Cool It This Summer

The heat of summer is upon us. Growing up on the farm in Illinois, for me, July and August were centered around baling hay, harvesting oats, and then baling the oat straw. That meant spending those 90-degree-plus, extremely humid days under the sun-heated roof of a barn arranging the 60-pound hay bales. It was one of my least favorite jobs. When the day was over, I headed for the shower to wash off the accumulated sweat and hay dust to get ready for supper. And I’d be both hungry and thirsty.

Air-conditioning was still a luxury in the 1960s, so the kitchen was not a place where my mother was interested in working over a hot stove. Besides, she usually had her own tasks involved with the harvest. So meals would be both simple and cool. Lots of salads. Sometimes, just a filling potato salad and a nice plate of lunch meat. Or some ham salad sandwiches and a pea salad. All of these were washed down with copious amounts of iced tea or lemonade.

Now, while I am no longer muscling around large bales, I still have no desire to spend a lot of time this summer in a hot kitchen. So I plan meals with little or no cooking involved. This past week, for example, one dinner was a chicken and mango salad. The recipe called for roasting some chicken. Instead, I bought a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and cut it up, not only eliminating my need for a hot oven, but also resulting in enough chicken for a second meal. When peaches are in season, I’ll make this salad again, substituting peaches for the mangoes.

Of course, many people resort to grilling outside during the dog days, but here are some other ideas to help you keep your cool.

Slow cookers and Instant Pots: Besides being energy efficient and free of heat-generation, these small appliances are wonders at preparing full meals and cooking ingredients. Think about how you could prepare a week’s worth of elements – hard-cooked eggs, shrimp, grains, pasta, or other vegetables that can be stored in the fridge, all ready to be tossed together for a hearty salad.

Creative shopping: At the grocery store, grab a rotisserie chicken and be creative at the deli counter with a variety of meats and cheeses. Be adventurous at your local farmstand and get some new or different fruits and vegetables. Just when you’re starting to get tired of last week’s bounty, something else will be ripened and available. And if you buy too much, just cook it all and put the remainder into the fridge or freezer for later use. For example, we had too many strawberries last week (if you can believe that), so we separated the cut-up berries on a plate and stuck them in the freezer. I’ll use them for frozen dessert during the week.

Grill some vegetables: Don’t use that nice hot fire just for a burger or a steak. A grill basket is perfect for grilling vegetables. Cut them in bite-size pieces, toss them with some oil, put them in the grill basket, and set it over the hot coals. You’ll need to stir or toss the vegetables until they’re done. Those not eaten immediately should go into the fridge for a future salad.

Check hot-climate recipes: Not only are they likely to be tasty, they might also open your eyes to new ingredients and combinations. How about a chilled radish and avocado soup, or a Moroccan citrus salad with a lime, blood orange, and grapefruit? Or maybe a five-minute Moroccan tomato soup or a date and orange salad. Try this salad with freekeh, orange, and apricot from Egypt. Freekeh is roasted green wheat berries (available in my local supermarket), or you could substitute farro.

Be adventurous: Here’s a salad with green beans, pancetta, mint, and hazelnuts. Go beyond the Cobb salad and use that lettuce for some Thai wraps. Tomatoes are coming in. How about stuffed tomatoes with tuna or leftover carnitas pork? Trine Hahnemann in her Scandinavian Comfort Food offers recipes for a chicory, pears, and grape salad, and a salad with green beans, cannellini beans, radishes, and parsley.

So let’s chill out this summer and try some interesting new dinners.

To comment, please click on “Read in Browser” or on the headline to view the blog on the website. You can log in and comment at the end of the blog to share your thoughts and start a discussion.

If you’d like to share the blog, click on the Facebook icon or one of the others. Thanks!