// Outdoor Summer Dinner Menu

Hi there lovely readers of Little Chief Honeybee! I’m Ashley from over at Rainstorms & Love Notes, where I write about things like being a newlywed, packing a carry-on bag with travel essentials, and making delicious (and easy!) food. Today I’m excited to share an Outdoor Summer Dinner Menu that I put together just in time for sunny weather and outdoor dining. My goal was to come up with an easy set of recipes full of light, fresh ingredients that all go together nicely. This menu would be perfect for a stay-at-home date night or an outdoor dinner party with lots of friends, as the portion sizes can easily be adjusted. I hope you enjoy!

 
Pico de Gallo
Serves 4-6
Adapted from here

Ingredients
1/2 medium white onion
1 cup water
ice
1 large tomato
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno

Instructions
Finely chop the onion, and place in a bowl of ice water; drain.
Chop the tomatoes and cilantro.
Remove the seeds from one half of the jalapeno, and finely chop.
Combine the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and jalapeno, and stir together.
Refrigerate, then serve with chips.
Chile-Rubbed Grilled Chicken
Serves 2
Adapted from here

Ingredients
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp salt

Instructions
Combine the olive oil, garlic, chile powder, cumin, paprika, lime juice, and salt in a large bowl.
Add the chicken and turn to coat.
Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Grill the chicken over medium heat, turning once, until marked and just cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes per side.

Grilled Corn with Lime Butter
Serves 2
Adapted from here

Ingredients
2 ears corn, shucked
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp lime zest
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions
Place corn on a grill rack coated with cooking spray.
Grill 10-12 minutes over medium heat, turning as needed.
Combine the butter, lime zest, salt, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl and microwave until melted.
Spread over the corn and serve.

Strawberry Lime Sorbet
Serves 6
Adapted from here

Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
1 cup frozen strawberries
2 small limes, peeled and quartered
2 tbsp sugar

Instructions
Slice the bananas and place in the freezer until completely frozen.
Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and blend until it has the consistency of soft serve.
Freeze until it reaches desired consistency.
 
Sparkling Cucumber Limeade
Serves 6
Adapted from here

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp lime zest
1 cup water
1 cup fresh lime juice (4 to 6 limes)
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cucumber, halved and very thinly sliced
2 cups chilled sparkling water

Instructions
In a small saucepan, simmer the sugar, lime zest, and water over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved. 
Remove from heat and stir in the mint leaves.
Let cool for 30 minutes.
Strain the syrup through a sieve into a pitcher. Add the cucumber and lime juice and refrigerate for at least an hour. 
Just before serving, add the sparkling water.



Major thanks to Ashley for putting in all of this hard work to whip up this amazing summer dinner spread! I can't think of a better post for a Friday morning... you can spend your last hours at work thinking about the delicious sorbet and refreshing cucumber limeaide... Then you can run out after work to nab all of the ingredients and invite your friends over Saturday! We've already been doing a crazy amount of grilling this season, but I think we'll be adding the chicken to our menu for next week!

If you want to witness more of Ashley's magic, pop over to her super cute blog Rainstorms & Love Notes! You can also find her on Twitter and Pinterest, and you can follow her blog via Bloglovin! I'll be back tomorrow with a really fun

11 comments:

  1. outdoor dinners are my favorite.
    i am totally going to put everything on my menu plan for next week. yum.

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  2. i've been following ashley since the no-bake strawberry pie you posted in last week's tilt! x

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  3. you have me on serious drool mode this morning i have to try it all!

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  4. omg! i wish the work day was over and it was payday so i could go out and get all these ingredients and super surprise my husband:) hopefully next week:) thanks for sharing this!

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  5. Mmm...that chicken sounds amazing! I'm hungry for dinner now, but it's still breakfast time! :)

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  6. Ooooh wow, this looks delicious!!! Must pin it to use this summer!

    xox Sammi
    www.thesoubrettebrunette.blogspot.com

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  7. so delicious, definitely pinning!

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  8. This looks absolutely fabulous! I've been in a real kick for making dinners for me and my boyfriend and this looks like a good option for the next bbq!

    mysmallrayofsunshine.blogspot.com

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  9. mmm looks perfect :)

    Barnicles

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HEY! Thanks for dropping by. xo KB