The Weekly Feel Good: 🌽🌿 the summer of staying outside

Well hello, happy Friday!

I’ve been trying to actually live by a rule this summer: if the weather is good, I’m outside, no exceptions. Not scrolling on the porch, actually outside doing something. Going for walks, lounging in the pool, sitting in the yard with an iced matcha reading a book. It sounds simple but it’s been a real game changer for me because my instinct is always to find one more thing to do inside first. This is one of the first summers where I didn’t put work first and it’s been really fun to see how nothing is falling apart at the seems because I’m prioritizing rest.

The tradeoff here is that I don’t want to lose that extra time I’m finding for myself standing over a stove for 45 minutes figuring out dinner. (Who does?! I know you don’t, that’s why you’re here!) I want meals that come together in minutes, taste like I put in more effort than I did, and don’t ask me to plan my whole evening around cooking them.

This week’s two recipes came out of that exact mindset. One is an elote inspired salmon bowl made with fire roasted corn, black beans, a good squeeze of lime, and enough southwest seasoning to make it taste like it came from a taco truck, that’s mostly done ahead of time so dinner is really just assembly. The other is a hazelnut pesto pasta situation inspired by a book I choose for my cookbook club recently that comes together in one food processor with no real cooking required beyond boiling water. (You’re welcome.)