Too hot to cook-here are some ideas part 2
Stay cool inside the air conditioning. Instead of grilling in high heat, when the temperature is too hot outside. Stay inside and think cool. Here is how.
Cold foods.
A Cold plate- sandwich making foods, sliced meats, cheeses, pickles, lettuce (romaine)sliced tomatoes, breads of all kinds
mustard, catsup, mayo, relishes, onions. Anything you don't have to cook and can be served cold.
Salads
Another idea is: cooking the night before. Making easy things that can be stored cold, served cold, those are usually cold salads-
All of these can be made the night before, and stored in the refrigerator. Most are easy to make and last a few days if refrigerated in a airtight container.
Potato salad
Macaroni salad
Spaghetti salad
Three bean salad
Coleslaw
Sweet pea salad
Think Red-Think Tomatoes!
Great minds turn to tomatoes when its hot. Chill a bunch of fresh picked tomatoes, and then after they are cold slice them for sandwich's, make those slices thick. Use good bread like french or whole wheat and plenty of mayo and salt. American home made goodness is tomato sandwich's. Its a meal by the way, has more anti -oxidants than any other fruit or veggie.
Pair it up with some potato chips or sliced chilled celery & carrot sticks for a great meal.
Tomato sandwich's plus dip
Another idea for quick cold lunch is tomato sandwich's, but lots of chilled celery and carrot sticks, and dipping sauce. You can make a quick dipping sauce by getting some honey roasted peanut butter ( i like jiff) and adding a bit of warm water to make it less thick. You can also make sauces out of peanut butter , adding honey , melted butter and spices. Just use your imagination.
Planning ahead of time
The forecast is going to be several days of hot, sweltering weather. So think ahead and plan a bit. Usually after I sit down and do a menu when its hot, I think, I should cook this at night.
Since its cool at night, why not put on 10 chicken breasts into the oven and cook them 30mins, you drain them and cool them off 1/2 hr. When they are cooled off, you put them in a zip lock container and store them in the frig. You have the cool starts for several easy, quick meals, as your basic food (meat is cooked ).
Meal 1# Chicken roll ups; Using wraps (tortilla wraps) you take the microwave, put the wraps into a zip lock baggie and make sure there is a wet paper towel between each wrap. you can do 4 at a time, just to moisten them and make them soft and ply able.
After they are soften, take them out put them on a plate and take two thinly sliced breasts lay those on top, add shredded cheese, lettuce tomato and mayo then roll it up and slice it in half, serve on a plate with chips or cold salad. Lunch or dinner on a hot day
Meal 2 Easy Chicken Quesdillas
Take tortilla shells (uncooked flour shells-any size) In a large greased skillet, take the shell using it as the bottom. put it on very low heat. Carefully layer cheese, cooked chicken sliced thin or torn into small pieces, tomatoes, onions, and any fixing you like including hot peppers, Always make sure the last layer is thin cheese too.
Then put the top layer when done. Keeping it on low heat, get the bottom warm, melting the first layer of cheese and browning it.
When its melted, push down the top and carefully flip it over,brown that top layer of flour tortilla.. make sure its all melted, takes about 15min total.
Carefully slide it onto a serving dish and cut it into slices.
Depending on the size you can make one quesadilla that feeds 3-4 people or small mini ones.
A twist to this recipe is using your waffle iron. Do the same recipe, then put it into a hot waffle iron, and press down, check on occasion to see if its brown and melted.. tastes great BTW and people love the waffle melts.
Think cold tuna
Nothing is better than cold tuna salad on fresh bread. I make several kinds including a few with a Waldorf twist.
Tuna twisted salad
Tuna drained in mixing bowl (1 can of any tuna you like albacore or flaked light)
1 half chopped onion
1half cup chopped apple
1half cup of any kind of nuts (almonds, cashews or walnuts or pecans)crushed
1 tsp hot pepper flakes
1tsp hot pepper rings diced
sweet pickle relish (1/8th cup) and any water drained from it.
1/4 cup of olives (diced or sliced)
Mayo
milk
spices
Put tuna in bowl, add ingredients and mix with mayo. Good mayo mix is half cup
of mayo to 1/4 cup of milk or sweet pickle relish. You want the mayo mix to be saucy but not sticky. So it coats the tuna but doesn't drown it. So change proportions to suit how it sets up.
Refrigerate an hour in a very tightly sealed container.
After chilled spread on bread or crackers, if you make mayo more runny its a good crunchy dip as well. a real surprise.
( you can substitute sour creme for mayo if you wish also, and lite sour creme if your watching your weight)
Tuna melts
If you have tuna made, any way you wish, consider a quick easy meal of tuna melts.
They are fast, its bread, coated with your homemade tuna recipe and then you add thin sliced cheese. American, Swiss or Munster are all fine. Cheddar is my favorite.
Take soft butter and butter the sides of the bread that would be the pan side before assembling the sandwich's, spray olive oil Pam on the pan, set down the butter side of the bread with tuna, add the cheese slice and top with butter slice of bread, brown one side and flip over, then smash down a bit, and do the other side, make sure its all melted..
Cool and cut on plate, 1 sandwich per person is a good size, serve with salad or chips.
Meat sandwich's
Ham and cheese
Cold cooked lamb meat cheese on bread
Cold sliced thin beef roast on rye, wheat or dark bread
Cold sliced pork chop sandwich on white or wheat
Any cold meat sliced thin, on a good hearty bread with strong mustard or mayo.
Any of these cold salads, slaw or chips are a good side
Cold meat and cheese wraps
Cold cuts are not just what you buy at the butchers or meat counter
When you have left over beef or pork, instead of cooking a second meal, slice them thin and serve on a platter on lettuce, with cheese and homemade mustard's
like honey mustard or dill mustard. Without bread just take a wrap (tortilla warmed in micro wave just seconds)
Pile on meat, cheese and mustard, fold it up or roll it up and cut in half.. don't forget the pickles. Sweet or dills are good with these hearty wraps.
Watermelon
As a stand alone in a bowl cut off the rind, sliced with the rind on, or as a salad with other fruit. Watermelon cools you off, its a perfect match for any thing i listed above and the nice finish to any night time super when its hot.
Watermelon can be cut off the rind and stored in zip lock containers, to seal out the moisture and keep the flavor in..
Fresh fruit salads
Fresh fruit like melons(green sweet melon) savory musk melons and watermelons combined with strawberry's, grapes (seedless red or green) and pineapple well drained make a great summer time addition to any meal you make.
* a tip on pineapple, to cut down on cost, buy prepared pineapple out of the produce department. You only need less than two cups for a big salad*
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