Your Go-To Summer Meals?

June 30, 2024 8:46 AM

I'd like to hear about the summer meals you make again and again because they are light (or on the lighter side, at least), easy, tasty, and don't heat up the whole house.

Some quick examples of things we like are Salad Nicoise with salmon, Cold Pork Rice Noodles with Cucumbers and Peanuts (NYT share link will hopefully work!), Ina Garten's Summer Garden Pasta, Gnocchi with Asparagus (in German, sorry! But worth translating, it's delish!), Quinoa bowls, Shrimp Scampi with orzo.

We have an Instant Pot, no allergies or restrictions, and we like pretty much all cuisines and all veggies, but we are in Greece and do not have easy access to a wide array of Asian and Mexican ingredients, for example.

I'm interested in mains, side dishes, salads, even desserts – anything popular on your rotation that's yummy, fairly quick, doesn't require a lot of planning, special ingredients or logistics, doesn't use the oven, and doesn't need a lot of kitchen time, though we can sit in the cool living room and prep veggies, and stovetop cooking that is relatively brief is fine!

You love it because it's fast, tasty, reliable, and doesn't work your heat-frazzled nerves: tell me about it!

posted by taz to Food & Drink (33 answers total)

I like to make spring rolls with peanut sauce -- only, I never use noodles, I use wild rice and I don't like shrimp so I use chicken or beans, and often I skip the rice paper and just make them as bowls. But I never skip the peanut sauce!
posted by OrangeDisk at 9:14 AM on June 30 [9 favorites]

Something I've been making a lot (in fact, I just ate some) is a microwaved sweet potato with assorted toppings. I just had it with half a can of seasoned black beans (which I think is basically salt, onion, and cumin), cheddar, salsa, and a fried egg, but it's good with lot of different flavors. Tzatziki is great on there, maybe with feta, greens, and some white beans.
posted by hydropsyche at 9:17 AM on June 30 [2 favorites]

I think this is sometimes called “Cowboy Caviar”. It can be a dip or a salad, either as a main dish or a side dish. Combine and drain the following. You may want to chill before serving.

1 avocado, chopped
15 oz. canned beans (such black, pinto or tri-blend)
15 oz. canned corn
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of one or two limes
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
4 oz. canned green chile
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
1 tomato, chopped
Salt to taste
posted by NotLost at 9:35 AM on June 30 [5 favorites]

I like to build a salad out of corn (boiled in water for a few minutes, then cut off the cob) and raw red bell pepper, cut up cucumber, maybe arugula, you can add onion or tomatoes if you like (we do not like). I dress it with salt, olive oil and lime. I use this as a side dish for steak, sausages, rotisserie chicken, whatever.
posted by vunder at 9:36 AM on June 30

Wheat wrap with hummus, sliced tomato, big leaf of romaine, onion powder and oregano
Baked fries from previously Instant-Pot-steamed russets or sweet potatoes, sprinkle chipotle or other spices, bbq sauce dip
posted by Glinn at 9:47 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]

nachos (see Smittenkitchen for some simple recipes), hummus and tuna melts.
posted by bluesky43 at 9:58 AM on June 30

Cold cucumber soup!
posted by tristeza at 10:13 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]

Not a recipe, but I take my instant pot to the porch in hot weather so when I open it the steam/heat isn't escaping into the house.
posted by MadMadam at 10:17 AM on June 30 [3 favorites]

Panzanella (yt), or about the same thing but in open faced sandwich form: just nice crusty bread, toasted with fresh sliced tomatoes, salt, olive oil, basil or jarred pesto.
posted by garo at 10:20 AM on June 30 [4 favorites]

This is "Greek", which probably means that it's a goofy American take on Greek food that would be weird to make in Greece, but I make Greek pasta salad all the time when I don't really feel like cooking. It requires boiling pasta, which is not fun when it's hot, but you can do it in the evening and make enough to have lots of leftovers. It's basically just pasta with olives, jarred artichokes, whatever veggies you like, chickpeas, and your standard vinaigrette. You can also add feta if you eat cheese. If you prefer to use your instant pot rather than making pasta, you could probably do a grain version.

This pasta with tuna, basil, and lemon was one of my summer go-tos when I ate meat.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:21 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]

I made a Vietnamese cold noodle salad with rice noodles, sweet chili lime sauce, lots of veg., using a chilled rotisserie chicken, for a potluck. It was tasty and refreshing. I looked up several recipes - there's a lot of variation, so you can be flexible.

We had good notice of a heat wave, so I made a large pasta salad with tuna. If you add frozen broccoli, peas, and cauliflower, they chill the pasta quickly and are basically blanched. I add red pepper, cabbage, red onion, canned artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, and any other veg, so it's way more veg than pasta. Dress with any dressing; I use mayo and vinaigrette. It keeps well, and I was happy to eat at least a bowl a day for 6 days.

In Greece, I'd make the pasta salad with cucumber, tomato, onion, feta, and olives.
posted by theora55 at 10:24 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]

This summer, I'm making my own salsa rather than using pre-made. It's easy and fun to experiment.
posted by SPrintF at 10:24 AM on June 30

And gazpacho, again in a big batch. Tomato, cucumber, onion, some mild green chilis, good vinegar. I add croutons, but don't blend in bread.
posted by theora55 at 10:26 AM on June 30 [4 favorites]

I'm a big fan of this chopped salad from Smitten Kitchen.
posted by telegraph at 10:32 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]

Note, I'm lactose intolerant though tolerate yogurt fairly well. Some of the recipes below could have some crumbled feta cheese added, if you would like (the hummus/cucumber sandwiches for example.)

I think I got the basic idea for this from a New York Times recipe:
Tuna Tzatziki Sandwiches.
Use a 5 ounce can of tuna packed in olive oil per person. Drain and reserve the oil from the tuna. Used 1/4 cup tzatziki per can of tuna (either home made tzatziki or store bought). Mix drained tuna with tzatziki and add salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 teaspoon or more to taste of the reserved oil drained from the tuna into the tuna/tzatziki mixture and mix well.

Serve the tuna in split toasted pita bread halves as sandwiches. Add thinly sliced cucumber, thinly sliced (red or other) onion, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Lettuce can be added to sandwiches as well (lettuce optional; add other veggies as you choose ... matchstick carrots are nice for example).

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Make hummus/cucumber sandwiches - use bread or pita of your choice and spread with hummus (home made or store bought). Thinly slice cucumber and put on top of hummus. Can add a drizzle of olive oil and/or herbs or spices of your choice. Can also add some whole pine nuts with hummus.

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Make labneh/cucumber sandwiches - spread bread of choice with labneh (home made or store bought), top with thinly sliced cucumber, a drizzle of olive oil, and sprinkle of chopped fresh basil and chopped fresh parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

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Tuna and Bean Salad
Make a vinaigrette salad dressing or use one you already have - we tend to just quickly whip together 1/3 cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons tarragon flavored vinegar, and 1 crushed garlic clove and some salt and pepper and whisk to blend. You can add 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard if you like.

16 - 19 ounces of canned white beans/cannellini beans, drained
7 to 10 ounces of canned tuna, drained
2 - 3 chopped scallions (or more to taste, use both white and green parts)
cut up tomato - we use about 20 cherry tomatoes cut in half
Cucumber cut into chunks, about half a large English cucumber
One ripe avocado, sliced

Toss tuna with dressing and mix well, then add rest of ingredients, adding the tenderist ingredients last, and mix gently with a wide spoon to combine but not mush up the beans and avocado. (Can serve on a bed of lettuce/greens if you like). This recipe is really adaptable so you can add whatever vegetables you like.
posted by gudrun at 10:34 AM on June 30 [3 favorites]

Homemade pesto (fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic clove, grated good Parm, salt, and if you're feeling sassy, a little grated leon zest), spread on half baguette split longways, topped with sliced ripe peaches, sliced ripe tomatoes, and burrata.

You're welcome
posted by thivaia at 10:55 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]

My favourite summer deliciousness involves mussels, chopped avocado, lime juice and mango, all stirred up in some sour cream with a bit of salt and eaten in a wrap. Maybe if you can't get all of those ingredients there are local substitutes that would make something similar?

If you can get smoked mackerel, it goes well with lemony cous cous and a bit of chopped chilli.
posted by quacks like a duck at 11:09 AM on June 30

Like ArbitraryAndCapricious, in summer, I love making something "Greek" inspired (meaning it is inspired by a "Greek" salad I bought and thought I could improve it by tinkering). Obvious caveat that I have no idea how much it resembles anything eaten in Greece. I chop cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and feta, and toss liberally in Greek salad dressing (you could just use vinegar and oil in a pinch). You could add in red onion if you like it, and maybe some parsley, mint, (grilled, preferably) haloumi, and/or chickpeas. It's fairly filling, tasty, and feels great in hot weather.
posted by ClaireBear at 11:21 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]

Ceviche. All the ceviche. If you've got access to good fresh fish there, it's just a matter of chopping up the fish, putting it in the citrus juice, and then chopping whatever toppings you want while the fish "cooks." I do red onion, avocado, corn, and cilantro, and eat it with tortilla chips. But the options are endless, and no heat is required.
posted by minervous at 11:24 AM on June 30 [3 favorites]

All the lunch ideas are available for dinner. We sometimes have burgers or tuna sandwiches, often with fruit or fries..

Also, Alton Brown's Tuna Salad Undone. Modify to your own taste and ingredients on hand.
posted by SemiSalt at 11:49 AM on June 30

Mince up a clove of garlic and saute it in a small pot until just fragrant. Add a cup of water and pinch of salt, or broth of choice, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add a cup of couscous, stir briefly, put lid on pot and move off heat. Wait 5 minutes. While waiting, either open and drain a can of peas, or microwave a cup of frozen peas. Slice a lemon in half. At five minute mark, fluff the couscous with a fork, squeeze the lemon halves over the couscous, and mix in the peas. Feel free to top with some grated parm or nutritional yeast or mix in some fresh herbs if you like. Eat straight out of the pot or portion it out if you aren't hungry enough to devour it all now. Leftovers good hot or cold.

Ultimate summer meal is just fresh sliced tomatos on crusty bread though. You can go fancy and dress some chopped up tomatoes in a vinaigrette, but my favorite is just a little lemon pepper on top of plain sliced beefsteak or other chonky tomato on slices of lightly toasted sourdough.
posted by the primroses were over at 11:56 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]

Avocado-tomato-cucumber-onion salad with some good olive oil is pretty simple and tasty.
posted by credulous at 12:08 PM on June 30

You may find some ideas in this ask and this metatalk. I favorited those a while back and have used the ideas there for a couple summers now.
posted by donut_princess at 12:19 PM on June 30

This potato salad: Potatoes, cooked and sliced. Sliced Cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, crumbled feta cheese. Mix and add a dressing of vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, mustard, and a little honey.
posted by toucan at 12:21 PM on June 30 [1 favorite]

Also my current hot weather trick for boiling water on the stove is to boil it in the electric kettle and then put the water in the pot so I don’t have to keep the stove on as long. If you have access to an electric kettle, I highly recommend this method.
posted by donut_princess at 12:23 PM on June 30 [6 favorites]

Here’s a thing I like to do.

Slice up some veggies, toss with olive oil and salt. Broil until tender and nicely browned. As long as they aren’t cut too thick, this won’t take long at all.

Lay them out in a nice layer on a big plate, over a layer of something delicious (tzatziki, hummus, yogurt … there are no limits).

Now enter nacho mode (baked potato mode will also do). Not in the strictest sense, but in the sense that you will now pile on delicious toppings and sauces.

This might include tahini dressing, ranch, feta, garlicky yogurt sauce, nuts, breadcrumbs, chopped olives, salsa, cheddar, goats cheese, honey, onions, pickled onions, other types of pickle, chopped tomatoes, capers, corn, diced ham, avocado. Bacon. Shallots. Salsa verde. Zaatar.

Despite my list it really doesn’t have to be extravagant. Just look through your fridge and cabinets and see what makes you go “hmm!”
posted by bunderful at 2:05 PM on June 30 [2 favorites]

Ctrl+f "couscous"
Nothing found. Tsk!

The couscous trick.
It's not a salad as such. But it's a good way to start one.

- put couscous in a big bowl, together with the same volume in boiling water, or a bit more (it's not an exact science but make sure the couscous is covered with a pinky thickness of water)
- wait for couscous to soak up all the water (5 minutes or so)
- add frozen peas (almost the same volume as the couscous now has)
- mix
Here comes the magic: Now the couscous is defrosting your peas and the peas are cooling your couscous. Win-win.
Give it a few minutes and add your other ingredients, such as freshly chopped vegetables, olives, tuna, feta. Cilantro leaves, if you lean that way, or parsley, or mint. Add a dressing of your choice, toss and enjoy.
Very fast and tasty result.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:06 PM on June 30 [5 favorites]

Another thing: make ramen noodles, drain and quickly chill with ice water.

Make a sauce of peanut butter, chili pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, and lime juice.

Toss the noodles with the sauce and with julienned raw veggies - carrot, bell pepper, scallions, cucumber, whatever sounds good.

Top with chopped cilantro if you have it.
posted by bunderful at 2:13 PM on June 30

My favorite Russian summer soup, okroshka:

fat-free or 1% kefir (it needs to be thin is the point) is the base.

Pour a bowl of kefir, and then dump into it chopped cucumbers, hardboiled eggs, boiled potatoes, radish, scallions, and a little dill. Salt to taste and enjoy. Cold, delicious, no cooking required. People add various other ingredients they like (like other veggies оr meats, like cold sausage or chicken) but that's the basic version.
posted by virve at 2:42 PM on June 30 [4 favorites]

Yay! - you are this week's excuse to recommend The Moosewood Daily Special. There are three salads from the "salad" section that joined heavy rotation - the Sichuan noodles, a pasta salad with blanched green beans and roasted red peppers (the original recipe also includes toasted hazelnuts and a little goat cheese, but I leave that out) and a barley-and-veg salad. I keep going back to this and adding things to the rotation, though.

Other non-MDS go-to's:

* There's a salad of chick peas and olives I've made a lot. Those are pretty much the only ingredients - chick peas, some chopped olive and garlic and onion, and a vinaigrette and that's it.,
* There's this grilled chicken thigh recipe my family discovered in the mid'80s - an oil-and-vinegar marinade with a LOT of rosemary. What's great is, it's actually good cold too - I loved when we made that because I could save some of the leftovers for my bag lunch in school the next day.
* I will often improvise pasta salads based on a bag of tortellini and whatever fresh veg I have on hand. Whatever I've got, I throw it in, and if I have some cold cuts laying around I may throw that in too, with an oil and vinegar dressing. If I don't have the cold cuts I may go with more of a mayo-based dressing.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:33 PM on June 30 [2 favorites]

I like to prep cold salad and sandwich components and rearrange them in various breads or beds of greens. For instance, this weekend I prepped rainbow slaw dressed in vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and a dollop of sweet pickle relish and a chickpea "tuna" salad consisting of mashed chickpeas, diced onion and celery, vegan mayo, mustard, onion and garlic powder, and a very healthy amount of Cajun seasoning. I've been assembling sandwiches with a scoop of slaw, a scoop of chickpea salad, some diced tomatoes, a couple jalapeno slices, and a slice of vegan cheese. Sometimes I add more mayo/mustard.

When the chickpea salad runs out I will shave a block of superfirm tofu and season it with nooch, garlic and onion powder, capers, some diced pickles, salt and pepper, whatever else sounds good, and make salads or sandwiches from that with some chopped kale and/or spinach massaged with oil and salt and pepper.
posted by MagnificentVacuum at 9:06 PM on June 30

I've been doing pasta salads. Pasta + various frozen veg (corn, peas, etc) + greek yogurt + seasoning. You could add beans or rotisserie chicken for extra protein.

I did one with an avocado dressing. Last week I did a curry dressing.
posted by kathrynm at 10:14 AM on July 1

Sorry if I missed it, but do you have access to a barbecue or other outdoor cooking method? (Guessing that if you did you would have shared it. Not sure what gadgets are available in Greece, wish I knew!) If possible, would pretty much go with grilled meat or fish with salad.
posted by cotton dress sock at 9:14 PM on July 4