Hot Weather Food Ideas
It's too hot to cook. what are some good dinners I can make that don't require the stove or oven to be on for hours? My husband says he's sick of tuna salad, egg salad, and pasta salad. we do pretty good with pizza (oven is only on for around 20 minutes), and anything we can make in the toaster oven. what do you recommend that requires a heating element (oven, stove, wok, etc) to be on for 20 minutes or less? What do other serious eaters make at home when temps are 80+ degrees, and the AC is acting iffy? unfortunatley grilling is out for me, as i live in an aparmtent where grills are forbidden.
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26 Comments:
I would be all some fresh fruit and yummy cheese with a crunchy baguette and a chilled glass of vino ( I mean iced tea).
izatryt at 9:20PM on 07/17/08
AC? Not here. But we do have a grill.
There are plenty of super-fast stir fry recipes, literally minutes in a wok or a hot fry pan. Use Mexican ingredients and you've got fajitas. And I mean minutes. Not nearly twenty. Just a few minutes and you're done. Cut anything small enough, and it cooks fast.
Seafood cooks quickly.
dbcurrie at 10:16PM on 07/17/08
I second dbcurrie on the fast stir-fries, Most of those can even be made when it is cooler, and stuck in the fridge to be eaten cold later.
You can make rice and couscous in less than 20 minutes (and the stove is on low) to simply make rice and beans with some nice fresh herbs, or a quick salad with fast cooked veggies.
A big fruit plate with cottage cheese always makes me happy too, and I love izatryt's supper style too, though I always go for the vino! :)
You could do french bread or pita/naan pizzas in the taoster oven too, and save the big stove til it is cooler! (I say this as I bake 9 loaves of zucchini bread at 85 degrees!)
I like cold salads like cannilini bean and tomato, black bean and onion with a vinegary dressing, and red bean with garlic and couscous.
Bruschetta!!!
sadiepix at 10:27PM on 07/17/08
My favorite go-to hot weather (well, to be honest, any weather) food: summer rolls.
Selection will mostly be cool crisp vegetables like Thai basil, bean sprouts, jalapeño peppers, cucumbers, shredded daikon+carrots, somen, big leafy lettuce as the outside wrap, etc. If you want something meaty to add, shrimp could be used. A warm bowl of water set out so you can dip the rice wrapper. Set out several dips for each person and go to town.
Oh, yeah...somen is great for hot summer meals too. Super quick prep. My mother and stepmother run the cooked somen through cold water and served on a mat in a bowl over ice. It takes 60-70 seconds to cook so running it through cold water is a must to stop it from cooking since overcooked somen is really, really nasty.
Each person has their own bowl of cold soy sauce base (somen tsuyu) that they hold with one hand, dip their noodles in, and slurp from. Sprinkle nori and sesame in the tsuyu for added flavor.
If you want something to accompany it, you can slice cucumber sticks, egg (crepe) slices, menma (marinated bamboo shoots), shiitake, whatever you want each in small dishes or neatly stacked around the top of the somen mound.
Just eating the noodles alone fills me up.
Cassaendra at 11:05PM on 07/17/08
My all time favorite summertime meal - heirloom tomatoes with basil, buffulo mozzarella, and olive oil, prosciutto wrapped with orange flesh melon, baguette and vino.
Catharine56 at 1:18AM on 07/18/08
favorite summer meal for me is some olives, a good loaf of bread and some super sharp tangy cheese, SO calls it my nibbles dinner. but it fills thehole in the belly, and the soul, since neither of us is stressed or overheated when we sit down to eat, and bytheway, it works reallywell if you're sitting on a blanket with wine and looking at the stars ;-)
huneybumper at 7:37AM on 07/18/08
I never really understood this problem of summer menus...is it that hard to cook normal food during the summer?
stumbler02 at 9:55AM on 07/18/08
My guilty summer pleasure are BLTs. If you don't want to heat the kitchen by frying bacon, get the pre-cooked stuff and zap it. MOST IMPORTANT - fresh, farmstand beefsteak tomatoes, kosher salt, nice crispy lettuce and good quality mayo (homemade or Hellman's/Best Foods. And finally, use your favorite fresh bread. I like crusty italian. Uh oh... now I'm drooling. Know what I'm having for lunch!
Josdean at 10:05AM on 07/18/08
for a snack, frozen grapes are wonderful. for a filling, yummy salad, cook pearl couscous (20 minutes on the stove max) and chill, then once it's cold, toss with chopped spring mix, diced tomatoes (or cherry/grape tomatoes would be good too ... as would cherries or grapes themselves!), cold corn from a can (sounds weird, but it's good), raisins, and pepitas with a light vinegarette.
joyyy at 11:13AM on 07/18/08
Buy a rotisserie chicken and make chicken sandwiches, chicken salad or a quick filling for tacos. Also, Beet and goat cheese salad on a bed of greens. Many many options. Cook grains at night and use cold in salads. Use canned beans for bean salads. The possibilites are endless.
izzy's mama at 11:28AM on 07/18/08
what about a gazpacho?
witheroad at 11:59AM on 07/18/08
Wow that's really hot redhead,
At first I wanted to recommend a grilling recipe--but nevermind!
Once I made a garden-fresh cucumber and shaved red-onion salad with dill, parsley, cilantro and a light dressing. I really find cucumbers to be really really refreshing when it's hot out.
Melons are nice and cooling too! You could do a watermellon salad with some pumpernickel croutons (just make them in the toaster oven?), green onions, feta cheese, and then some garden herbs (maybe some oregano and basil?). Even though the croutons get a little soft with flavour it holds up nice and adds some filler to the light melons.
Wear lots of sunscreen! lol
hungrychristel at 12:11PM on 07/18/08
Couscous! The only heat comes from boiling the water, and the mix-in combos are endless.
I second the rotisserie chicken from the local place, shredded on top of spinach, juicy tomatoes, avocado slices, and dressed with a little evoo, red wine vinegar, and s&p.
savecara at 12:13PM on 07/18/08
Granita!
yesterday i juiced a grapefruit and two limes, mixed in a cup of simple syrup and a splash of rum. Freeze and scrape--a perfect summer dessert!
veggieout at 12:26PM on 07/18/08
One of my favorite salads right now, other than a good Caesar, is to blanch some broccoli flowerettes, thinly slice fennel, dice some tomatoes, add some crumbled blue cheese, some hazelnuts (toasted or not) and toss with lemon juice and olive oil. Add a few grinds of pepper. I had some endive the other day and added that too. Very tasty and refreshing.
ride&cook at 2:36PM on 07/18/08
Yesterday I took a tip from Nigella Lawson. Chop an onion (mild if you have it) and marinate it in the fresh squeezed juice of one lemon while you rinse two cans of whiteish beans and drain two cans of tuna in oil. Toss all together lightly with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Add parsley if you like. Let sit if you have time. We served it over arugula. Best at room temp. Nice Tuscan-inspired FAST dinner!
Bumblebutton at 2:40PM on 07/18/08
ok this does involve a grill pan but (if you like it medium rare) it only has to be on for about 6 minutes! how about carne asada tacos -- grill up a skirt steak, slice it up, and throw it in flour tortillas with fresh guacamole and salsa, sour cream, lettuce, or whatever you like!
megannesta at 3:15PM on 07/18/08
Today I hauled out the slow-cooker. Great alternative -- you're not standing over it, and the stove and oven are off. You do have to do about 1/2 hour of prep work. I browned country-style pork ribs, sauteed all the vegetables in the fridge that needed to be used, and put it all in the slow cooker with lots of green garlic, fresh herbs and a generous splash of good white wine. I'll throw potatoes in later or cook up some grain, but for now I'm relaxing away from the kitchen, knowing dinner will be ready when we want it several hours from now...and I made enough for several meals, so that leftovers can be eaten as-is or transformed into something else...
Julie at 3:11PM on 07/19/08
I use the slow cooker a lot too... for spaghetti sauce (I sweat the garlic and fresh basil in EVOO on the stovetop first and then throw it in the slow cooker with the tomatoes and other seasonings), pot roast (I put in a tri-tip roast, package of onion soup mix and a bottle of beer and cook all day on low), beans, beef short ribs covered in barbecue sauce--you name it.
Also, what about tuna or salmon burgers? They cook up on the stovetop in minutes and are a great way to use up leftover cooked salmon, or you can use canned or pouch salmon or tuna mixed up with some egg, cracker crumbs and whatever seasonings you like best. Serve them on a bun with a thick slice of tomato, some tartar sauce and sweet onion (I saute my onion along with the patties). Yum!
buffy at 7:07PM on 07/19/08
thanks for all the great ideas! all those cold salads (especially the Nigella Lawson one!!) look awesome and easy.
and i think i'll make some tuna burgers this week.
redhead at 8:22PM on 07/19/08
@josdean, for shame! now i know what to eat the rest ofthe summer! mmm pig fat ;-)
huneybumper at 8:59AM on 07/20/08
Reservations.
izatryt at 9:29AM on 07/20/08
I have to do a dinner party on Thursday, and the heat has got me so befuddled that I'm really going to stick with almost entirely cold food. Cold sorrel/cucumber soup to start, cold shrimp platter on butter lettuce with sliced tomatoes, cukes, hard-boiled eggs and a rich curry/scallion mayo dressing, maybe potato-green-bean salad as well, warm garlic bread. For dessert, cold cherry soup with a scoop of frozen Greek yogurt, and some of those NY Times chocolate chip cookies (dough's already made, and I'll bake it off early in the day, before it gets too hot).
Julie at 7:02PM on 07/21/08
I do a corn salad with corn cut off the cob, diced celery, zucchini and scallion, organic grape tomatoes from Trader Joes and a simple mustard vinaigrette - let it blend for about an hour in the fridge. This goes great with so many things and has the flavor of summer built in. You can also add diced avocado for some richness. (Costco carries corn already husked for a very fast but fresh prep on the corn.)
I served the corn salad last week to a friend along with chicken burgers that are basically crab cakes made with ground chicken instead - there's an egg to bind it all together, a little parmesan cheese, a dash of hot sauce plus seasonings, mixed and then gently shaped and dipped in panko bread crumbs and fried up quick in a cast iron skillet with small amounts of olive oil and butter. I jazzed up some store bought pico de gallo with a little lime juice, cayenne and just a few diced strawberries for a nice fruity salsa that retains a little heat.
Finally, I also have been working that fritter angle with zucchini pancakes from Bert Greene's book "Greene on Greens" -- essentially latkes made with grated, salted and drained zucchini instead of potatoes. Absurdly delicious, fast and refreshing - I made a little garlicky/minty yoghurt sauce and it was so wow! This recipe also requires 3 cups of grated zucchini which is great for using up the squash that starts to abound this time of year.
Tobey at 3:02AM on 07/22/08
My Favorite Salad of ALL TIME... whether it be hot or cold outside is Nicoise Salad!!! I am French and eat this regularly! This salad consists of:
- Mixed Greens/Butter Lettuce
- Sliced Red Onion
- Bell Pepper Strips
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Kalamata Olives
- Capers
- Anchovies
- Artichoke Hearts
- Green Beans
- Hard Boiled Egg Halves
- Tuna Belly
- Olive Oil, White Wine Vinegar, Garlic & Mustard
Giasbash6260 at 12:00AM on 01/15/09
i wish I was that lucky right now. It's about 17 degrees here and we have like 2 ft of snow outside our door...
Hope you found a good recipe!
mayoxqueen at 12:29AM on 01/15/09