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JennGM
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 8:04am | IP Logged
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Why is it I have to reinvent the wheel every time the hot months comes around? I can't remember what or how I cooked!
I know I do some easy stovetop cooking, like tacos, some grilling, but all I can remember is chicken and hamburgers on the grill? There must be more ideas!
Sometimes it's not about heating up the place, I just don't want heavy foods. Pot roast in the crockpot keeps the kitchen cooler, but I don't necessarily want to eat it!
I'm going to pull out my cookbooks and notes from previous years the next few weeks to get some ideas, but I'm always inspired by you ladies!! So, share away! What do you cook in warm weather???
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 8:37am | IP Logged
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Green salads or pasta salads, with meat, cheese and /or beans added for protein, are Spring and Summer favorites here. Tortillas and fajitas, especially with leftover grilled meat, are wonderful. If we grill a meal, we sometimes make foil pocket dinners, for the following day, at the same time. If you don't want to use the grill, you can brown frozen boneless chicken in a skillet to use for salads or tortillas. If you're spending the day outside gardening, exploring, or just soaking up the sun, it's also nice to make something in the crockpot, like sloppy joes and BBQ chicken, for sandwiches. We've frozen both and taken them camping... when they're thawed in a day or two we have quick easy meals.
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 8:54am | IP Logged
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It's a boxed meal but my dh (and the children) LOVE Suddenly Salad (bacon/ranch). I add tomatoes and cucumbers to it. I add either a can of ham or chicken to it and sometimes add chicken breast or tenderloin to it. Cold fried chicken would be perfect in it. 
You just boil the pasta and whip everything together.
It's quick, it's easy, it's cool, and it's delicious. 
Last year I bought a beautiful copy of Susan Hill's book Through the Kitchen Window . It's OOP but there are used copies available. It's beautifully illustrated by Angela Barrett. A treat in itself just looking at the pictures.
On the chapter for Summer it reads:
"In summer, the kitchen is not for lingering in, only for preparing food quickly, wrapping it or dishing it up, and taking it outside. The stillroom and the larder and the dairy are dim and stone-slabbed and pleasingly cool....The refrigerator hums and vibrates day and night, a living creature in the corner. But the range stands cold and silent."
Susan Hill is the author of another OOP book:The Magic Apple Tree: A Country Year. It was my autumn read last year. Her writing is lovely.
Sorry for the spill. I can't think of food without linking to books. 
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Lisbet
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 9:06am | IP Logged
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Does anyone else find that their children are not as big on meals during the summer? I keep alot of fresh fruit and veggies on hand for snacking - cheese cubes, crackers and dips etc... so meals can be lighter - salads are really big here - a favorite is bowties, a bag of spinach, a few chopped chicken breasts, raisens, sunflower seeds, and some kind of light dressing. Bagel sandwhiches are big too, esp. cream cheese with salami. I do homemade cheese ball type spreads for bagels and crackers.
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
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Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 9:18am | IP Logged
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Oh, lovely quote, Cay. I'm the same way, all my thoughts turn to books. I think Marcelle Bienvenu's description of summer cooking is so lovely. And it always brings me back to the summer camp chapters in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Dealing with hot Louisiana summers is good inspiration for me. Although, I'm having a hard time dealing with shellfish lately (I swell), and since summer already has some water retention, I just am not too fond of making it worse. And so many dishes have the shellfish. What's a girl to do?
I appreciate cookbooks organized for seasonal cooking. Even the liturgical seasons reflect the different cooking. Most of Ordinary Time or Time After Pentecost is hot months. And you can just feel the slower pace (or want to have a slower pace).
Let me see, I love Susan Branch's Summer Cookbook and Brother Victor's Twelve Months of Monastery Salads. Those are two I pull out. I keep wanting to try some of Mollie Katzen ideas.
My problem is getting the children to eat the salads, the green ones or the ones with the veggies. And we can't do egg based mayonnaise or dairy, so I have to find safe dressings for pasta salads (and use rice pasta, which isn't quite the same) and potato salads. It's a little more work, and an experiment in flavors. The boys want the familiar, and I'm looking for new and quick things.....
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Carole N.
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 11:41am | IP Logged
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Jenn, I so love to grill in the summer. In fact, that was one of the first things I got when we moved into our home. I like to make burgers or do sausage for a great meal with potato salad/coleslaw and tossed green salad. We love sauteed peppers, onions, and mushrooms, but in the summertime, I take them out to the grill.
I also like to make chicken breasts and pork chops on the grill. And I like to take potatoes and onions, slice them up in alum foil and add butter and salt and pepper (or spice it up if you want). Corn on the cob on the grill.
And fish on the grill. My mum bought me a rack for fish but sometimes I just put it in a foil lined grill pan and cook it as well. Oh and don't forget steak and baked potato on the grill (that was my last birthday meal)! My dh used to be a broiler chef, so he knows all about how to get those steaks just perfect. 
I think one of the things that makes it so fun for me is the spices. It also means less kitchen clean up which my ds loves. 
We even grill when it rains (and we get a lot of rain over here). 
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 Carole ... in Wales
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 12:07pm | IP Logged
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breads and salads tend to be "light" meals.. so hamburgers are a more summery meal than hamburger steaks.
bbq shredded roasts on buns are more summery than a traditional pot roast
lots of veggies are great on the grill.. zucchini and asaparagus,potatoes, onion, mushrooms
kids often aren't big on salads but if I leave them carrot sticks and celery and sometimes bell pepper and sometimes cucumber raw to eat with their fingers.. they're much happier with the option.
I make a lovely pasta salad by sauteing veggies in a bit extra amount of oil with seasonings and then tossing with cooked pasta. You can change it around by the type of veggies and the type of seasoning. Not to mention you can use frozen veggies
a nicely seasoned grilled terriyaki chicken can be served with rice without extra sauce.. or I have this great marinade that has ginger in it that I use on beef strips that are skewered to grill.. a bit more prep but less cook time and soo yummy.. I also will serve that with rice. The rice cooker can also be set out of the house if needed and I do beans outside as well in my big electric roaster.. then we can do burritos (excellent with some sauted veggies too) and tostadas and the like.
spicy mexican food seems to work for summer even things like enchiladas that are otherwise a bit heavy.. served with beans on the side and a salad (veggie sticks for the kids) yum.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 12:30pm | IP Logged
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I think I got this recipe from 12 months of Monastery Cooking, but it was a nice alternative to pasta salad. It is a lentil and potato pesto salad. Its just diced cooked potatoes and cooked lentils tossed in pesto sauce. We had it on a hot day a couple of weeks ago and everyone loved it!
Another favorite summer salad is this:
SPinach and Basil Salad
6 cups spinach
2 cups fresh basil
1/2 cup pine nuts
3 cloves minced garlic
1/3 to 1/2 cup xtra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh grated parmasan cheese
4 oz Proscciutto-- thin sliced and then cut into smaller pieces.
Wash & pat dry spiach and basil put in large bowl. Gently brown pine nuts in oil, wait a little add the garlic too ( don't burn!) also add the proscciutto -I do this all in the same pan , my mom did it seperatly to avoid burning . When the pine nuts are toasted & the ham almost crisp ,but before the garlic burns toss this mixture over spinach and basil then toss the grated cheese in as well. Fresh ground pepper to tase & serve right away....it is our family summer favorite! ( even the picky ones like it!)The dressing is warm but the salad does taste amazing.
I also do variations on cobb salad often for lunches using up bacon from breakfast, meat from grilling, and a couple of boiled eggs (which, this style of salad means I custom build the plates for different preferences--so, you could easily leave the egg and cheese off the ones with allergies).
We'll also do light meals where I just set out a tray of veggies and dip or cheese and crackers. Sometimes I'll make lots of pbj (with variations of honey, bananas, jelly, etc...) and cut into cute quarters and set out on a platter. The presentation can make a simple meal feel less meager.
Here is another family favorite. I use full fat everything and will often serve with regular corn chips or pita chips. I also tend to just melt the cheese on the stove top with the lid instead of heating up the oven.
Black Bean Nachos
Serves 4
2 large low-fat flour tortillas
1 15-ounce can reduced sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup canned no salt tomatoes, drained or 1 cup fresh chopped tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn kernels
½ cup sliced green onions (scallions)
2 chopped garlic cloves
2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and chopped (or green chiles to taste)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ cup low-fat, low-sodium Monterey jack cheese, grated
¼ cup chopped cilantro
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat the tortillas with pan spray and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Set aside. While tortillas are baking, combine the beans, tomatoes, corn, green onions, garlic, chiles, and cumin in saucepan. Heat for 5 minutes. Divide the bean mixture between the tortillas, top with cheese, and bake 5 minutes, or until heated through. Scatter the cilantro over the top, cut in wedges, and enjoy!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 2:16pm | IP Logged
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We eat a lot of fish in the summer because it cooks so quickly that even broiling it doesn't heat up the house. A few Mahi fillets and a Caesar salad is a great dinner combo. In fact, that's what's on the menu tonight, but substituting a spinach/mandarin/soy-ginger salad for the Ceasar.
Instead of a green salad we often have a cold bean/corn/tomato salad marinated in olive oil/vinegar dressing with garlic,sea salt, and pepper. Very quick and easy.
We often just do fruit/yogurt smoothies for lunch (great for cooling down after the beach)with a handful of granola, and we also have lots of fruit salads with cheese cubes/tuna/crackers.
Favorite summer sides are corn on the cob, watermelon, raw veggies, seared kale, sugar snap peas.
Couscous is also a great alternative to the standard pasta, potatoes, or rice because it cooks so quickly that the house doesn't heat up.Bring water to a boil, add couscous, remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.
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Philothea
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 2:29pm | IP Logged
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Stir fry with lots of veggies and asian noodles.
Frittatas or quiches with green veggies and poultry or fish.
Lamb gyros/lamb or chicken kebabs with cucumber yogurt sauce, tomatoes and fresh greens.
Steak, chicken, lamb chops, salmon, sausages, shrimp or turkey burgers on the grill.
Pan seared scallops over green salad.
Veggies (green and yellow squash, eggplant, corn and portobello mushrooms) on the grill.
Tuna sandwiches made with olive oil and diced onions instead of mayo and pickle relish.
Bean salads.
Wheat berry salads.
Fajita fun night (set up lots of bowls full of tasty stuff like guacamole, cheese, different salsas, beans and meat fillings, with tortillas to put it in).
Salads with fruit, nuts and goat cheese.
Indian style curries.
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Mimip
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| Posted: April 29 2009 at 6:56pm | IP Logged
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Our meal plan is very "hot month" oriented year round (with the exception of 3 nights a year) So that being said I have a ton of recipe ideas but I am running out to a Mom's night out, I'll be back tomm with some ideas.
BTW My kids are starving in the summer after days on the beach running around so we tend to cook even more but have a ton of snacks around. Lots of fruits and veggies and sandwiches.
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Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Hot Months Meals
