Beat the Heat! 7 Recipes for Right Now

Cuban Sandwich

Looking for something to eat for dinner tonight? It's a Wednesday, and it's the middle of a week after a holiday weekend. The fridge is bare and you don't feel like cooking something hot. Heck, you don't feel like eating something hot! Here are 7 recipes that will hopefully tantalize your appetite and keep you in the kitchen. We've got sandwiches, cool summer rolls, and a pasta salad or two.

• 1 Cuban Sandwich - Simple yet hearty.
• 2 Vegetable and Mint Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce - All that mint? Refreshing.
• 3 Kimchi Tofu Summer Rolls - Spicy and filling, but hardly any work.
• 4 Farmer's Lunch Sandwich - Crunchy and fresh.
• 5 Broccoli and Feta Pasta Salad - Light, tangy, and a good meal.
• 6 Tortellini and Spring Vegetable Salad - Creamy tortellini and a heap of fresh vegetables.
• 7 Garlic Greens with Pine Nuts and an Egg - Quick! Stir-fry some greens with garlic, and put a poached egg or fried egg on top. Yummy and easy.

If none of these recipes appeal to you, why not just pick up some good cheese and a loaf of bread on the way home from work? Make a salad, pour a glass of cold wine, and eat light and simple. We hope you're staying cool in the heat, and eating well tonight.

What's keeping you in the kitchen, these heatstruck days? What are you eating to stay cool?

(Images: See linked posts for full image credits)

Comments (11)

Growing up my mother would make Muesli.

She'd cook a cup of oatmeal, add a large container of yogurt, and add any chopped fruit she had on hand: grapes, melon, peaches, apples, raisins, really anything. Garnish with a few toasted walnuts and we had a delicious cool dinner that kept for a few days. Sometimes we'd have garlic bread on the side if we were feeling complicated. Can't beat it!

i just made a batch of soba peanut noodles with tofu and broccoli to cool for dinner tonight. minimal cooking (only the soba) and its so delicious cold!

My husband and I have been exhausted renovating our house, and tonight I wanted something quick and easy. Cool would fit the bill, too, even though we have air conditioning where we're actually living now. Tuna salad sandwiches fit the bill. We made these, and they were really, really tasty: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tuna_salad_sandwich/.

We're loving this refreshing chilled avocado tomato soup right now. It's an East African recipe, and has just the right tangy/salty/sweet combination with a touch of tamarind.

http://strawberrypepper.com/2010/07/07/chilled-avocado-tomato-soup/

Random tacos are my new friend: turkey, fava beans, spicy black bean paste cooked together, then some shredded pineapple for contrast. Very sweet-and-spicy!

Today is the neighborhood farmers market. Came home with very ripe tomatoes. Diced those up with a ball of fresh mozz, a big handful of basil from the garden, toss with olive oil and s & p. Toss with hot pasta. Serve with salad. Done.

These sound great. I like spicy cucumber salad when it's hot--it's vinegary and crunchy with some toasted almonds (or maybe skip the toasting if it's really too hot!).

I've been eating a lot of sandwiches and cottage cheese during this heat wave. And I had a sip of homemade limoncello to cool me down.

Sandwiches are always great.
We also do vegetable dips with hummus dip in the centre. We even add tofu diced up and some fruit versions too with the veggies. Served with a nice fresh bread.
Cold soups are great too & salads with protein are filling and cooling.

I served these just the other day:
http://www.lifeologia.com/summer-meals/

If you have access to an Asian food market, I can highly recommend buying a package of Naeng Myeon, or Korean cold noodle soup. Maangchi has a great recipe for it here:

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/naengmyeon

Light, can be spicy and ICE COLD. Yum!