some local honey in this recipe – and encourage you to find some and do the same!

These honey blueberry pancakes are the perfect start to your day, with a healthy side of fruit (I chose cherries!) and a large cup of coffee, of course. Here’s a secret you guys, too. If you wrap these bad boys up and toast ’em the next day, they are just as delicious. Most people scoff at leftover pancakes, but I say embrace it and have pancakes for breakfast on a weekend – because why not? For the full recipe,head over to the JDV Blog, here.

Guys the cherry stuff can’t stop. I love cherries! I ate a whole bag of them today, in fact. This is banana bread stuffed with chocolate and cherries, and you should probably make it immediately. Ana made this for me on a day I thought we just did not have time for one more recipe, but turns out I was wrong – good thing, because this quickly became my fave thing to eat.

I love bread recipes because I hate getting breakfast ready in the morning – I love the idea of this being ready for me in the AM with little prep. This toasted? The perfect start to a day with some hot coffee.

This recipe is easy to follow, and easy to adapt. Banana bread is generally pretty forgiving, and that’s why I like to come back to it so much. I love it for breakfast (maybe hold the chocolate) and I love it for a snack. I lowered the sugar in here because the cherries are sweet enough. I would imagine this makes delicious muffins, but that’s to come – for now I’ve been eating it in slices and not looking back.

The recipe is below – get at it! Try it with your fave berries if cherries isn’t your thing – imagine blueberries or raspberries? Or some combo of the two. The possibilities are really endless. Berry season is the best one, you guys. Happy summer!

Type: Baking, Breads, Breakfast

Author: Jennie

Oven Temperature: 350°

Difficulty: Intermediate

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45-55 minutes

Servings: 8-10 slices

Ingredients

• 3-4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 3 tablespoon melted butter
• 2 tablespoon sugar or honey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch salt
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 6 ounce dark chocolate
• 1 cup cherries

Directions

1. Pit your cherries and chop your chocolate.

2. Smash bananas in a bowl. Add butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla, and mix well.

3. In a medium bowl, mix baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flours. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well.

4. Add chocolate and cherries and mix until combined.

5. Pour into buttered loaf pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.