In a recent post, Corie, a blogger out of Brooklyn, asked her readers to give her "some good dinner recipes for hot unairconditioned summers in a fourth floor walk-up." She's gotten some terrific suggestions in the comments, including a recipe for feta and watermelon salad (I tend to make the one out of Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer), crab salad served over greens, and multiple nominations for gazpacho. In a similar vein, over at Culinate, Matthew Card has posted a nice article with a bunch of suggestions for feeding yourself, your family and your friends in the summer without heating up your kitchen too much. His primary suggestions are to stock up on sandwich makings, use the grill as much as possible (if you are lucky enough to have space in which to grill) and cook enough for multiple meals each time you power up a heat source.
Personally, when the summer heat strikes, I turn to salads. Big green salads made in serving bowls with as much yummy stuff piled on as I can manage. Last night I tore up half a head of lettuce and topped it with slices of tomato, chopped toasted almonds, cucumbers, goat cheese and some red onion. I always have a jar to two of homemade vinaigrette hanging out in the back of the fridge and so I drizzled a little of that on top.
What are your favorite summer recipes that keep you well-fed and your kitchen cool?
photo by Marisa McClellan
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