The problem with posting while on vacation is that when you come back from vacation you have nothing new and exciting to talk about. So, in light of that, let’s talk about one of my favorite things to talk about – food.
I enjoy cooking and I enjoying eating but when it’s hot like it is here in New England things get tricky. I use the grill a lot to keep the kitchen from getting heated up and the other night I actually made a whole meal on the grill. I had some boneless/skinless chicken breasts that I marinated in lemon juice, olive oil and garlic and I cooked those on the grill along with some new potatoes from the CSA and zucchini and summer squash. For the potatoes I tossed them in olive oil and dill and then wrapped them in a foil packet. They took about 30 minutes over medium heat on the gas grill. I cooked the squash on the side burner as I love roasted vegetables but Dale isn’t crazy about them so I alternate cooking them his way and my way. It was a great meal. Everything was delicious and quick and nutritious, too – yay me! Do I have photos? Nope, we gobbled it up too fast!
But the whole thing got me to thinking about summertime eating and cooking and it made me decide to ask: what do you cook when it’s too hot to cook? Let’s hear it!
Grilling is always a good option when it’s hot – of course, the grillmaster may not see it that way! We also like to get a good baguette or some sourdough rolls and make assorted sandwiches – a little fruit and a couple of chips and it’s dinner. Plus it’s quick and virtually mess free -the trifecta!!
Last night, peanut butter and crackers. Some nights are like that.
But a panazella (tuscan bread salad) is a good option, as is gazpacho. And a batch of cold sesame noodles does me good too. I love Barefoot Contessa’s recipe (click my name for the recipe), but Heidi at 101 cookbooks has a lighter version that I remember liking last summer: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000110.html
Salads! Actually we grill all year round. Cooking on the grill is the only way to have hot food.
Cereal, sandwiches, or eat out/takeout. I don’t cook in the house when it’s hot. Since I don’t have a grill right now, it’s not even an option. I used to love grilling, though and did it year round!
It’s grilling for me. I make the whole meal on the grill too. My husband’s favorite is potatoes, sliced into 1/4 in thick disks, tossed in olive oil and s&p, then grilled on both sides. You have to be careful not to lose them through the grill when you turn them, but they taste like french fries. Nice and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.
We don’t have “outdoor” space at the apartment and our kitchen is without airflow. Dan doesn’t eat salads and he won’t eat cereal for dinner, so I make a full hot meal every night.
Me? I’d be happy with a salad with dried figs, bleu cheese, tons of veggies, and my homemade balsamic vinegarette.
yummm…………..-
We will often have chicken salad (chicken cooked early in the morning before things get hot) served on a bed of lettuce circled by sliced tomatoes, cucumber and hard boiled eggs. On the side some soft squishy rolls and something icy cold to drink.
Our air conditioner keeps me cool in the kitchen, so there is little difference in what we eat during the heat of the summer. We use our grill year round and my husband does all the outdoor cooking.
I’m like you I usually grill out, if it’s too darn hot to do that I’ll fix a huge salad…or go out to eat!
I also grill year round, but esp in the summer. Now that the deck is being re-stained I’ll be without it for at least a week. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so it’s not longer than that. Until then its sauteed food and pasta and salads.
Tuna salad!
Egg salad and chicken salad require you to cook a tiny bit, but not enough to boil the kitchen.
I like chicken salad with red grapes, slivered almonds, celery and about half a teaspoon or so of curry powder. Mix with half plain yogurt and half mayo. YUM! Serve with sliced tomatoes and greens and a piece of ciabatta.
Sadly, it’s usually sandwiches. We do occasionally use the grill when it’s too hot, but we are definite sandwich people 🙂
We grill a lot too. Or I have–tee hee–a George Foreman Grill, which is pretty slick for quick cooking of meats, etc. Or salad. Or sometimes we just have sandwiches with lots of (cold) stuff on them. Or takeout.
Sunday I roasted the last turkey I had in my freezer and we have been eating cold turkey, potato salad, and green salad since. I heated the grill to 500 and then turned off the center burner leaving only the top and bottom on. I turned the heat down to medium low and put the turkey in a roasting pan in the center of the grill. With the heat down to 350 within 2.5 hours we had a beautiful golden bird and the kitchen never saw a bit of heat. With cold left overs life is indeed good!
Quizno’s. 🙂 I just give up cooking when it’s too hot to move. Of course chicken wings and blue cheese is something I’ll make when it’s too hot.
I’m big on salads with poached eggs and assorted other farmer’s market stuff for dinner when it’s very hot. Bean tacos can be done without much cooking but even just quickly browning up some ground meat doesn’t heat the house up too much. Grandma’s very 70’s favorite was half an avocado stuffed with crab or chicken salad.
Lot of stuff on the grill!! Or, if Jon is out of town, cereal!!
I grill, but since we use charcoal, I have to have enough time for the coals to get hot.
If time is short: sandwiches or carryout from the deli.
I don’t. In my book, this is what cereal is for! Otherwise, the charcoal grill!
I love my George Forman (having no backyard so no outdoor grill) can’t beat salmon on the GF! Plus I usually cook up at least 2-3 servings and serve the grilled salmon in a salad the next day, YUM! And the GF is really quick (for a thick piece of salmon, about 8 minutes from start to finish!), easy to clean and doesn’t heat up the kitchen (or the cook!)Best $30 bucks I ever spent!
Salad works for us. *chop*chop*chop* is all the heat that is generated. All kinds of things go into it: thyme, tarragon, chives from the garden, basil occasionally, parsley too, feta cheese, red peppers, sunflower seeds, chopped olives without pits, all yummy together. Some sweetness, saltiness, cleanness from the lettuces…dressing with dill and sheep’s milk yoghurt, sparingly.
I do most of my cooking on the grill during the hot months too. One of my favorite easy dinners is a grilled (spicy) chicken breast sliced onto fresh salad greens. Yum.
Mnnnn. Boy that sounds good!
Grilling also, and salads, more fruit, watermelon!!, and take out!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_37211,00.html
Delicious over greens with a little sour cream and monterey jack cheese. Or have as a side dish with anything grilled. Yummy!!
Need you ask? Take out, of course. Once at the pizza place a glassy eyed counter guy gave me more in change than I’d given him. When I pointed out he was paying me, he stared blankly. He’d been having a very, very, very long day.
This is the eternal question at our house, and we answer it all too often with Chinese takeout. I need to get my hands on some decent pasta salad recipes…
leftovers! hahaha.
i try to cook several things on cooler days so that we have plenty when it’s too hot to cook. sometimes we eat eggs for dinner with veggies. lots of pastas are pretty quick and can be eaten at room temperature. and sandwiches, yay (i love those)
I’ve been known to create omelets and a salad. My fave is whatever is is freshest to put in…Swiss and mushrooms last night with a spinach salad.
(((hugs)))
cold supper… salads.. in fact last night I made up a batch of potato salad, coleslaw and tuna salad to munch on this week while we’re doing the floor set.
Your meal sounds yummy.
I use the steamer a lot – both for fish and veggies. And of course, the grill.
Roasted grill veggies, yum. We cook on the grill or order pizza. Or nuke leftovers, that doesn’t heat up the kitchen.
Ha! We made cinnamon rolls last night. I can’t resist the bread goods because the rise so beautifully in this heat and humidity. I made some herb bread the other day to die for. Herbs out of my garden too. We go outside in the cool of the evening while the oven makes our bread. 🙂
We grill [on wood charcoal, not briquets] at least twice a week, even in rainy weather (he’s an Aussie). I coordinate it with my watering schedule since we’re super careful about fires.
One typical mixed grill: butterflied leg of lamb (garlic, rosemary, black pepper), four burgers and a half dozen chicken sausages to reheat for lunches, and a couple of halved carrots or zukes (olive oil and garlic).
Last night’s supper was a quick stir fry of spring onions and garlic with cut up chicken thighs and sweet Italian peppers I’d grilled the night before, served with steamed scallopini squash. The grilled chicken is quick to bone and needs only a few minutes to heat through.
We’re getting all our fruit and vegs except ginger root from the farmer’s market now. YAY!
We live in an apartment in a city–so there’s no grilling for us. When it gets too hot, I crank up the a/c and order in!
Gazpacho!
I can’t cook my way out of a paper bag, but even I can’t mess up my mother’s gazpacho recipe, and I loooove it. So very tasty, so very healthy, and so very good on a hot summer night. Recipe here: http://www.siliconashes.net/~imbrium/?p=246
Nom nom nom.
Pizza.
No, really, I mean it! I mean, sometimes it’s take out, but also I keep those pre-baked crusts on hand so we can whip up a dinner in a hurry. Guess what’s for dinner tonight? Half-pepperoni, half-cheese.
I put a toaster oven on top of the washer out in the garage on days when it’s too hot to cook inside and I’m sick of salads.
I cook early in the morning if I have to. Although, I’m okay living on salads, fruit and some take-away. However, when it’s hot… 110F projected for today, it’s hard to find the desire to eat. That’s why I get up in the morning and take care of dinner, so I won’t have to think about what I’m doing later on.
We use our grill a lot all year round but on those nights when we just feel like we’re gonna melt and any cooking is just too much effort I go for cereal, PB&J or the perfect summer meal – berries and yogurt or sour cream.
Salad…seriously..Pre-cook a little chicken and you’re golden!
Call for take-out! The places where you pick up the food are always air conditioned.
I was off yesterday and right after noon, before it got too hot, I cooked some pasta. Then I added some Olive oil and tuna fish. I also heated up a frying pan with some olive oil and threw in a cut up green pepper, orange pepper, some sliced black olives and some mushroom pieces. Threw it all together and I eat it cold. I am a picky eater but I could eat this all day.
Otherwise, when it is hot, I may buy a bag of salad, cook up some chicken fingers, cut them up and that is it.
If it is too miserable, watermelon will have to do.
I’m not allowed to complain when it’s hot, because it’s always better than 40 below zero and shoveling snow that goes past the top of my head.
But I will cop to knowing the sushi restaurant’s number by heart…
Barring that, I cook just about anything and sweat a lot. We don’t have a grill because of fire regulations on our balcony, so tonight? it’s lasagne. Full disclosure: this time, I didn’t make the noodles.
:-}
Pizza – we order it from the place down the road. ;o)
Seriously though, I do quite a bit of cooking on the grill this time of year. I’ve even mastered cornbread and biscuits! You can cook *anything* on the grill.
I love wraps…throw some chicken tenderloins on the grill or indoor grill pan for a few minutes. Cool slightly, shred, then plop them on whole wheat tortillas with some lettuce or spinach leaves, chopped tomatoes, chives or red onion, sour cream, cheese, avocado chunks, black beans–whatever! Easy and yummy.