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Healthy Summer Dinner Recipes

Find healthy, delicious summer dinner recipes, from the food and nutrition experts at EatingWell.

Tomatillo Gazpacho

Grilled Chicken Ratatouille

Lamb Chops with Lebanese Green Beans

Grilled Beef Tenderloin & Escarole

Farm Fresh Dinners

These easy weeknight suppers are inspired by the bountiful fruits and vegetables that are ripe and ready to eat at the farmers’ market now. Although these recipes include shrimp, grilled chicken, lamb chops and grilled beef, the showstoppers are the fabulous vegetables. These recipes will help you make the most of the produce that is ripe right now from your local farmers’ market, CSA, garden or supermarket and get it on the table in a snap.

Moroccan Lamb Chops with Tomato-Olive Relish

Having a few specialty ingredients in your pantry, such as the spice blend ras el hanout and oil-cured olives, is the fastest way to a deluxe dinner that's easy enough for weeknights and special enough for Saturday's dinner party. Round out the meal with steamed potatoes, simply dressed salad greens and a glass of white Côtes du Rhône.

Fresh Sweet Corn Salad

We love fresh summer corn when it's in season, but frozen corn makes a great year-round substitute in this quick and easy side dish.

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Lemon-Pepper Linguine with Squash

Thinly sliced zucchini and summer squash bulk up this easy vegetarian pasta recipe. Saving a bit of the starchy pasta-cooking water to toss with grated cheese, herbs and bright lemon at the end is the secret to a fast, silky no-cook pasta sauce.

Tomato Salad with Tarragon Pesto & Pumpernickel Croutons

With this easy tomato salad, more is more--so if you want, go wild with an outrageous selection of tomatoes. Look for big gnarly tomatoes, plum-shaped varieties, smooth or peach-fuzzed skins, zebra stripes, not to mention the miniatures at the summer farmers' market. All the visual variation means you'll get a range of flavors as well.

Barley Salad with Sugar Snap Peas, Baby Bok Choy & Green Romesco Dressing

You can use most types of barley for this veggie-loaded grain salad--hulled, pearled (which will cook the quickest) or hull-less. Serve this salad as a side for grilled chicken, topped with grilled shrimp or as an impressive potluck dish.

Chicago-Style Carrot Dogs

Whether you're vegan, vegetarian or none of the above, these plant-based "dogs" are magically delicious--period. This recipe makes these vegan hot dogs Chicago-style, but feel free to doctor them up any way you like. Break with convention and add shredded cabbage, sprouts and cilantro, for example.

Eggplant Gyros

Eggplant's meaty texture is a delicious vegetarian stand-in for the lamb that typically fills a gyro sandwich. The vegetable absorbs the lemony-herby-spicy marinade like a sponge, so if you have time, let it marinate for the full day.

Pulled Chicken & Pickled Veggie Wraps

These colorful chicken wraps are perfect for a crowd. Marinated radishes, onions, and carrots add a salty crunch-and a sneaky serving of vegetables!

Cauliflower-Potato Salad with Horseradish Dressing

Yep, there's cauliflower in this potato salad. It cuts down on the carbs and calories, and is a perfect match for our tangy horseradish dressing.

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Tomato Salad with Lemon-Basil Vinaigrette

Seek out several varieties of heirloom tomatoes for this simple salad. Sweeter and juicier than conventional tomatoes, they add the perfect pop of color.

Better-Than-Takeout Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries

This healthy take on burgers and fries swaps in chopped mushrooms for some of the meat in the burger patties, to cut back on calories and saturated fat.

Grilled Salmon Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Homemade raspberry dressing? You bet. Prep it a day ahead and this easy salmon salad will come together in no time.

Raspberry-Pineapple Fish Tacos

This refreshing version of traditional fish tacos features a lively raspberry-pineapple salsa and a yogurt-lime cream sauce.

Grilled Bison-Mushroom Burgers

Adding smoky, umami-packed ground mushrooms to grilled burgers builds flavor and keeps things juicy while bumping up the patty size. This burger is super-tasty made with ground beef too, but we love bison as a sustainable alternative packed with rich flavor. Look for it in the meat section of well-stocked supermarkets.

Roasted Baby Zucchini with Lemon Labneh

This easy vegetable side dish shines alongside roasted or seared steak, chicken, shrimp or firm fish, such as cod or salmon. Sumac lends punchy, fruity, sour-lemon notes to this fast and simple recipe. Find ground sumac spice online, in specialty markets and in well-stocked grocery stores.

Grilled Fennel-Rubbed Pork Chops & Apricots

Toasting and grinding your own spices for a flavorful rub is the quickest, easiest way to build surefire flavor in this easy pork chop recipe. Serve with a simple tossed salad and some roasted sweet potatoes to round out the meal.

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Thai Peanut & Herb Grilled Pizza

Thai peanut sauce is an addictive base for homemade grilled pizza. Purchase your preferred brand at any large supermarket or Asian grocery store for an easy, veggie-loaded pizza made right at home.

Sausage, Mushroom & Pesto Grilled Pizza

Healthy homemade sausage-and-mushroom pizza in the comfort of your backyard? Yes, please. All you need for a Naples-worthy pie is a hot grill, store-bought pizza dough and easy prepared ingredients. Serve with a glass of Chianti.

Greek Summer-Squash Grilled Pizza

Spreading roasted red pepper hummus on this easy grilled pizza makes a fast and easy base for tender summer squash and salty chunks of feta. Best of all? This healthy pizza is ready in 20 minutes.

Fennel & Fontina Grilled Pizza

You can make healthy veggie-packed pizza in just 15 minutes with store-bought pizza dough, a few simple ingredients and a hot grill. Slice the fennel as thinly as possible--it'll caramelize and melt into the creamy, nutty fontina cheese.