Ditch the Stove

When it’s been hot for a long stretch, you’re not only tired of cooking over a stove; you’re also getting a little tired of those salads. Now what?

To the rescue! Have you thought about a slow cooker, Crock-Pot, or Instant Pot? While we don’t usually think of these gadgets during the summer, they offer distinct advantages. They consume less power and release zero heat into the kitchen, and typically produce one-dish meals with less prep work. And the ultimate proof of their value: welcome variety and no complaints about the “same old boring meals.”

Quick to prepare, quick to cook

I’m a big fan of the Instant Pot. If you’re not familiar with this device, it’s a modernized electric tabletop pressure cooker. It takes a little getting used to, especially the time needed for the device to come up to pressure. Once you’re past the learning curve, it’s a snap. The Instant Pot can’t be beat for quickly cooking tough, fatty, and sinewy cuts of meat such as chuck roasts, ribs, and pork shoulders – which are less expensive cuts. The same ease is true for chicken: in the Instant Pot, thighs and legs are better candidates than the more costly skinless breast cutlets. I’ve had great results with Butter Chicken and lots of other crowd-pleasing dishes.

For vegetarian menus, we just had an excellent Summer Vegetable Chowder, a dish that takes advantage of garden-fresh seasonal vegetables – fresh zucchini, tomatoes, and corn. For another meal, I combined farro, an Italian wheat, in a delicious light dish with fresh garden tomatoes, peaches, and basil. While the original recipe called for cooking the farro on the stove for 25 minutes, it took just eight cool minutes under pressure in the Instant Pot. And by the way, the pot is a whiz at hard-cooked eggs. Five minutes under pressure, and you have easy-to-peel eggs for a quick breakfast, a salad addition, or a plate of deviled eggs.

Quick to prepare, slow to cook

For summer fare, you can even think chili, stew, carnitas, Cuban pork, or ratatouille. How about BBQ sandwiches with brisket or pulled pork? You can cook ribs to near falling-apart goodness in the Instant Pot, then finish them with a quick char on the grill.

And if you have an old Crock-Pot in the back closet – maybe it’s not just for meatballs after all. How about Southwest Chicken or Cowboy Brisket? It’s something different and doesn’t take a lot of work. That slow cooker does live up to its name: slow. But you can put your ingredients in the cooker in the cool morning, then braise low and slow all day long.

The point is that the Instant Pot or slow cooker can be the way to produce some varied dishes with less heat and less finicky prep. Take that savory beef, chicken, or pork, chop it up with some tomatoes or cucumbers, and wrap it in leaf lettuce: Your own version of lettuce wraps and a new family dinner.

What do you think? Are you a summer Instant Pot or slow cooker user? What’s your summer specialty?