I don’t know about you, but I equate long weekends with a time to celebrate awesome food and drink with friends! The weather is sunny and HOT, so we hope to be outside as much as we can and also keep our meals fresh and light.
Here are some recipes that I recommend for Canada Day, the Fourth of July, or any summer gathering. The theme is light, easy, refreshing, and best of all, energizing!
1) Raw Triple Berry Crisp
Who wants to turn on the oven when it’s already scorching? This triple berry crisp is beautiful on the eyes (and in the belly!), nutritious, and quick to throw together.
2) Weekend Glow Kale Salad
This is the best kale salad I’ve ever tried! It could convert even the biggest kale hater into a glowing fan. Energy in a bowl!
3) Maple Baked Beans
A classic Canadian favorite, these maple baked beans are sweet, savoury, and amazing packed into a fluffy roll spread with pure maple butter. It’s slow-cooker friendly too!
4) Canada Day Vegan Overnight Oats
A festive way to enjoy your Vegan Overnight Oats for breakfast!
5) High Protein Almond Berry Quinoa Salad
A healthy, yet indulgent tasting, side dish or dessert perfect for a BBQ. This dish is a crowd pleaser! Just be careful…it vanishes quickly so you might want to make a double batch.
6) Canada Day Strawberry Cheesecake Bites (with blueberry fourth of July option)
Patriotic finger food that is a snap to whip up.
7) Almond Butter Rice Crisp Treats
You’ll never go back to the classic version when you taste how good these are! They also hold together well at room temperature when using brown rice syrup.
8.) Chilled Strawberry Almond Butter Soup
Have a ton of fresh strawberries to use up? This is a perfect recipe for it.
9) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
The perfect finger-friendly food for cookie dough lovers. If you are feeling extra crazy you can make Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard!
10) Maple Grilled Peaches in a buttery caramel glaze with vegan ice cream
(making this tonight!!)
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11) Asparagus and Potato Salad
Love, love, love this salad. Great for a potluck or BBQ.
12) Gazpacho
I used to be afraid of chilled soups…until I tried this easy Gazpacho! I’m now a fan and will enjoy this recipe all summer long.
13) Lightened Up Protein Power Goddess Bowl
One of my fav. salads of all time. Very filling, yet light enough for summer.
14) Salt and Vinegar Chips and Green Beans
I first made homemade S & V chips last summer and we just fell in love with them. They would probably work great on a BBQ too.
15) Back on Track Wheatberry Salad
This salad will NEVER get old…one of the most popular on the blog to date!
16) Apple Cupcakes
An idea from Martha, these cute apple cupcakes are so fun and versatile. You can dress them up any way you like! I love them with nut butter and granola sprinkled on top.
Now where is that chef fairy when you need one? I better finish prepping as our friends will be arriving soon. Happy Canada Day and long weekend =)
Thanks for the great suggestions, Angela! I just hope my peaches and nectarines hold up long enough to be grilled! They are begging to be used asap! Of course I’m going to have to incorporate some red, white, and blue in the spread somehow, so maybe I will try one of your berry recipes :)
All of those recipes look fantastic! What a delicious meal!!
Everything you make looks so delicious. I need to get around to actually making some. Hope you had a lovely canada day!
Made the Quinoa Fruit Salad. Sadly, strawberries are out of season in Florida and the cherries are too expensive, so I made it with blueberries and Mangoes. Yummy!!
I think I just fell back in love again with all of these recipes. Thanks for reminding me of the deliciousness that occurs here :-)
Those Maple Baked Beans might be my favorite thing I’ve made from this blog. Happy Canada Day weekend!
Hmmmmm looks like I’ve got a tasty Sunday cut out for me!! Time to BAKE
I love how colorful and festive all your foods are! Everything looks divine!
I’ve been making your maple baked beans for a year now and LOVE THEM. Thank you.
Also, I think you’ve finally inspired me to try kale in more ways…I WILL one day love it just as much as the beans :)
I legitimately started this list making a mental note of the recipes I wanted to try before realizing I wanted to try over half of them!! Why must your pictures be so enticing :P Especially the kale salad, I’ll probably have that for lunch today :)
Wow! Everything on this post is to. die. for.!! Thank you :) writing down recipes to try as I type :)
I’ve followed you on twitter but just now found your blog. Absolutely love it!
thank you Robin :)
I made the kale salad last night and LOVED it! Next up, the protein power goddess bowl. Thanks for such delicious vegan recipes to add to my repertoire!
WOWEEEE! I made the weekend glow kale salad last night for my boyfriend and me. Can I just say that’s it’s amazing and it makes wonderful leftovers because the kale does not wilt.
I improvised on the dressing, using roasted red pepper hummus instead of tahini along with a few other tweaks, but it still turned out fabulous!
I served the Glo Salad at a party (of mostly carnivores) and got rave reviews, thanks! The Canada Day strawberry cookies were also a huge hit. A trick for baked beans: a tbsp or so of unsweetened cocoa. So yummy! Thanks for the recipes, I look forward to them….
Im so glad to hear that! :)
I made the Maple Baked Beans and the Almond Butter Rice Crisp Treats for the weekend. My grocery store didn’t have canned white beans so I had to use dried and soak them. I put everything in the slow cooker but wasn’t sure how much water to add, so I just guessed and the beans were, we’ll say, al dente, but not crunchy, so they weren’t a total loss. The flavor was amazing, though! Husband loves the rice crisp treats!
Maple Grilled Peaches! Just what I’m looking for only I don’t see the recipe for it. Help!:-)