The Best Meal Ever!

Do you have a favorite meal you just LOVE to have in the summer months? I love to throw some chicken on the grill, have a big ol' salad, and a yummy summer tea. But tonight.........oh tonight's meal takes the cake.

It has been a beautiful day here today and for the past few days as well. And we are loving spending so much time outside. A lot of the kids on post, Neeley included, have spent the past few days taking advantage of water sprinklers and slip n slides and those cheapy plastic pools. What fun!

After we got back in side this evening and got all cleaned up, I decided to try a couple of new recipes for dinner and oh.my.word!! I have found my new fave summer meal.

Golden Grilled Chicken With Apricots

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can apricot nectar
6 T apricot preserves
1/4 cup snipped fresh mint
1 T plus 1 tsp olive oil
1 T sherry vinegar
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 clove garlic, minced
4 medium apricots, halved and pitted
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped pistachios
1 T dijon-style mustard
1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Place in a large ziplock bag. Pour 1/2 can of apricot nectar, 2 T apricot preserves, 1/8 cup mint, 1 T olive oil, sherry vinegar, curry powder, and garlic over the chicken in the bag. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Remove chicken from the marinade and grill.

Make a sauce by combining the other half of a can of apricot nectar, 4 T apricot preserves, 1/8 cup mint, 1 tsp olive oil, green onions, pistachios, mustard, mustard seeds, and 1/4 tsp salt. Drizzle over the chicken and apricots and serve.

Oh yum!!

And here is the salad I made to go with the chicken.

Melon Salad With Sweet Sesame Dressing

1/3 tsp sugar
3 T champagne vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3 T vegetable oil
3 T olive oil
1 1/2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Lettuce leaves
2 cups cut up seedless watermelon
2 cups cut up cantaloupe
2 cups cut up honeydew
1 cup sliced cucumbers
1 cup sliced carrots
Crisp-cooked bacon, drained and crumbled

Cut up the lettuce, cucumber, and carrots and put in a salad bowl. Cut up melons and place on top of lettuce and veggies. For the dressing, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, salt, and ginger. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Transfer to a medium bowl. In a thin steady stream, slowly add vegetable and olive oil to sugar mixture, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in sesame seeds, sesame oil. Set aside. Drizzle the dressing over the salads. Sprinkle with bacon and snipped fresh cilantro if desired.

Neeley and I ate like we hadn't eaten in months. It was so good and refreshing and filling and yummy! And we will definitely be having this again soon.

If you try it, let me know what you think!!