We’ve got summer dinners on repeat over here. 

This seared salmon is done in less than 10 minutes and then covered in a chimichurri blanket. Think tons of fresh, vibrant herbs. Lots of red wine vinegar. The best olive oil you can find. Many, many cloves of garlic, minced into the tiniest chunks. And some crushed red pepper.

The flavor combo is fabulous and is one heck of a satisfying dinner. It’s not bad straight out of the fridge either. Even when it’s still cold. 

This just makes sense.

We love salmon

We love chimichurri! 

So here we are: seared, crispy edged, buttery salmon covered in a mix of briney herbs with olive oil and tons of garlic. 

It tastes super fresh, just like summer, and it is so satisfying.

I almost want to take one of these salmon filets, flake it over grilled sourdough and drizzle the chimichurri everywhere. It’s DELISH. 

Also, I love to serve it with this lemon herb parmesan potato salad that I’m going to tell you about on Wednesday! Woohoo for summer side dishes. 

I make salmon like this constantly. At least once a week – and it takes no time at all. All you need are a hot cast iron skillet, your salmon of choice, some avocado oil and spices and seasonings. 

For this recipe, I stuck with my go-to: smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Are you sick of hearing me talk about this combo yet? It’s basically all I use. 

Multiple days a week, I use that seasoning blend for chicken, fish, beef and even vegetables. And seafood, of course! It’s almost always what I put on salmon, exclusively. 

The key to getting it somewhat crisp is patting the salmon dry with a paper towel. Pat it dry, cover in seasonings, then sear in a hot skillet.

The outside gets crisp and spice-coated. The inside is so soft, buttery and flaky. 

Chimichurri is one of Eddie’s favorite condiments. He requests it constantly and will put it on anything. While I like to make it fresh as often as I can, it still tastes great after a day in the fridge. Because we’re using straight fresh herbs, I wouldn’t make it too far in advance, but the leftovers still work. 

The chimichurri is not only incredible on the salmon, but you can drizzle it over this lemony potato salad that I’m going to tell you about too. 

P.S. if you need a few other uses for chimichurri, you can make cheese fries, grilled chicken and couscous or even a steak salad.

Nothing I love more than a fresh meal that comes together in less than 20 minutes! 

Chimichurri Salmon

Print

Seared Salmon with Chimichurri

This chimichurri salmon is a weekly favorite of our family. It's super simple and flavorful - and comes together in no time at all. Seared, crisp salmon topped with a refreshing briney and herby garlic chimichurri. Yum!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author How Sweet Eats

Ingredients

chimichurri

• 1 cup fresh cilantro
• ⅔ cup fresh parsley
• ¼ cup fresh oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ⅔ cup olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

salmon

• 4 salmon filets
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• kosher salt and pepper
• 1 to 2 tablespoons avocado oil

Instructions

chimichurri

• Place the cilantro, parsley and oregano on a cutting board. Use a very sharp knife to chop it up as finely as you can. I prefer this way over the food processor.
• Place the herbs in a bowl. Add the garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Stir together and let sit until ready to use. If you want to refrigerate this, cover it before placing in the fridge.

salmon

• Pat the salmon dry with a paper towel.
• Season all over with the salt and pepper. Do the salmon with the smoked paprika and garlic powder. Be generous with the spices!
• Heat the avocado oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the salmon. Sear on one side until deeply golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Gently flip and sear on the other side until the salmon is cooked through, about 3 to 4 more minutes.
• Transfer the salmon to a platter and drizzle with the chimichurri. Serve!

Super fresh!

The post Chimichurri Seared Salmon. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Summer dishes abound! 

This tortellini salad is filled with roasted red peppers, feta cheese, arugula, tortellini and diced shallots. It’s drizzled with my zesty italian dressing which has a zingy bite – it is super flavorful and so satisfying. It’s one of those dishes that you will find yourself craving over and over again!

And… I bet a bunch of your friends and fam will request it too.

My kitchen ingredients thrive during this season. Fresh, vibrant produce along with all the herbs, a bit of cheese – I’m in heaven. This is the season where I love to make different dishes to share with family and friends, meals for last minute gatherings, summer hang outs, happy hour treats and more. 

Summer meals and snacks are just the best. And here’s the thing: I would totally even consider this tortellini salad a snack. An actual SNACK. I can’t tell you how many times I grab a bowl of it from the fridge… for a snack. 

Yep. 

The thing is, I make a lot of tortellini salads that we enjoy. This copycat one from the nordstrom e-bar is incredible. My summer chicken tortellini salad is great too. And the lunchtime chickpea version is a staple for my own meals. 

But this one takes the cake. Or the pasta. Or the salads! 

It’s truly the best cheese tortellini salad I have ever tasted. Eddie kept calling it an antipasto tortellini salad, and it does have a similar flavor profile. 

It is just delicious!

Here’s what we’re working with:

Cheese tortellini, of course. Whatever variety you love works. 

Salami, diced up. You could also use a spicy one! I’m a baby. 

Baby arugula greens. They are peppery and perfect. 

Shallots, diced into tiny chunks! 

Roasted red peppers – quite possibly my favorite pantry ingredient. 

Feta cheese. The crumbled kind is perfect here. So tangy and creamy.  (more…)

The post The Tortellini Salad I’m Making All Summer Long. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

I’ve got the best of the best summer dishes here for you!

To kick off the unofficial start of summer, I have 30 of my recipes lined up here that you MUST TRY this season!

Summer bucket list? I think so. This is a great place to start. Everything is so delicious, refreshing, vibrant and easy to make. Salads, main dishes, a dessert and cocktail sprinkled in there…

If you’re looking for a place to park this season where you can gather alllll the delish summer food inspo, I am here for you!

What are you looking forward to making the most?!

30 Best Summer Recipes

Grilled romaine salads

Tomato pie galette

Bruschetta pasta salad

Marinated tomato BLTs

Summer stuffed shells

Summer salmon with chimichurri

Summer stone fruit couscous salad

Grilled chicken rice bowls

Peach peach prosciutto pizza

Chimichurri grilled chicken with couscous

Rosé aperol spritz

Atlantic beach pie bars

Grilled jalapeno peach chicken

Asparagus pasta salad

Strawberry crunch salad

Burst tomato burrata pasta

Warm and buttery lobster rolls

Salted pretzel s’mores crunch bars

Melty zucchini baked ziti

Blueberry cucumber salad

Marinated grilled peppers with burrata

Summer risotto stuffed peppers

Slow roasted tomato farro

Grilled gorgonzola potatoes

Summer squash pasta with goat cheese

Fresh green bean salad

Hot bacon caprese salad

Best ever veggie burgers

BLT chopped salad with corn and feta

Pimento cheese BLTs

The post 30 of My Can’t-Miss Summer Recipes! appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Remembering all today who gave their lives for our country and those who continue to protect and serve.

xoxo (more…)

The post Memorial Day. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

It’s time! I love to kick off Memorial Day Weekend with my summer reading list.

This is one of my favorite days of the year. Oh my gosh – there are SO many great books this year. My list doesn’t even cover them all. I am so excited about all of these reads for the season! I reference this list all summer long and it saves me if I’m unsure of what to start reading.

The first half of the list is full of books that are already released, with the second half in order by release date. There are some weeks where I just can’t even wait for a new release. I have 99% of the books linked below to bookshop.org. If you are able to purchase the books through bookshop, it would mean so much to me! Bookshop supports YOUR local independent bookstore. To me, bookstores are MAGICAL. I walk in and instantly feel like I’m in a Nancy Meyers movie and could stay there all day.

If you prefer to purchase on amazon, I’ve also made a 2025 summer reading list shop here for easy access.

Also! If you’re new around here, my go-to reads and favorites picks are most types of women’s fiction. Light, fun, beachy reads are my #1 choice. I love to listen to nonfiction, memoirs and autobiographies on audible. I like thrillers, but have a few triggers that I stay away from. I read to escape, to get lost in the story, to feel like the characters are my friends. And I actually love the day after I finish a great book and can’t even stand to start a new one because I’m mourning my new (character) friends. It’s the best worst feeling.

I can’t WAIT to hear your recommendations in the comments, what you’re reading now and what’s on your list!

MY 2025 SUMMER READING LIST

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay

Crash Landing by Annie McQuaid

Summer Light on Nantucket by Nancy Thayer

Back After This by Linda Holmes 

The Page Turner by Viola Shipman

My Friends by Fredrick Bachman

A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay

The Seven O’Clock Club by Amelia Ireland

The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner

Love Camera Action by Noel Stark 

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff

Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

You Make My Heart Stop by Becky Hunter

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

Swept Away by Beth O’Leary

Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory

Dying to Meet You by Sarina Bowen

The Last Ferry Out by Andrea Bartz

What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon

What Will People Think? by Sara Hamdan

Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage

What If I Never Get Over You by Paige Toon

Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner

Home of the American Circus by Allison Larkin

Saltwater by Katy Hays

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall 

The Tenant by Frida McFadden 

Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith

Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein

The Influencers by Anna-Marie McLemore

Speak to Me of Home by Jeanine Cummins

The Names by Florence Knapp

What If It’s You by Jilly Gagnon

The Guilt Pill by Saumya Dave

One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman

The Perfect Divorce by Jeneva Rose

Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt

The Death of Us by Abigail Dean

We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough

Disco Witches of Fire Island by Blair Fell

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle

 I Want You More by Swan Huntley

The Last Session by Julia Bartz

Tell Them You Lied by Laura Leffler (5/27)

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson (5/27)

The Guest Cottage by Lori Foster (5/27)

The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly (5/27)

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood (5/27)

Beach House Rules by Kristy Woodson Harvey (5/27)

Mansion Beach by Meg Mitchell Moore

It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan (5/27)

Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto (6/3)

So Happy Together by Olivia Worely (6/3)

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater (6/3)

We Don’t Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry (6/3)

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown (6/3)

Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid (6/3)

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch (6/3)

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark (6/3)

Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady (6/3)

Eat Post Like by Emily Arden Wells (6/3)

The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison (6/3)

Park Avenue by Renée Ahdieh (6/3)

The Catch by Yrsa Daley-Ward (6/3)

Flashlight by Susan Choi (6/3)

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager (6/10) 

The Last Illusion of Paige White by Vanessa McCausland (6/10)

Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess (6/10)

The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb (6/10)

Confession of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight (6/10)

Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin (6/10)

Last Night Was Fun by Holly Michelle (6/10)

Far and Away by Amy Poeppel (6/10)

This Is Not a Ghost Story by Amerie (6/10)

The Nimbus by Robert P. Baird (6/10)

The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten (6/10)

Never Been Shipped by Alicia Thompson (6/10)

Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston (6/17)

Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman (6/17)

The Ripple Effect by Maggie North (6/17)

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick (6/17)

Don’t Open Your Eyes by Liv Constantine (6/17)

I Did Warn Her by Sian Gilbert (6/17)

Someone Knows by Vi Keeland (6/17)

Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell (6/24)

Cruel Summer by Maisey Yates (6/24)

Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler (6/24)

The Accidental Favorite by Fran Littlewood (6/24)

Happy Wife by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores (6/24)

Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino (6/24)

The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans (6/24)

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox (7/1)

The Art of Vanishing by Morgan Pager (7/1)

Summer on Lilac Island by Lindsay MacMillian (7/1)

The Spirit of Love by Lauren Kate (7/1)

Our Last Vineyard Summer  by Brooke Lea Foster (7/1)

The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware (7/8)

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean 7/ 8 

Darling Beasts by Michelle Gable (7/8)

Totally and Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman (7/8)

The View From Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani (7/8)

This Stays Between Us by Sara Ochs (7/15)

Love is a Warsong by Danica Nava (7/22)

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson (7/22)

Gracie Harris Is Under Construction by Kate Hash (7/29)

You Belong Here by Megan Miranda (7/29)

Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum (7/29)

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen (8/5)

Anywhere With You by Ellie Palmer (8/5)

Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings (8/5)

Too Old for This by Samantha Downing (8/12)

The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye (8/12)

For the Record by  Emma Lord (8/12)

All the Tomorrows After by Joanne Yi (8/19)

One Dark Night by Hannah Richell (8/19)

The Battle of the Bookshops by Poppy Alexander (8/19)

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham (8/26)

The Academy Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham (9/16)

P.S. FOR OTHER READING RECOMMENDATIONS:

you can check out all of my reading lists here!

Especially my 2024 summer reading list, my 2023 summer reading list, 2022 summer reading list, 2021 summer reading list, 2020 summer reading list, 2020 fall reading list, 2020 winter reading list, 2019 fall reading list, 2019 winter reading list, my 2018 summer reading list and my 2017 summer reading list!

The post My Summer 2025 Reading List! appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

I have so many delicious memorial day weekend recipes for you!

I know we’re still a week and a half out, but I could NOT be more excited for the kick off to summer this year. MDW is one of my favorite weekends of the entire year and right now I’m feeling so much more hopeful and great about this season to come! Today I have a ton of my favorite recipes for Memorial Day weekend for you – not just burgers and hot dogs, but amazing salads, snacks, appetizers and dips, side dishes, grilled meals, cocktails and treats. It can’t get any better than this!

For a million years we have always gone to a Memorial Day parade on Monday then walked through the cemetery – it’s a tradition. The days before, we do tons in preparation for summer and just have a lovely little weekend. I love it!

Do you have any plans for the weekend? What delicious things are you making?

60 Memorial Day Weekend Recipes

(more…)

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Nothing better than a berry flag cake in the summer!

This white sheet cake is studded with festive sprinkles, topped with fresh whipped cream and all the cutesy flag berries. It tastes amazing and is fun to serve. I’ve made a cupcake version before and they are always a hit!

Ohhh how we live for a festive sheet cake over here.

I have a triple berry sheet cake with cream cheese frosting and it’s DIVINE. It’s the inspiration base for this recipe. In fact, I took red white and blue sprinkles and just added them to the batter! 

That is it.

And then made the classic berry flag. Who made the first flag cake? Ina? Martha? I don’t even know but I thank them for it. It’s basically my favorite cake to make in the summer! It’s fun, festive, delicious and the kids flip over it.

Seriously, they could eat an entire grocery store worth of berries in a week. 

This is a fun funfetti cake! My kids love adding the sprinkles. Get a bunch of red white and blue sprinkles – just get the jumbo jar! You can use them for brownies or cookies or ice cream sundaes and stuff all summer long. Because you need about ½ cup of sprinkles and those little tubes at the store won’t cut it. 

I like to use both vanilla and almond extract. The almond gives it that slight sugar cookie flavor and it’s wonderful. It’s not full blown “wedding cake” flavored – but it has a hint of something else that makes it taste special. 

Now the frosting… you know I’m a cream cheese frosting freak. And I LOVE using it on my sheet cakes. But if you want something lighter, I suggest whipped cream. I used fresh whipped cream on this cake because it goes so well with berries.

It’s classic and light and just makes the cake. 

While it doesn’t have the same texture, this cake kind of reminds me of angel food cake when you top it with the whipped cream. It’s that light and airy and so lovely to eat on a hot summer day.  (more…)

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It’s picnic food season!

This is where I try to convince you that a hot dog is a recipe! We’re making pickle slaw to use on hot dogs (or burgers!) and it’s so crunchy, briney and delicious. 

I’ve done this before, (not) shockingly. Hot cheeto hot dogs! Puff pastry wrapped hot dogs! An entire hot dog bar!

Okay, so this isn’t actually about the hot dog. But I always love one really good hot dog in the summer. It just TASTES like summer, you know? Toasty brioche bun, maybe a mix of ketchup and mustard and even a drizzle of relish.

That’s really what this is: relish slaw. But that doesn’t sound as cute as pickle slaw. It actually sounds awful, so pickle slaw is what we’re going with. 

Plus, relish IS pickles… so there’s that. 

That’s what we’re talking about here. The pickle slaw!!! 

Even though I’ve loved pickles my entire life, it took me a really long time to realize that relish is a version of pickles. So I missed out on relish for many many years! But now I’m so fully invested that I love both sweet and dill relish. 

I also LIVE for a good, crisp refreshing slaw. I crave it on tacos, sandwiches, as a salad and more. I’ve made a few versions for hot dogs before and I’ve even made pickle slaw a few times.

This one is classic and simple enough for hot dogs that any pickle or relish lover will LOVE it. The slaw is a tangy, vinegar based one – I love that more than creamy slaws – and it works with pretty much any condiment that you love.

Also works with cheese! If you’re into that sort of thing for your hot dog. Or burger. Or sandwich. (more…)

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Seasonal summer salads, here we are! 

This red white and berry arugula salad is a summer dream. Four different kinds of berries, a lemony goat cheese vinaigrette and pistachio clusters make up this simple dish. It’s easy and classic with a twist – and full of so much crunch and flavor!

It’s sure to be the salad of the summer. Festive, delicious and satisfying. Plus perfect for a big BBQ! Great for Memorial Day weekend, the 4th of July or any summer weeknight you want something fresh and wonderful. 

I LOVE salads just like this. I’ve shared a triple berry crunch salad before that has roasted chickpeas. And in Easy Everyday, I have another really delish berry arugula salad! The combination of the peppery arugula against the sweet berries is perfect and one we adore. 

And I even love making an easy salad like this as a starter for dinner. If there are berries involved, I can usually get my kids on board! 

This salad has so much more than just berries though. 

These pistachios clusters… oh my gosh. I want to eat these forever. 

They are inspired by the pepitas in my harvest honeycrisp salad. But I skipped the spices, made them in a skillet instead of the oven and they are so simple.

And SO crunchy! 

I mean, I could easily snack on these alone. But in a salad? Holy cow. They elevate it so much. 

And let’s talk about the dressing!

I have two similar dressings – my blue cheese vinaigrette and my smashed feta vinaigrette. This is like that, but with goat cheese. It is the best mix of creamy versus vinegar-based, because as the goat cheese warms up, it makes the dressing slightly creamy. But it’s not super thick and heavy, like a traditional creamy dressing. (more…)

The post Red, White and Berry Salad with Pistachio Clusters. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Let me tell you how I’m officially OLD.

I love these lettuce wrap burgers.

Like, LOVE THEM. Blue cheese burgers piled high with caramelized onions, drizzled with creamy honey mustard and served in lettuce wraps. Freaking delicious.

I just adore them!

A few years ago, you couldn’t have paid me to eat a burger wrapped in lettuce. 

And trust me, this is nothing about cutting out the bun or the bread. Has nothing to do with that. It’s all about the CRISP LETTUCE.

Refreshing, crisp iceberg lettuce that we all usually treat like garbage. You know? We say it tastes like stale water and is worthless in a salad.

But as a wrap? TOP NOTCH. It is supreme. 

Sure, we kind of already know this from lettuce wrap – the famous ones with the sesame chicken and all that. 

But lettuce wrap burgers are the one way I have always avoided using the lettuce… thinking it would be too messy, not sturdy enough and just not as… good? Sort of like a give me brioche or give me death situation. Nothing can beat the brioche bun. 

However, it was definitely my cheeseburger salads that started to change my mind a few years ago. Something about the crisp lettuce is part of that classic cheeseburger flavor – mixed with the cheddar and the ketchup and the mustard and oh! It’s fabulous. 

So I started making cheeseburger lettuce wraps. Dreamy. And so easy. The lettuce wraps add this cooling, refreshing bite on a hot summer day. 

Now here is why THESE burgers are the best: 

They are topped with blue cheese which gets extra melty. 

Caramelized onions, which we know make every burger better.

And a drizzle of creamy homemade honey mustard! 

All wrapped up in that cold iceberg lettuce leaf. Juicy as heck, melty with cheese, so flavorful I could scream.  (more…)

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