Are you sick of winter? What is your ideal summertime meal?
I love the Northeast, but I love it more in the summer. The cold weather and grey skies have gotten me down lately. I miss grilled hot dogs on buns, mac salad, corn on the cob and tomatoes from the garden.
What summertime dishes do you miss?
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27 Comments:
After moving to Florida in 2002, it became very evident to me that I am a Four Season type of girl. I miss winter so much - and as for my favorite season, Autumn, it's excruciating. September and October are the toughest months for me to be here. Summer food? Not especially my favorite. I love the long simmered foods of winter.
I guess my favorite summer cooking/dining foods are all grilled. I marinate everything from half Cornish hens to shrimp to chicken breast - and I grill everything from zucchini to asparagus and back again. My burgers are usually turkey burgers of my own composition. I do enjoy the potato and pasta salads and slaws that accompany grilled foods. I try to grill dessert as well, usually opting for pineapple rings or peach/nectarine halves which get basted with butter and rum, then served over vanilla ice cream.
As much as I eat it, green salad is like medicine to me - a necessary evil.
chiff0nade at 11:31AM on 02/12/08
I miss picnics during the winter, so any food that you'd have at a picnic -- hamburgers, etc.
Jelena at 11:43AM on 02/12/08
I was just about to post this very question. I''m looking forward to two meals. The first is a grilled rib eye with a caprese salad and grilled corn and baked potatoes on the grill. The second is grilled carne asada, fresh corn tortillas, homemade salsa and guacamole. But the best part is sitting outside on a warm night with the candles, music and a cold beer. *sigh* I miss summer...
evilchefmom at 11:44AM on 02/12/08
Fresh fruits and vegtables in their season is a must for me but as for grilling and low and slow BBQ done on my patio regardless of seasons or weather is a must. It's all too good to have only in the summer! Bring on the ribs, pulled pork and grilled steak, burgers and dogs in February. A coat over my Hawaiian shirt works well grill side. Seasons are just a state of mind on our high plains of Colorado.
Colorado Jim at 11:57AM on 02/12/08
I've been dreaming about chicken on the spit. Hmmmm......does anyone call it that anymore? And every wonderful thing that goes with it at a big picnic.......potato salad, mac & shrimp salad, deviled eggs, fresh corn on the cob slathered in butter, beefsteak tomato slices with mozzarella cheese and basil, fried green tomatoes, fresh fruit salad in a fancy watermelon bowl, iced tea, lemonade, homemade breads and desserts with homemade peach ice cream........don't wake me!!!
PerkyMac at 12:10PM on 02/12/08
I'm a big barbecuer / camping person too, Jelena, so I do miss
sweet corn;
packets of potatoes and summer vegetables, dabbed with butter and herbs, and then grilled;
steak / burgers / brats / salmon / chicken from the grill;
cold beer on a hot day.
lo82070 at 12:11PM on 02/12/08
I need a real tomato and grilled corn so badly. Just a few more months...
charm city cupcake at 12:38PM on 02/12/08
We still haven't had winter yet in Houston this year; we only get winter about once every four years or so. Summertime food is year-round here. :-)
But...summer meals? I always think of ice-cold watermelon, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob, potato salad, fried chicken, BBQ, iced tea, peach cobbler, homemade vanilla ice cream...the list goes on and on.
sheeats at 12:54PM on 02/12/08
I don't know which I miss more, trout fishing or trout eating. Oh well, guess I'll settle for the bluegills I caught through the ice. I'm awaiting spring for green onions and asparagus to kick off the garden harvest. Especially since the seed catalogs are coming in by the ton right now. Oh man, fresh strawberries with balsamic and pepper, mmm. I'm getting hungry. Better get back to work.
whippingwater at 1:01PM on 02/12/08
Oooh, good one, Perky. I could go home and brew a pitcher of iced tea right now, but I'd have no taste for it. It only tastes good when the weather is warm!
Kerosena at 1:41PM on 02/12/08
Steamers, grilled corn, salad made with greens and tomatoes fresh from the garden and a blueberry anything for desert all washed down with a nice cold beer.
RI Swampyankee at 1:47PM on 02/12/08
Hands down: caprese salad with juicy warm-from-the-sun tomatoes, fresh-picked basil, and soft, milky mozzarella. Heaven.
Narinda at 2:20PM on 02/12/08
slice of whole grain bread, topped with sprouts, avocado, tomato, red onions, black beans and chickpeas! crispy, crunchy, soft and chewy. Admittedly a bit messy- but a delish light summer lunch! I'll take that with a good book, a hammock, and 70 degree weather ANYDAY! especially with this frigid coldfront we are having in NYC right now- boo!
mhgNYU at 3:11PM on 02/12/08
I can't say it feels much different during winter months here in Miami, except that the humidity isn't quite so oppressive, but when I lived up north, summer meant cold watermelon, fresh tomatoes, sweet corn, crisp asparagus, basil and lime (Not all at the same time, though).
Michigan sweet corn, blueberries and asparagus are delicious. Especially when eaten with a bit of a sunburn on a shady, cool deck.
bitchincamero at 3:25PM on 02/12/08
I always think of eating outside on the deck overlooking the water and sipping a frozen margarita. The entire state of New York is frozen at the moment but I am looking forward to frsh local corn and tomatoes, steamed lobster, grilled fish, italian ices, and clambakes.
KtMc24 at 3:57PM on 02/12/08
Summer means fresh local produce in my neck of the woods (Southern Ontario)-tomatoes, corn on the cob, strawberries, peaches, cherries... Along with these fresh veggies and fruit, we do tons of grilling for our protein. For some reason I also thought of potato salad. No reason not to have this in winter I suppose, yet I never ever do. Great-now I'm hungry for dinner and summer!!
psychsarah at 4:06PM on 02/12/08
Real strawberries, ripe peaches, corn so fresh you can eat it raw, real tomatoes. I always miss the fresh, simple stuff. I love the grill and all, but I don't miss cooked food nearly as much as simple pick it and eat it. Oh, yeah, and lightly salted ice-cold watermelon. One of the great summertime treats.
chisai at 4:14PM on 02/12/08
And I didn't do the actual meal - so here goes: Grilled chicken, sided with my tomato and corn salad (chopped tomatoes, fresh corn cut from the cob (if you must, blanch the kernals for 30 seconds or so, if you must), diced cucumber, minced red onion, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper, a touch of oil) and potato salad. Dessert would be vanilla ice cream topped with strawberries and balsamic vinegar (Slice a pint of strawberries about 1/4 inch thick. Lightly toss with 1 tsp of sugar. Let sit for a couple of hours. Lightly mix with 1/2 tsp of a really good, really old balsamic (the stuff I use is from D&D and is 25 years old). Then? Sit by the dock with my feet up and fish, Anchor Steam at the ready. Bliss.
chisai at 4:20PM on 02/12/08
I could swear I posted to this but my computer has been doing wacky things...
After moving to FL in 2002, I realized I'm really a 4 Seasons Type Girl and my favorite of the four is Autumn, with Winter running a close second. As for Summer Foods - I gravitate toward the grill. I grill everything from half cornish to turkey burgers, asparagus to zucchini and back again. My specialty veg would be sweet potatoes - whenever I do grilled veggie platters, they're the first to go. I also like to grill dessert, opting for pineapple rings and peach or nectarine halves, brushed with rum, butter and brown sugar then served atop ice cream.
chiff0nade at 4:27PM on 02/12/08
DOH! You can nuke the above comment if you like - I didn't realize my original posted!
chiff0nade at 4:27PM on 02/12/08
Brandt prime skirt steaks rubbed with pimenton and chunky sea salt with sides of chimichurri, marinated tomatoes, arugula with shaved piave (and not baby arugula, either), Anchor wheat with lemon; olives and feta and lemons and fresh oregano. Show me another winter squash and I'll show you a frown.
zapatista at 6:05PM on 02/12/08
All this talk of tomatoes has me wishing for a BLT.
Kerosena at 7:30PM on 02/12/08
The summer meal I am dreaming of right now consists of prawn, sausage and pineapple skewers with a side of couscous salad and tomato & avocado salad. With plenty of fresh berries for dessert. Mmmmm
brooke29 at 7:40PM on 02/12/08
I'm dreaming of gazpacho. Paella. And a Miller Highlife, the champagne of beers.
Susquehanna at 8:51AM on 02/13/08
actually what i'm looking forward to is watching the progression of the crops at the greenmarket. first the ramps. then the sugar snaps. then the apricots. then the peaches. then the corn. then the tomatoes. then the cherries. then the berries. then the apples and pumpkins. i love to see different things come into season and then leave for the year.
it's so cold out today that i'm not craving anything except hot food. it would be the perfect day to make a few loaves of bread and some soup.
cybercita at 9:26AM on 02/13/08
Well, amist making brioche for chocolate bread pudding for Valentines day, if there wasnt 10+ inches of snow on my doorstep right now, I would be in the freezing cold grilling steaks tomorrow for dinner. The most snow I will drag my prize grill out in is 2 inches. So, for tomorrow it is chicken breasts baked with garlic butter and lemon under the skins, roasted white and sweet potatoes, broccoli roasted with soy and sesame seeds and the bread pudding. South Beach be damned!
I really would sell my soul to the devil himself for a juicy tomato, still warm from the sun, the smell of the vine still on it and a basket of teensy fresh picked strawberries to nibble while dinner cooks. Hot corn slathered with butter, lime and cojita cheese and in ice cold margarita..fresh, no mix.
Sigh.
ChelleyD01 at 2:29PM on 02/13/08
I'm not necessarily sick of winter food, but I am sure sick of winter SNOW! (I live in Chicago...sigh). But anyway, I could go for a summer caprese salad, some watermelon and a glass of lemonade right about now...
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 5:34PM on 02/15/08