Seasonal Weekly Menus for Summer: June

June signals the start of summer cooking.
It's time for grilling and picnics and salads and all of the lighter fare of summer. The asparagus, artichokes and spinach of spring are giving way to the tomatoes and green beans and zucchinis of summer.
But what to do with all of it?
There’s so much wonderful food at this time of year and (it seems) so little time to enjoy it all.
Having a weekly menu plan can help you get the most of summer’s bounty and avoid falling into the old, tried and true recipe rut. .
If someone else prepares that weekly plan, finds interesting new recipes, and does the shopping list, its even easier.
My menus use lots of fresh, seasonal produce, easy to find ingredients, and avoid processed foods. The recipes are easy to follow and each day has complete menu instructions. The menus and recipes are designed for two but all increase easily. Best of all, I remember that half of a red pepper was used on Tuesday so the other half will get used in a few days…. Even if it goes over to the next menu week.
In this book you will find 7 full dinner menus for each week in June.
Each ‘Day’ has all the recipes, including side dishes as well as step-by-step meal preparation instructions. Two days include first courses. There is a coded shopping list for all of the ingredients, grouped by category, for each week.
Where possible I plan ahead, making enough rice pilaf to have leftovers for a rice pilaf salad, for example. You will see recipes that use 1/4 cup of polenta, or 1/3 cup of rice. I plan carefully to not make too much food.
It's time to celebrate summer - and make life a bit easier.