I have plenty of recipes for summer dishes, but often struggle to know what to pair it with to round out the meal. In this article I will share some ideas for how to make a great dish into a full meal suited for a picnic, dinner party or weeknight family meal at home. This is a list based approach where you pick 1 item from each list to take your mental power required down to 5% after spending your days at the pool or beach! This is a mix and match kind of meal plan so as long as you pick one thing from each list, you’ll be good to go!


Main course: This is intended to be the most filling part of your meal. It could be anything, some ideas could include:

• BBQ meat
• Homemade Pizza
• Pasta salad
• Wrap
• Crock Pot pulled pork sliders
• Homemade chicken taquitos

Once you’ve identified your main course, now pick 1 side from each of the following lists:

Starch:

• Rice Pilaf
• Sweet potatoes, roasted or on the grill!
• Artisanal bread
• Cilantro lime rice

Veggie:

• Green salad
• Grilled zucchini/squash
• Cooked or raw carrots with dip
• Corn on the cob

And the last tip, chilled watermelon ALWAYS! Serving watermelon just feels like summertime and is always a crowd favorite!

Every meal is instantly leveled up when served with fresh lemonade! Try juicing a bunch of lemons all at once and then freeze the juice so you can pull it out before dinner without the mess or bulk of the work.

So, to pull it together for you, here are some sample meal plans:

• BBQ chicken skewers with cubed sweet potatoes on the grill, and fresh corn on the cob with watermelon on the side! Served with fresh squeezed lemonade!
• Italian pasta salad with artisanal bread and grilled zucchini. Watermelon and lemonade, too!
• Chili chicken taquitos with cilantro-lime rice and watermelon. Green salad and fresh squeezed lemonade to go with it!

Good luck and enjoy your meals on the many summer nights ahead!

    Stefanie Hathaway
    Monthly Newsletter Contributor since 2016
    Email the author! stefanie@dvo.com