Easy Labor Day Weekend Ideas

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Couscous salad topped with grilled veggies, serve with grilled pita and you’ll have the perfect lunch,

or serve it as a side with any roast you might be putting on the grill.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing a platter filled with grilled veggies drizzled with olive oil and balsamic glaze!

A perfect side dish with any grilled meats.

Or slabs of grilled sweet onions with dollops of warm gorgonzola.

For an extremely fresh salad that you can’t stop eating, try this Zucchini Carpaccio

Salad. Paper thin slices of fresh zucchini tossed with baby arugula, shredded Parmigiano Reggiano, garlic, lemon zest and olive oil. Topped with toasted walnuts.

For a quick dessert take advantage of all the beautiful apricots that are still available.

Stuff them with sweetened mascarpone and plop a blackberry on top, drizzle with honey or agave and stick them under your broiler. Garnish with pistachio’s.

Keep it simple and savor every last bit of all the beautiful summer produce.

Buon Appetito!

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Comments

  1. I tried it. Followed the instructions to the letter. It was yukky. I think this would be better if you baked the apricots for a while, until they are soft, then put the cheese and blackberries on top and broil for just a little bit.

    • Sorry about that Amanda, but your apricots didn’t sound to ripe, ripe fruit is the key, but that’s a good idea to roast them first if not so ripe.

  2. I have tried to find the recipe for the grilled onions with the dollop of cheese on top. I can’t seem to find it. Could you send it to me?

    Thanks!!

    • Georgia, There really is no recipe, I just grilled slabs of onions that were brushed with olive oil, then removed them with a spatula and placed a heaping tablespoon of gorgonzola cheese on top which melts from the warm onion, to finish it off I drizzled a rich balsamic glaze over the top.

  3. I made the apricots this weekend for a holiday party – they were amazing!! I added a little sugar cookie cup base because I had to use canned apricots, but all in all it was delicious and I didn’t have any leftovers. :o) Thanks for sharing!

    • Janet Fredericks says

      I made the apricots with the blackberries but it sure didn’t look like the pic. My marscapone practically melted off the apricots. I did not have a sweetened marscapone cheese and there is no really recipe to add anything so can someone help me out on this one please. TheyHAVE to taste as good as the pic looks but it fell short.

      • janet you might have kept them under the broiler too long and that’s why the cream melted. To sweeten them I just added some sugar to taste, just to sweeten it up a bit, stirred it in them stuffed them. You could just grill the apricots ahead of time, stuff them then for a quick minute stick them under the broiler.
        Hope this helps,

        Marie

  4. Found you on pinterest but sadly the pictures on photobucket seem to be down. Nevertheless I saw one pic before and it looks fantastic!

  5. Wow!! Amazing !!

    Just looking at the pics makes my tummy start grumbling !! Finding it very difficult to decide the order in which I should start trying these. 🙂

  6. Mmmmmm, all these grilled foods look amazing! I’m so sad at my new place I don’t have room for a grill…may have to try and do some grilling at a park this summer because these look too good to pass up! Can’t decide if I am more a fan of the grilled onions with blue cheese or the stuffed apricots…wow!

  7. Oh my! I am dying over those stuffed apricots!

  8. Anonymous says

    Where is the recipe for the onions and balsamic glaze? Thanks!

  9. Just found you via Pinterest – that cous cous salad with grilled veggies is my idea of heaven. Can’t wait to peek around and see what other delicious things you’ve shared! 🙂

  10. I found your couscous salad on Pinterest. This is definitely a must make!

  11. Beautiful recipes, here, Marie. I love those apricots with the sweetened mascarpone and blackberries!

  12. I sure wish I would have visited here before the holiday for that zucchini salad . . . wow! Guess it’s not too late but it will be just Mr. Rosemary and me, not the whole family.

  13. Everything looks amazingly delicious. I am going to try out some balsamic glaze this week….I am sure I am going to fall in love with it! :0)

  14. Marie, everything looks so yummy! I hope you don’t mind that I shared your blog with a fb group (Proud to Be Italian-American https://www.facebook.com/groups/185537200678/) 🙂

  15. wonderful just wonderful…love the peaches…can’t wait to try that..

  16. All great ideas…I already told my husband we should grill extra veggies this weekend so we can use them in salads and such for the week.

  17. Everything looks delicious, but oh my gosh….those apricots look insanely amazing. Wow!

  18. I would like a serving of everything and I’ll start with the apricots. Have a wonderful holiday weekend, Marie.

  19. You have no idea how my mouth is watering just looking at those gorgeous photos, Marie. And now that I have a bottle of that luscious balsamic glaze, those grilled veggies are mine!

  20. Your Labor Day ideas sound wonderful. Trader Joe sells a couscous/grain mix that would be great with your grilled veggies.

  21. Each recipe looks fantastic for Labor Day and all year round! I love grilled/roasted veggies as they taste so much sweeter prepared that way, and the zucchini salad is pure genius. My husband loves apricots and I know he’d really really enjoy them made this way.

    Have a wonderful holiday, Marie. I’ve been having a wonderful time this week enjoying company with my grandsons 🙂

  22. Everything looks fantastic! I love the onions with gorgonzola. You said “warm” gorgonzola. How did you warm them, in the oven or microwave?

  23. i am so inspired now……..thank you! 🙂

  24. As usual….amazing!

  25. Nobody has ever made vegetables look more enticing. I just did platters of zucchini carpaccio – so moving on to those apricots (oh my – yes) and you wowed me with the onions. I cannot believe someone can wow me with onions.

  26. These dishes all look so delicious! One of my goals for this week is to make a balsamic reduction, and these grilled veggies look like the perfect thing to put it on. I haven’t grilled/broiled many fruit, but you’re inspiring me to make the effort to do so!

  27. Your apricot, mascarpone and blackberry creations are now my new computer desktop photo! Luscious! YUM!!

  28. You always have the best ideas Marie.
    LL

  29. Divine,all of it,all I need is a good bottle of red wine and some bread and this is my meal.

  30. I’ll take one of each please! You seriously have one of the best foodie palates. Your flavors and combinations are amazing.

  31. Where to begin? the gorgonzola on grilled onions is a brilliant idea. IAll those roasted veggies and couscous could turn me into a vegetarian. And the apricots topped with blackberries? Inspired, as you are. can you please move next door?

  32. The simple things in life really are best!!! Each one of these treats are so delicuous where do I begin.

  33. Everything looks PHENOMENAL! I am going to have to try the zucchini salad tomorrow..I have so many of them!

  34. Yum! All those look so good. We’re only just coming up to Summer here so I’m looking forward to giving them ALL a go!

  35. Wow, these photos and recipes just jumps out from the screen. Lovely recipes, although I must confess that I am partial to the slabs of onions with gorgonzola!

  36. What a yummy stuff all the way:)

Trackbacks

  1. […] Zucchini Carpaccio Salad […]

  2. […] Grilled Apricots with Mascarpone, Blackberries, Honey & Pistachios from Proud Italian Cook […]

  3. […] These were easy to make and a great side dish. They didn’t take long to prepare, but had all of the makings for something fabulous. Reduced balsamic+gorgonzola+onion+grill= Perfection. Having these on the side meant no sauce was necessary for the steak, you could just enjoy a bite of this either before or after.Source: inspired by, The Proud Italian Cook […]

  4. […] incredible caterers served appetizers of individual salads in cups, roasted apricots with mascarpone cheese, and a nut and crackers platter. For the main dish we served beef wellington (or chicken for the […]

  5. […] Balsamic Drizzled Grilled Onion Slabs  Proud Italian Cook […]

  6. […] incredible caterers served appetizers of individual salads in cups, roasted apricots with mascarpone cheese, and a nut and crackers platter. For the main dish we served beef wellington (or chicken for the […]

  7. […] summer dessert!  Marscapone stuffed apricots topped with a blackberry and then broiled.  Yum! […]

  8. […] well, it's really an apricot in this recipe/suggestion. But I think you can figure it out. Easy Labor Day Weekend Ideas – Proud Italian Cook Seriously, if you don't try these… you don't love yourself. Our body is our subconscious […]

  9. […] got the original idea for this from a blog entitled, Proud Italian Cook, https://www.prouditaliancook.com/2011/08/easy-labor-day-weekend-ideas.html.   The recipe called for fresh apricots, in season.  Since apricots tend to be a later summer […]

  10. […] and the requirement of the dish to bring is that it should be healthy. When I found this dish at ProudItalianCook I knew I had the recipe I was looking […]

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