4th of July Recipe Ideas 2015: Three Alternative Food Ideas to Barbeque Grill and Desserts

Jul 02, 2015 08:59 PM EDT

Fourth of July celebrations are usually marked with outdoor barbeques under a hot blazing sun. Still, there may be those who would like to pass the long-weekend without needing to stand next to a fiery grill. Happily, the web is filled with recipes that offer alternatives to the barbeque. In the sections below, we will look at those recipes.

Flag-Inspired Lasagna

From the blog SheKnows, here is a recipe that puts a patriotic spin on the classical Italian dish. The recipe calls for lean turkey, fat-free cottage and ricotta cheese, and skimmed mozzarella to create flag-themed lasagna in a pan. The cook simply makes the basic lasagna. Afterwards, marinara sauce is used create the stripes, while olives are used to create the stars on the upper left-hand corner.

Click on this link to go to the original site for the recipe.  

Oven-Baked Baby Back Ribs

Contrary to popular belief, it is still possible to get the most succulent baby-back ribs from the oven. There are plenty of recipes on the web. This recipe from the Hallmark Channel duplicates the taste of smoked ribs, but without using the smoker.

Instead, the chef only needs to use humble home oven with supermarket-purchased BBQ wood chips. The recipe also uses the usual brown sugar, paprika, and cayenne pepper to create an aromatic flavor for the ribs.

Click here for the recipe.

Grilled Chicken, Fruit Salad

For those wanting to eat healthy, OurBestBites introduces a chicken salad recipe that combines all the colors on the U.S. flag. Although the recipe asks for grilled chicken, the would-be cook may opt to broil the breast using the stove at home.

Afterwards, the chicken fillets are chopped into pieces. Next, the bits are thrown in with blueberry, strawberry, feta cheese, lettuce and toasted almonds. Afterwards, the salad is drizzled with special berry vinaigrette.

Click on this link to go to the original site for the recipe.

Layered Ice Cream Cake

The more common dessert besides cake is ice cream. PureWow suggests combining both desserts into a stunning red, white, and blue colored layered cake. This recipe calls for raspberry sorbet, vanilla ice cream, blueberry ice cream, and lots of whipped cream.

The best thing about this recipe is that it can be made days ahead of the celebration. Click here for the recipe.

Patriotic Strawberry, Blueberry Smoothies

DailyDishRecipes introduces a dessert that uses healthier skimmed-milk, ice, honey, and fresh fruit to create a layered smoothie. The recipe involves creating a red, white, and blue layered confection contained within a glass cup. Strawberries are used in the red layer, while blue berries are used in the blue layer.

Click on this link to visit the original site for the recipe.