This is a summer meal if I’ve ever seen one!

This summer salmon spaghetti is so fresh, satisfying and delicious. It’s a big bowl of garden vegetables tossed with grilled salmon and hot pasta. The flavor is incredible, it’s light enough to enjoy on a hot day and it’s very customizable if you have other veggies on hand.

I am so into these marinated vegetables right now. A few years ago I started thinly slicing zucchini and letting it sit in a vinaigrette for a few minutes before tossing. It’s almost like massaging kale before eating: it removes the chew and any bitterness. This is exactly how I make it in my chickpea pasta lunch salad and we all love it. 

Another thing that draws us to this recipe is enjoying the grilled salmon with pasta. For no particular reason, we rarely have salmon with pasta. We tend to have a grain or roasted/grilled vegetables with our salmon and everyone likes it that way. If we do have pasta, it’s a tiny cut like orzo. 

So serving the salmon right in the longer noodles makes this feel special and fancy. Plus, the way that it flakes into buttery shreds works perfectly with the spaghetti! A bit of salmon is in every bite and that’s just the way we like it. 

The key with this dish is to season every layer well. Then it will taste absolutely amazing when it’s finished. We’re marinating the vegetables. Boiling the pasta in salted water. Making a garlicky herb spice blend for the salmon on the grill. 

Then tossing everything together with the hot pasta to turn it into a summer dream! 

YUM.

Now – I like to add at least six minced cloves of garlic into this dish. With that and the crushed red pepper, there is a slight bite to the pasta. Sometimes my kids will say it’s spicy. So feel free to adjust! You can use less garlic or skip the crushed red pepper. 

I really love it in the recipe because it adds a pop. The pasta is hot when added to the veggies, so it does warm things up a bit!

Speaking of, this is excellent served hot but also really great straight from the fridge. It’s an excellent lunch leftover meal. You may need to let it sit at room temperature because the olive oil can solidify in the fridge, but it’s fabulous either way. 

Feel free to add more veggies, different veggies or even different herbs from the garden. If you’re not a salmon lover, it could also work with grilled chicken too!

Summer Salmon Spaghetti

Print

Summer Salmon Spaghetti

This summer salmon spaghetti is a favorite in our house! Marinated garden vegetables, lots of garlic and fresh basil, grilled salmon and hot pasta make for a delicious light and satisfying meal.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author How Sweet Eats

Ingredients

• 1 medium zucchini squash, thinly sliced
• 1 medium yellow summer squash, thinly sliced
• 3 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
• ½ cup chopped fresh basil
• kosher salt and pepper
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 salmon filets
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 pound spaghetti
• ½ cup shaved parmesan cheese
• fresh basil, for topping

Instructions

• In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, squash, tomatoes, garlic and basil. You want a large bowl for this because we’re going to add the pasta directly to it later. Add in a big pinch of salt and pepper, the crushed red pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or even up to 2 hours.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the pasta according to the directions. While you’re waiting for the pasta to boil, start the salmon so both the salmon and pasta can be done around the same time.
• Preheat the grill to your highest setting. Season the salmon all over with the salt and pepper. Stir together the parsley, basil and garlic powder. Sprinkle it all over the salmon too.
• Once the grill is hot, place the salmon right on the grates. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes, then use a spatula to gently flip the salmon. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes more, or a little more if you have thick pieces of salmon. You want it to be opaque and easily flake with a fork. We’re going to flake the salmon for the pasta, so you can slice into the center and see if it’s done without worrying about ruining the presentation.
• Once the pasta is done, drain it and immediately add it to the marinated vegetables. Toss well. Flake the salmon with a fork and add it in too. If you need a big more olive oil, you can add that now as well.
• Toss well until everything is combined. Taste and season more if needed. Sprinkle on the parmesan and fresh basil. Serve!

Deeeelish.

The post Summer Salmon Spaghetti. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

This might be my current favorite meal!

This grilled sourdough pizza topped with an italian chopped salad is everything I want to eat right now. It’s so flavorful and satisfying. We ALL love it. 

If you’re looking for something new and exciting to make for dinner, this is it. Chop up all your salad ingredients, throw the pizza dough on the grill and then pile the salad high on top. 

Slice, serve and eat!

It’s perfect. 

I’ve been making these grilled garlic baguettes with italian chopped salad for a few years and we LOVE them. It’s such a fun, easy meal and one that really hits the spot. 

And one day, when I didn’t have any baguettes, I threw some of my pizza dough on the grill instead. I do this weekly but had never topped it with the italian salad. It’s fantastic. 

First up: the crust. You don’t HAVE to use a sourdough crust, but it’s easily my favorite. I can’t stop. 

I love this pizza crust so much. You do need to make it the night before, but once it’s mixed, all you have to do is wait. It’s simple and so wonderful. I like to have two or three on hand in the fridge or freezer, so that way if we’re craving pizza, I have this ready to go. 

Yes, I still have my classic non-sourdough pizza crust recipe too. But since I feel my sourdough starter daily, I always have discard to use. So I use *fresh* discard for this recipe, meaning the leftover of my starter as soon as it’s re-fed. I haven’t used the discard that has sat in the fridge for awhile, so just keep that in mind. 

The sourdough crust is SO chewy and tangy. We all love it – in fact my kids say that it’s their favorite pizza out of any other pizza we order. I either make it on the grill or in a cast iron skillet. Those are my two favorite ways. And they always win. 

Next up: the salad. 

We all know my love of chopped salads. The best salad to ever be a salad! Having a bit of everything right there on the spoon is ideal. A chopped salad is elite for that exact reason – you can get a bite of each ingredient, an array of texture, flavor and a drizzle of dressing. 

My go-to italian chopped salad has salami, chickpeas, iceberg, red onion, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, banana peppers and fresh mozzarella. Oh and smoked provolone cheese! All drizzled with my italian dressing that is super super zesty. I could drink the dressing with a spoon.  (more…)

The post Grilled Sourdough Pizza with Italian Chopped Salad. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Summer dishes abound! 

This tortellini salad is filled with roasted red peppers, feta cheese, arugula, tortellini and diced shallots. It’s drizzled with my zesty italian dressing which has a zingy bite – it is super flavorful and so satisfying. It’s one of those dishes that you will find yourself craving over and over again!

And… I bet a bunch of your friends and fam will request it too.

My kitchen ingredients thrive during this season. Fresh, vibrant produce along with all the herbs, a bit of cheese – I’m in heaven. This is the season where I love to make different dishes to share with family and friends, meals for last minute gatherings, summer hang outs, happy hour treats and more. 

Summer meals and snacks are just the best. And here’s the thing: I would totally even consider this tortellini salad a snack. An actual SNACK. I can’t tell you how many times I grab a bowl of it from the fridge… for a snack. 

Yep. 

The thing is, I make a lot of tortellini salads that we enjoy. This copycat one from the nordstrom e-bar is incredible. My summer chicken tortellini salad is great too. And the lunchtime chickpea version is a staple for my own meals. 

But this one takes the cake. Or the pasta. Or the salads! 

It’s truly the best cheese tortellini salad I have ever tasted. Eddie kept calling it an antipasto tortellini salad, and it does have a similar flavor profile. 

It is just delicious!

Here’s what we’re working with:

Cheese tortellini, of course. Whatever variety you love works. 

Salami, diced up. You could also use a spicy one! I’m a baby. 

Baby arugula greens. They are peppery and perfect. 

Shallots, diced into tiny chunks! 

Roasted red peppers – quite possibly my favorite pantry ingredient. 

Feta cheese. The crumbled kind is perfect here. So tangy and creamy.  (more…)

The post The Tortellini Salad I’m Making All Summer Long. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Let me tell you how I’m officially OLD.

I love these lettuce wrap burgers.

Like, LOVE THEM. Blue cheese burgers piled high with caramelized onions, drizzled with creamy honey mustard and served in lettuce wraps. Freaking delicious.

I just adore them!

A few years ago, you couldn’t have paid me to eat a burger wrapped in lettuce. 

And trust me, this is nothing about cutting out the bun or the bread. Has nothing to do with that. It’s all about the CRISP LETTUCE.

Refreshing, crisp iceberg lettuce that we all usually treat like garbage. You know? We say it tastes like stale water and is worthless in a salad.

But as a wrap? TOP NOTCH. It is supreme. 

Sure, we kind of already know this from lettuce wrap – the famous ones with the sesame chicken and all that. 

But lettuce wrap burgers are the one way I have always avoided using the lettuce… thinking it would be too messy, not sturdy enough and just not as… good? Sort of like a give me brioche or give me death situation. Nothing can beat the brioche bun. 

However, it was definitely my cheeseburger salads that started to change my mind a few years ago. Something about the crisp lettuce is part of that classic cheeseburger flavor – mixed with the cheddar and the ketchup and the mustard and oh! It’s fabulous. 

So I started making cheeseburger lettuce wraps. Dreamy. And so easy. The lettuce wraps add this cooling, refreshing bite on a hot summer day. 

Now here is why THESE burgers are the best: 

They are topped with blue cheese which gets extra melty. 

Caramelized onions, which we know make every burger better.

And a drizzle of creamy homemade honey mustard! 

All wrapped up in that cold iceberg lettuce leaf. Juicy as heck, melty with cheese, so flavorful I could scream.  (more…)

The post Lettuce Wrap Blue CheeseBurgers with Caramelized Onions. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

We’re making an easy Monday meal today!

This is one of those meals that my kids go wild for. Crispy lemony chicken, creamy spaghetti and a ton of fresh herbs. It’s light but comforting at the same time. It’s easy to make and easy to love! 

And I almost want to tell you to double the chicken because it’s incredible. Little crisp lemon chicken bites. Sometimes I take one and dip it in dill sauce. 

Mind blown deliciousness. 

I don’t even know how to describe it… 

These lemon chicken bites are SO good – they are perfect on their own. Or thrown over rice or any other kind of grain. Also incredible in a wrap or on top of a salad. They don’t even look that special but they are tender and juicy and cook fast. 

And they are super easy to make! I chop up chicken breasts, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and add a sprinkle of cornstarch. Oh and some fresh lemon zest of course. It’s a dream!

Then, I crisp them up in a skillet and it takes mere minutes. Ridiculously easy, I tell you. They make the kitchen smell wonderful. The kids come in and want to steal a piece before the meal is even ready.

While the chicken is cooking, I boil some spaghetti. I like to use the same pan I cook the chicken in, so once it’s finished, I transfer it out. I throw the cooked pasta in, add some starchy pasta water, just a drop of cream, lots of fresh herbs and more lemon zest.

Oh! And parmesan. How could I ever forget?!

The spaghetti is similar to the lemon spaghetti with roasted chickpeas in Easy Everyday. That meal is such a staple for us – it’s so easy, the textures are great and it’s very satisfying. We make it all the time, so I’m always looking for a way to add more excitement or make it taste different! 

Yes, I even change up my own recipes. All the time, in fact!  (more…)

The post Crispy Lemon Chicken Bites & Spaghetti. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Tacos and margaritas coming in hot today!

Today I’m sharing over 30 of my favorite tacos and margaritas! A bunch of delicious tex-mex options, all paired with some of my favorite margaritas that I’ve made here on the blog. Since anything tex-mex is basically a staple of our weekly menu, I have tons of dishes that I absolutely love. Some days we do tacos, sometimes it’s enchiladas, often it’s a version of a burrito bowl and I can always go for a sheet pan nacho situation.

I mean, who wouldn’t?!

And! I’m a bit partial to the bubbly jam margaritas below but also ADORE my classic margarita recipe that I’ve been making for over a decade. It’s just so darn good. Scroll down and let me know what your pick would be! I’m thinking bang bang cauliflower tacos for tonight…

35+ Favorite Tacos and Margaritas

Bang bang cauliflower tacos

Sheet pan roasted shrimp tacos

Summer carnitas tacos

Grilled fish tacos

Weeknight baked ground turkey tacos

Summer salmon tacos

Honey chipotle shrimp tacos

Crispy cheese breakfast tacos

Our favorite ground beef tacos

Sheet pan lime shrimp fajitas (more…)

The post 35+ Of My Favorite Tex Mex and Margarita Recipes! appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Here’s an embarrassingly easy meal for you today! 

These baked cheeseburger quesadillas are so highly requested in our house. The cripiest tortillas, cheeseburger filling with sharp cheddar, topped with refreshing romaine, juicy tomatoes and the tangiest pickled onions. All finished with a drizzle of house sauce!

This is such an easy weeknight meal, a great happy hour snack, a fun late night treat or even something you can share for an easy lunch!

This is a cheater sort of recipe. I’ve already shared with you how I make crispy baked cheeseburger tacos and cheeseburger tostadas. The combo is just so good!

It’s something I make often for the kids. Eddie also loves the cheeseburger flavor. And it feels a little lighter than eating an actual cheeseburger. 

I like to use ground turkey or beef, sharp cheddar, lots of lettuce, tomatoes, pickled onions and of course – how sweet eats house sauce. 

The house sauce is my everything. I make this almost once a week. It’s like my version of chick fil-a sauce and it’s delicious. Super creamy, a little tangy. You can dip basically anything in it. Or drizzle it on anything from burgers to bowls to potatoes to pizza and more.

It’s super versatile and makes the meal feel ever more special! 

The baked quesadilla is my go-to today, and here’s why: it is SO easy to feed a crowd. You can make multiple large quesadillas at once, as opposed to making just one at a time in a skillet.

There is no sketchy flipping – the fillings will not fall out when you gently flip. (more…)

The post Crispy Baked Cheeseburger Quesadillas. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

I’m unlocking the secret to one of our favorite meals. 

These chicken tacos are going to become a staple in your menu! They have so much texture, flavor and they are reqeusted over and over again in our house. Simple, crispy, satisfying and customizable.

The perfect recipe!

I’ve shared a recipe before that uses this same cheesy tortilla method: my crispy cheesy breakfast tacos. And they are INCREDIBLE. As in, just writing this out means that I need to make them tomorrow or I won’t be able to stop thinking about them. 

I even like them for dinner, but we love breakfast for dinner. It’s a go-to. 

Here’s the thing though. I make these crazy chicken tacos… my weeknight chicken tacos… and I have for YEARS. It’s an embarrassingly easy recipe, where you make chicken thighs and then shred them in your stand mixer with a ton of seasonings. And then, boom. Chicken tacos. 

It’s an odd way to make the taco filling but it works. It works so well that you’re usually shocked and surprised at how good they are.

So months ago I started thinking… what if I combined them? What if I made the chicken taco filling but used the method for the cheese crispy taco shells?

Um, I must have had a moment of brilliance!

Because these are incredible. 

They are simple. Chicken, some taco seasonings, a quick pico. 

All stuffed in a tortilla that is fried in a skillet with melted cheese. It wears a crispy cheese jacket, if you will. 

When I tell you that the whole family is obsessed with this for dinner, I mean it. These tacos are such a crowd pleaser.

Now they are a little high maintenance, because each tortilla has to be crisped up with some melty cheese. But!

I have a way around that. If you have an electric griddle or a large griddle pan, this is the key. That is what I use to make pancakes, so it’s in rotation often. If you use one of these, you can make four tortillas at a time for the tacos. Which makes it so much easier to serve when everyone is around the table. 

The best part is that you can truly stuff anything in these cheesy flour shells. They are super versatile, so delicious and very easy to make. Warm and cozy and cheese too!  (more…)

The post Crispy Cheesy Chicken Tacos. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

And chipotle crema! 

These beer battered fish tacos are the ultimate dream: light and airy crunchy exterior with a buttery, flaky interior of white fish. A refreshing mango slaw, a little heat from a chipotle crema drizzle and maybe some guac on the side. 

This truly is one of my dream meals. 

I love a beer battered fish because it’s so light and crisp! Even though we’re frying the fish, it’s still so airy and crunchy. Plus, the fish is super flaky to begin with. 

My preference is to use a white fish – usually cod – because it’s pretty easy to find. 

But!

There is nothing I hate more than deep frying or filling a pan with oil and making my entire house smell like bar food. But!

Beer batter is super light and airy and it doesn’t necessarily have to be deep fried. I use just a swirl of olive oil in the pan so it covers the bottom. As long as your pieces of fish are fairly thin, they fry up so nicely in the pan. A little shallow fry, if you will. 

That makes it SO much easier. And the fish cooks super quickly, so these are done in a flash. 

When I make fish like this, I prepare the other ingredients ahead of time. 

I make a quick slaw, which is just thinly sliced green cabbage, thinly sliced mango and lots of cilantro. Toss it with lime juice and a touch of olive oil, some salt and pepper. This is so crunchy and crisp and adds such a refreshing pop against the warm fish. 

Sometimes we eat the fish with the slaw on top, alone! No tortilla in sight. 

I also make the chipotle crema ahead of time too. Not only will letting it sit marry the flavors even more, but it’s easy and really to go for the fish as soon as it’s done cooking.

I even char my tortillas ahead of time too! I would suggest sticking them in a low oven to keep them warm. The only way I char them is either on the grill or over my gas burners. Super fancy! 

To make the fish, I season it super well. The batter is just flour, an egg, spices and beer (or even club soda, if you want to skip the alcohol). The fish gets dipped in the batter, fried in some avocado oil and it’s done!

Assembly is simple:

Tortilla > slaw > fish > crema 

Oh and guac, if you wish! Or even just slices of avocado.  (more…)

The post Crispy Fish Tacos with Mango Slaw. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

This is a dinner to please everyone! 

It’s a little one pot wonder (almost) packed with so much flavor, texture and satisfying ingredients. Sausage asparagus pasta is mixed with burrata and a touch of parm to create a creamy dinner skillet that comes together super fast.

It tastes amazing. 

Can be made in 30 minutes (or less!).

Serves a crowd. 

And works as leftovers too. I love a cold pasta lunch! 

I’ll be the first to admit that sausage is not my favorite thing. It’s why I barely have any sausage recipes here on the blog! I only crave it every once in a while. It’s the fennel seeds for me. I just can’t do it! 

But this dish is SO good. The sausage is so crisp and almost crunchy. It flavors the vegetables. The sauce is light because it’s just a mix of what’s in the pan, some starchy pasta water, parmesan and burrata!

It doesn’t get much easier.

P.S. If you are not a marinara sauce fan, this one’s for you.  (more…)

The post Crispy Sausage and Asparagus Farfalle with Burrata. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.