4th of July Real Food Menu

Fruit & Cheese Kabobs 

Wooden skewers
Bananas
Green & Red Grapes
Watermelon
Strawberries
Pineapple
Thick sliced cheese

Clean and cut fruit into desired size and shape. Grab a 1-inch cookie cutter star and make a fun shape out of your cheese slices. Gently slide fruit and cheese onto wooden skewers.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken and Mushroom Kabobs

Organic chicken thighs
Teriyaki sauce (Click here for our homemade recipe)
Small mushrooms (white or baby portobello both work well)
Metal skewers (or wooden skewers that have soaked in water for an hour)

Chicken is best if marinated in teriyaki sauce for at least 2 hours before cooking (or save some prep time and marinate it the night before). If no time to marinate, simply brush on teriyaki sauce and grill, continuing to baste throughout the cook time. Be sure your chicken is cooked through!

*Time saver tip: Cook your chicken beforehand in the oven and finish it on the grill…no more risk of over-cooked chicken!

Skewer mushrooms, baste with teriyaki sauce and grill.

Mac Salad (Authentic Hawaiian-style Recipe)

1 box organic elbow macaroni (like this brand)
1/4 cup sweet onion (grated)
2 cups avocado oil mayo
Salt & Pepper to taste
Grated carrot (optional)

* As Hawai’i Magazine puts it:

To make a basic macaroni salad, you don’t need a recipe; just follow these guidelines: Cook 1 pound elbow macaroni (for really local style, cook until soft and fat, but you can go al dente if you prefer). Stir in ¼ cup very finely grated onion. Not minced, chopped or sliced—grated. It should be liquidy (this is how they do it at Diner’s, a local eatery in Kalihi). At least 2½ cups for real local style. But there are no rules, so use less if you like. Or more. Salt and pepper, to taste. Stir well; refrigerate.

We’ve found this recipe is even better the next day (or the next), make this dish ahead of time and save yourself some prep work on the big day!

Spicy Radish Salad

1 cup sliced radish
1 cup sliced cucumber
1 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup sugar*
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp salt

My sister in-law introduced me to this recipe and I plant two rows of radishes in my garden just for this recipe. I called her up for exact measurements to the recipe and she told me it’s from Better Homes and Garden’s Skinny Slow Cooker cookbook. The recipe is called “Simply Pickled” and calls for 3 cups any combination of the listed veggies, but our favorite combination is radish, cucumber and onion. The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp whole black or green peppercorns, but we omit those as well. Other vegetable options include fennel, jicama, celery, cauliflower, red sweet pepper and carrot!

Toss in whatever you’ve got…it’ll be so yummy! This is a perfect chilled side dish and a great choice for summer dinners!

To make: Combine sugar, vinegar, garlic and salt in a bowl. Using a mandolin or knife, very thinly slice radish, cucumber and onion and place in a large bowl. Drizzle vinegar mixture over the top and toss lightly to coat. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours before serving. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

* I ran out of organic evaporated cane juice and used coconut sugar in the recipe photographed…as you can see it’s much darker in color, but we loved it equally as well! Since there’s added minerals in the coconut sugar we may make this change permanent!