10 Unique Recipes To Get You Excited For Summer

Face it, nothing says summer like what's on the menu. Whether you're spending the night outside grilling, or you're hanging poolside, here are 10 recipes that are distinctively summer.

1. Chipotle-Glazed Shrimp & Avocado Tostitos® Scoops!® Chips

Mike McCune / CC BY http://2.0 / flic.kr

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Cup of chopped onions

4 Garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 Teaspoons ground cumin

1 Teaspoon dried oregano

1 Cup water

1/4 Cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chilies

1 1/2 Pounds uncooked jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined and tail removed

1/4 Cup orange juice

2 Tablespoons golden brown sugar

1 Bag Tostitos® Scoops!® Tortilla Chips

2 Large avocados

1 Envelope of McCormick Guacamole Mix

Directions:

1. Heat oil in heavy medium skillet over mediumheat. Add onion; saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin and oregano; stir 1 minute.

2. Transfer mixture to blender. Add 1 cup of water, the vinegar an chipotles to the blender; puree until smooth.

3. Transfer half of puree to medium bowl; cool. Add shrimp to bowl; toss to coat. Cover and chill for 2 hours.

4. Pour remaining puree into heavy medium saucepan. Add orange juice and brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the glaze is slightly thickened and reduced to 1/2 cup, about 10 minutes.

5. Remove from heat. Allow to cool. In a small bowl combine the avocados and guacamole mix. Place mixture in a large plastic bag and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

6. Place about 30 Tostitos® Scoops!® Tortilla Chips on a platter. Set aside.

7. Prepare BBQ (medium-high heat). Remove shrimp from the marinade; pat dry with paper towels and thread through metal or bamboo skewers. Brush shrimp with some orange juice glaze. Grill shrimp until opaque in center, brushing occasionally with more glaze, about 3 minutes per side.

8. Snip a corner off of the ziploc bag of the guacamole mix.Pipe guacamole into each Tostitos® Scoops!® Tortilla Chip and top with shrimp.

2. Sticky BBQ Ribs

jonobacon / CC BY http://2.0 / flic.kr

Ingredients:

BBQ Sauce

1 small red onion, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 cup tomato ketchup

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup clear honey

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 3/4 pounds Saint Louis-style spareribs, cut into individual ribs

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 F. In a frying pan, sauté the onion in the oil for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the remaining sauce ingredients, bring up to a simmer and cook for 1 minute.

2. Allow to cool slightly then whiz together in a blender.

Put the ribs in a large roasting pan (line it with foil for easier clean-up) and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the sauce and toss the ribs to coat.

3. Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 400 F, uncover the ribs and cook for a further 30 minutes, turning over halfway. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool slightly before serving.

4. Alternatively you can broil or BBQ the ribs -- season and cook in the broiler or over coals for 10 minutes on each side. Brush the ribs with some of the sauce then turn and broil or grill for 5 minutes. Repeat 3 to 4 times until the ribs are cooked through, with a sticky coating.

3. Grilled Vegetable Skewers

Geoff Peters / CC BY http://2.0 / flic.kr

Ingredients

1 red pepper

1 orange and yellow bell pepper

1/2 medium green zucchini

1/2 medium yellow squash, or more zucchini if unavailable

4 wooden skewers, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes

Marinade

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

salt and pepper, to season

Directions

1. Cut off the tops of the bell peppers and remove the cores and seeds. Cut into rings. Slice 4 circles from each squash approximately 1/4 inch thick, and cut each circle across in half to give 8 semicircles each of green and yellow squash.

2. Put the marinade ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk together, seasoning to taste with the salt and pepper. Add the vegetables and toss to coat. Marinate for a minimum of 2 hours, or overnight, stirring the vegetables occasionally.

3. Preheat the broiler and line a broiler pan with foil. Thread pieces of bell pepper and squash onto the skewers. Put the skewers on the foil and brush over some of the remaining marinade. Broil for 4-5 minutes, until the vegetables are starting to soften and brown around the edges; watch carefully as they can brown very quickly if they are too close to the heat source.

4. Turn the skewers over and brush with more marinade. Grill for a further 4-5 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked through. Again watch carefully and lower the grill rack if the vegetables are browning too quickly.

5. allow the skewers to cool slightly before serving. Leftover vegetables can be removed from the skewers and stored, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days.

4. Lemonade with Berry Ice Cubes

Nick Harris / CC BY-ND http://2.0 / flic.kr

Ingredients:

1 11.5-oz. can frozen concentrate strawberry or any berry mix juice

24 raspberries or 8 strawberries, sliced (optional)

2 quarts water

1 1/3 cups sugar (or more, to taste)

1 1/3 cups fresh lemon juice

8 lemon slices

8 mint sprigs

Directions:

1. Pour the juice concentrate and 1 can of water into a pitcher. Mix to combine, then pour the juice into two ice cube trays, adding raspberries or sliced strawberries if you wish. Freeze.

2. Combine the 2 quarts of water and the sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir to combine. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Remove from heat. Strain the lemon juice through a fine sieve into the sugar syrup. Chill. Slit each lemon slice once, from center to rind, then press the slits onto eight glasses.

4. Fill each glass with 3 berry ice cubes and the lemonade. Garnish with a mint sprig. Makes 8 glasses.

5. Cold Melon Salsa

Ginny / CC BY-SA http://2.0 / flic.kr

Ingredients:

1/2 honeydew melon

1 cantaloupe

1/3 jalapeño

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 jar TOSTITOS® Salsa

Directions:

Finely chop first four ingredients. In large serving bowl, mix salsa, lime juice and chopped ingredients. Drain and refrigerate before serving with Baked! TOSTITOS® SCOOPS!® Tortilla Chips.

6. Pineapple Yogurt Dip

Manda / CC BY-ND http://2.0 / flic.kr

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese, softened

1 (8 ounce) container fat-free plain yogurt

1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained well

1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Process cream cheese, yogurt, pineapple, and sugar in a food processor or blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides.

2. Spoon into a serving dish; cover and chill. Serve with assorted fresh fruit.

7. Lemonade Cucumber Spa Popsicles

Tim Pierce / CC BY http://2.0 / flic.kr

Ingredients:

1 cup julienned seedless Cucumber

1 fresh squeezed Lemon, remove any seeds

2 cups cold Water

Natural Sweetener added to taste: use your favorite. Maple Syrup, Honey & Agave are good too

Directions:

1. Slice lemon in half and squeeze it over a strainer into 2 cups of cold water.

2. Sweeten lemon water to taste with your favorite sweetener. Fill popsicle molds 2/3 with lemonade. Freeze uncovered for about 1 hour.

3. Take pops out of freezer. Scrape and stir any ice crystals that have formed. Add a spoonful of the julienned cucumber to the pop molds. Be sure to leave a tiny bit of room at the top of your popsicle mold so they don’t overflow when you add the stick.

4. With a popsicle stick or a butter knife, press the cucumber into the mixture so it is evenly distributed. Add your popsicle sticks, freeze pops for another 3-4 hours until solid.

8. Raspberry Ice Cream Sandwiches

Jessica Merz / CC BY-ND http://2.0 / flic.kr

Ingredients:

10 ounces Vanilla Ice Cream, slightly softened

5 ounces Fresh Raspberries

Your favorite hot fudge sauce, optional

6 whole graham crackers, broken in half

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the softened vanilla ice cream and the fresh raspberries. Stir until well mixed.If eating immediately following preparation: Divide the mixture evenly between the graham crackers and assemble 6 sandwiches by placing ice cream on top of a graham cracker half, followed by warm hot fudge sauce (about 2-3 teaspoons, if desired) and then another graham cracker half on top. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.

2. If preparing ahead of time: Press the ice cream mixture into a parchment paper lined rectangular plastic storage container (about 7 1/2 x 5 inches in size). Cover and freeze the ice cream until ready to serve.

3. Remove the ice cream from the plastic storage container and cut into 6 equally sized pieces, about the size of half a graham cracker. Place 1 ice cream square on top of a graham cracker half. Top with warm hot fudge sauce (about 2-3 teaspoons, if desired) and then add another graham cracker half on top. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.

9. Grilled Peaches with Mozzarella and Prosciutto

Mike McCune / CC BY http://2.0 / flic.kr

Ingredients:

2 large fresh yellow peaches

1 bottle apple cider (we used Woodchuck Hard Cider)

12 thin slices of prosciutto (4-6 inches long each)

1 ball of fresh mozzarella cut into 12 small slices

12 sprigs fresh rosemary, for garnish

Directions:

1. Heat grill or cast iron panini pan over medium high heat.

2. Slice peaches into 12 wedges

3. Brush each side of each peach slice with cider and place them on the hot grill or cast iron pan. Sear for 20-30 seconds on each side. The goal is not to cook the peach, but to imprint grill marks and caramelize the cider on the peach surface.

4. Wrap each peach slice with a piece of mozzarella cheese and secure the cheese to the peach with a piece of prosciutto.

5. Garnish with rosemary sprigs.

10. Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Tim Pierce / CC BY http://2.0 / flic.kr

Ingredients:

-1 lb large strawberries

-8 oz. cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat)

-3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (4 tbsp for a sweeter filling)

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife, if necessary (some may already be hollow inside). Prep all strawberries and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc with the corner snipped off.

3. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until serving.