I’m looking for good warm weather recipes that don’t require me to use the oven. Barbecue recipes and tips would be great, as well as anything that can be served cold. I’m up for good twists on a salad, but the SO is picky, so nothing too “weird”.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
One of my favorite summer salads is a cucubmer and tomato salad. It’s just equal parts cubed cucumber and tomato with about a quarter as much onion dressed with either a balsamic vinigrette or Italian. I like to add bbqed boneless skinless chicken breast and make it a meal.
I actually made that the other night, minus the chicken.
I, for one, use my Crock Pot a lot more during the summer, specifically because it does not make my kitchen hot! In fact, some time in the next couple of weeks, my sister (who lives with us) has requested BBQ ribs for dinner; I will buy some ribs that look good, plus a bottle of good BBQ sauce. Plus:
One bag cole slaw mix
One good red apple (not those tasteless Red Delicious; something nice like Gala or Jonagold)
Mayonnaise
One lemon
1/4C sugar
Mixed Country Herbs in a grinder (I get this at Aldi)
One can chicken stock
Rub ribs with mixed herbs and fresh-cracked black pepper; put about 1/2 can of stock in bottom of Crock Pot, put ribs on top, set on Low for 8 hours.
In a large bowl, mix cole slaw mix, shredded apple, juice from lemon, 1/2C mayonnaise, sugar. Cover tightly with plastic and put in refrigerator. (You can make the slaw just before dinner, but trust me, it’s better if it sits in the fridge all day!)
After 8 hours, add most of the BBQ sauce to ribs and cook an additional hour on low. If you put the sauce in the same time you put the ribs in, the sauce will burn.
Serve ribs with extra sauce, slaw, and maybe a nice spinach salad.
Two Spinach Salad recipes, one sweet, one savory.
Savory Spinach Salad:
One bag baby spinach leaves, washed
2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped
4 strips crisp bacon, crumbled
Good bottled bleu cheese or ranch dressing
Put spinach leaves in large salad bowl; lightly toss in eggs and bacon, lightly toss with dressing to coat.
Sweet Spinach Salad:
One bag baby spinach leaves, washed
One cup strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/3C walnuts, chopped
1/2C mandarin orange slices
1/3C raspberry no-sugar-added fruit preserves
2TBSP balsamic vinegar
1/4TSP Kosher salt
2TBSP good olive oil
Mix last four ingredients into a dressing; if necessary, “loosen” the preserves in the microwave for a few seconds. Set aside.
Lightly toss first four ingredients, then lightly toss with dressing to coat.
Asian noodles. A one pot dish that can be reheated, served room temperature or on top of a bed of finely shredded lettuce. It’s a snap to make, and you can easily make a ton. In fact, I always end up with more than I intend. Also easily adaptable to accommodate vegetarians.
Boil some spaghettini or vermicelli noodles in water with soup stock cubes added. (Vegetable, beef, chicken, pho- it’s all good!) Chop up veggies, you want them matchstick size. I use cucumbers, green onions, snow peas, celery, carrots, bok choy, fresh coriander/cilantro. Of course, you can substitute any veggies you have on hand, these are just my favorites.
When the pasta is done, remove with tongs so you still have the boiling broth. Put the pasta to cool in a large bowl, add a couple of tablespoons of sesame oil and toss it around a bit. Use the boiling broth to blanch chopped celery, carrots, bok choy, careful to not over cook, remove, when done, to a separate plate.
Now you want to flavour the noodles. Some soya sauce/sweet soya sauce, a little sweet chillie sauce. I often use some Asian salad dressing, sesame, peanut sauce, whatever I can find, but you don’t really need it. Again, use the tongs to mix everything. Keep tasting the noodles till they are flavoured as you like.
Add the blanched vegetables, one after another. Add the cucumber, fresh beansprouts, green onions. Lastly the coriander. Now you should have a great big bowl of yummy, healthy, Asian noodles.
If you want to add meat, I suggest you slice it and serve it, on top of the noodles, whether hot or on salad. It’s a perfect way to use up any leftovers, just be sure to thinly slice into bite size pieces, and sprinkle with pepper.
To serve it hot, put in a bowl and cover with saran and microwave for about 1+1/2 to 2 mins. Then add the meat or have vegetarian! Also very yummy over finely shredded lettuce as a lunch salad. You may want to add more chillie sauce, soya sauce or salad dressing at the table.
Hope you’ll give it a try, it’s a huge hit at my house, especially if I have lots of people to feed, but it’s easily scalable to however many you need. I serve it hot for dinner, one night, and cold over salad, with garlic bread, the next night. Easy peasy.
Summer pudding. I usually use stale sponge loaf rather than bread.
That picture looks like something out of a horror movie. It sounds delicious, though.
I like gazpacho in the dog days. Not really a meal, but much more than a beverage.
Yeah, when it gets really hot, my appetite tends to fall by the wayside. Really, if it’s very hot, all I want is maybe a green salad (mostly iceberg lettuce; I know it’s mostly water, but dammit, it tastes good when I’m over-heated!), watermelon (again, a lot of water. . .hmmmm, may be a pattern here) and maybe a tomato (more water) stuffed with chicken or tuna salad. And plenty of peppermint iced tea.
I’m totally planning on making gazpacho, especially after the recent thread on it.
This is a Weight Watchers recipe I’ve made several times that even my picky husband likes. It’s great to pack for lunch; last week I multiplied the amounts and brought it as a salad/side dish for a neighborhood cookout. Summery and light, tasty and satisfying.
White Bean Tuna Pasta Salad
*4 oz small whole wheat or whole grain pasta (I use Ronzoni Smart Ones shells or twists), cooked according to package directions
*1/3 C fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
*1/4 C red wine vinegar (or any type of flavorful vinegar)
*1 1/2 T olive oil
*1 C cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
*6 1/2 oz roasted red peppers, water-packed, drained and cut into 1 inch pieces
*1/2 C red onion, finely diced
*1/3 C fresh parsley, coarsely chopped (substitute herb of your choice)
*12 oz water-packed canned tuna, drained and broken into chunks
*4 tsp capers (yeah, if I ever bought them I’d add them, but I’ve never bought them)
*1 T lemon zest
*salt and pepper to taste
In bowl, stir together broth, vinegar, oil, s & p. Add remaining ingredients and toss to coat.
A one and a half cup serving (which is a lot!) is 6 WW points.
I don’t have any measurements because it’s easy to just throw together.
Cut up mozzarella and tomatoes, place in a bowl. Add Italian dressing and let it soak in for a while.
Yep! Add basil for added flavor, and cucumbers if you want to, just 'cause.
I often make a big bowl full of pasta salad and we’ll eat it for several days. I like to use tri-color rotini. Cook to whatever degree of softness makes you happy, then cool it quickly by rinsing with cold water.
Then I add a metric assload of assorted veggies. Stuff I often put in: radishes, thin-sliced carrots, zucchini, cucumber, black olives, marinated artichoke hearts, marinated or fresh mushrooms, frozen peas, celery, green onion, broccoli florets, pepperoni chunks, and whatever floats your boat, in whatever quantity you reckon is good.
I really don’t measure when I cook. Add either grated Parmesan or Romano, then dress with a bottled Italian salad dressing. Mix well, refrigerate for several hours to let flavors meld together, stirring occasionally. It might need more dressing than you think, because it’ll get absorbed by the pasta and the softer veggies.
You can add portions of leftover grilled chicken to make a good work lunch, and it’s easily customizable for vegans or picky eaters. It’s a good dish to take for potlucks, too.
I just made a variation on the starch+veg+seasonings theme the other day… a can of drained & rinsed chick peas, a ton of crunchy veggies chopped up (I had a little onion, cucumber and a red bell pepper), some chopped olives, crumbled feta cheese, and a little good olive oil and red wine vinegar.
So delicious, and better as it sits in your fridge. Plus of course adaptable to what you have around.
We’re actually having one of my very favorite summer time dinners tonight: carry-out from KFC! 
My sister, who has cancer, lives with me so I can help her when she needs it. She had a doctor’s appointment at 8AM this morning, in the nearest sizable town, which is a half-hour away! The past few days have been challenging on several levels, and then, to top it all off, my phone rang at 4:45 this morning!! Like many people, when my phone rings at an hour like that, my adrenaline production goes into overdrive, so there was no use trying to go back to sleep until 6, which is when I had my alarm set for! So, my sister said “I would be more than happy to cruise through the KFC drive-through and pick up the tab for dinner tonight”. Yay! So the mashed potatoes and cole slaw are in the fridge, the 'taters will re-heat easily. The chicken is on the counter with a layer of plastic between the bucket and the lid. They even included disposable plates and flatware. That is what I call an easy summer meal! (Even though it’s like, 60 degrees and rainy, so it doesn’t quite feel like summer. . .)