Summertime is the perfect time to serve delicious fresh fruits and veggies. For my last dinner club I decided to make two summer salads. I served a salad I found watching one of Giada's shows on the food network. 
It was simple, just slice fresh avocado and papaya and dress with a simple lime dressing. For the dressing, juice and zest a lime, add a pinch of salt, a quarter tsp of sugar, 1/8 tsp ground black pepper, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper and whisk with a quarter cup of EVOO. Next time I make this I'm going to use mango since I love mango and avocado together. This salad is simple, colorful, delicious and takes almost no time to make. My main course salad was a cold Mediterranean lentil and cous cous salad. I made the cous cous and let it sit after fluffing it with a fork. I sautéed a sweet onion with chopped carrot and garlic. Then I added the rinsed lentils and broth (1 1/4 cup lentils with 20 oz. broth), brought them to a boil then lowered the heat and let them simmer partially covered until the lentils were soft but still a little firm. You don't want them to get mushy when you toss them. When they are ready, add the cous cous in a large bowl and pour the lentils over them. Add chopped kalamata olives. I also added lemon thyme and chopped flat leaf parsley. I dressed the salad with a mixture of EVOO and plenty of fresh lemon zest and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Then I tossed it and refrigerated it for a couple of hours. The lemon zest really made the dish. For dessert I made a fruit tart from a recipe provided to me by my coworker Diane the day before. 
I admit I didn't mix the filling correctly so it wasn't as good as it should have been. It will be better next time and there will be a next time since the tart just looks so pretty with all that delicious summer fruit on it. I tried some different wines and this dinner club I bought one that I really liked, J. Lohr Chardonnay. This impressed me and I am not really a white wine drinker. In fact, Chardonnay is probably my least favorite. It didn't break the bank either.
It was simple, just slice fresh avocado and papaya and dress with a simple lime dressing. For the dressing, juice and zest a lime, add a pinch of salt, a quarter tsp of sugar, 1/8 tsp ground black pepper, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper and whisk with a quarter cup of EVOO. Next time I make this I'm going to use mango since I love mango and avocado together. This salad is simple, colorful, delicious and takes almost no time to make. My main course salad was a cold Mediterranean lentil and cous cous salad. I made the cous cous and let it sit after fluffing it with a fork. I sautéed a sweet onion with chopped carrot and garlic. Then I added the rinsed lentils and broth (1 1/4 cup lentils with 20 oz. broth), brought them to a boil then lowered the heat and let them simmer partially covered until the lentils were soft but still a little firm. You don't want them to get mushy when you toss them. When they are ready, add the cous cous in a large bowl and pour the lentils over them. Add chopped kalamata olives. I also added lemon thyme and chopped flat leaf parsley. I dressed the salad with a mixture of EVOO and plenty of fresh lemon zest and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Then I tossed it and refrigerated it for a couple of hours. The lemon zest really made the dish. For dessert I made a fruit tart from a recipe provided to me by my coworker Diane the day before. 
I admit I didn't mix the filling correctly so it wasn't as good as it should have been. It will be better next time and there will be a next time since the tart just looks so pretty with all that delicious summer fruit on it. I tried some different wines and this dinner club I bought one that I really liked, J. Lohr Chardonnay. This impressed me and I am not really a white wine drinker. In fact, Chardonnay is probably my least favorite. It didn't break the bank either.
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I really thought the couscous was stellar- very refreshing dinner! Everything tasted so fresh!
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