You know what's cool about houseguests? (Recipes, too!)

I mean, besides the fact that they help watch kids, clean up, are willing to listen to you talk about things like placentaphagy, etc?  They get me out of a cooking rut!  Here's what we've been eating...

Angel hair pasta with shrimp, pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes (thanks to Leta for the recipe!)
Chicken stir-fry
Chinese chicken salad (using leftover chicken from the stir fry)
Salmon with orange marmelade sauce
Lemon chicken thighs
Spaghetti
Vegetarian black bean tostadas
Quinoa salad
Chicken with balsamic fig sauce (we'll be trying this one tonight, from Cooking Light)
Sweet and sour chicken
Chili
Vegetable quiche with bacon (usually I make this vegetarian, but we had bacon in the freezer, and... yummy)

Also, lots and lots of green salad with homemade vinegrette, bread, and cheese.

Here are two of my recipes that just say "Summer" to me - 

Quinoa salad:

400g quinoa (approx 2.5 cups?) rinsed thoroughly, then cooked in twice the volume of water for 10 minutes, then drained well and left to cool down
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped into cubes
5 tomatoes chopped into cubes (I prefer to use smaller tomatoes like roma, or even cherry tomatoes cut into quarters, I just use more of them to equal the volume of 5 regular sized tomatoes)
1 red onion (smallish)
10 chives, cut into bits
fresh mint, chopped (I leave this out)
1 handful of raisins (I usually double this)
* Mix these all up*

2 tbsp olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
salt to taste
*Mix these together to make dressing, then pour over the quinoa mixture and let sit for at least a couple of hours in the fridge, stirring from time to time*

This salad stays good in the fridge for a week or so, and makes a lot.


Vegetable Quiche, with or without bacon

If using bacon, fry up a half pound until crispy, then set to drain on paper towels.  Use 1-2 tbsp of the bacon fat in place of oil in the recipe, and add the bacon to the veggie mixture after chopping it up

2-3 carrots, grated
2 zucchini, grated
approx 3/4 cup frozen peas
2-3 green onions, chopped, or a regular onion chopped, whatever is on hand

Saute the vegetables in a couple spoonfuls of olive oil or bacon fat, until they begin to soften.  In the mean time, preheat oven to 400° (200C).  You can save time here by heating the oil, adding the carrots as soon as they've been grated, then grating the zucchini while the carrots saute and adding them to the carrots, then chopping the onions while the carrots and zucchini are cooking and then adding them in, then add the frozen peas on top of everything and saute for just a couple more minutes.  This allows the slower cooking carrots some extra time, but keeps the onions and peas from getting too mushy. Throw in the chopped bacon, remove from heat, and tilt the pan to allow some of the released juices to separate from the vegetables.

Use a quiche (pie) crust of some kind (I buy mine ready made, oops) to line a pan of some kind, like a deep pie dish.  Sprinkle grated cheese across the bottom of the crust (I use gruyere, but any could work), then use a slotted spoon or spatula to transfer the sauteed veggies to the quiche crust, trying not to transfer too much of the veggie juice/oil left in he pan.

In a bowl, mix up 3 eggs and maybe a quarter cup of cream or milk or half and half, I've tried them all with success.  Add salt and pepper, and if NOT using bacon, add about a teaspoon of cayenne pepper.  If you are using bacon, the quiche will have more of a smokey flavor and doesn't need the cayenne.

Pour the egg mix over the veggies that are in the quiche crust in the pie dish.  Use a fork to carefully stir in the eggs, so that the mixture is uniform, being careful not to damage to crust on the bottom.

Sprinkle on more cheese, then bake for 30-40 minutes until the crust is golden and the eggs are cooked.