What foods do you avoid or gravitate to in summer? (gas grill, marinated)

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by DitsyD

...Nothing cool about tending a barbecue pit.

Yep, I cook on an offset "stick-burner," so I do have to regulate the fire in the firebox.

[swgirl926]

In the summer I do cook differently than in cooler times of the year. It's too hot and muggy to go outside and do any grilling. I usually eat things like pasta salad, tuna salad sandwiches, hoagies, fruits and raw veggies. I tend to make things like thai cucumber salad and beef salad in the summer. It doesn't take that long to broil a cut of steak for the beef salad and the lime "cooks" the beef further. I'm also likely to eat sushi in the summer (although I go to a restaurant for that).

[Caligula1]

I don't really so much worry about it.
If I want something I'm going to cook it.
I probably wouldn't go as far as preparing a full on thanksgiving dinner though..

If we didn't have AC that's a completely different story..

[Almrausch]

No matter how hot it gets my place is in the kitchen

A staple in our home is spicy hot Indian food..fight the heat off with hot and spicy food.Zucchini /tomato curry dishes come in mind,lentil soups,fresh vegetable dishes,filled parathas with mango or lime pickles and cold homemade yogurt or tandoori chicken with basmati rice.
Sometimes I lean to my countries cuisine and we have potato salad with herring,lentil burgers or garlic chicken legs. We love our cold cucumber /mint soups,cold cherry soups with cream of wheat dumplings,Farmers Breakfast with a green salad and a dill yogurt sauce.For the kids I made often Strong Max with German bread,butter,ham slices,fried eggs and a dill pickle. Another great dish is fried potatoes with caraway seeds and pickled herring.
I love cooking..I beat the heat by joining the heat

[arrieros81]

Homemade yogurt for me. I make gallons of it a week. It makes you feel chilled inside after you eat it; some days that's all I want to eat.

[StealthRabbit]

In summer I find it very hard to take extra daylight hours to cook, and I don't like to heat up the house (Tho I have an outdoor 'canning kitchen'), probably just an excuse NOT to cook.

Taco Salad is a favorite, but I could use some more ideas! and I dislike the time and counter space it takes for salad prep.

This week: (very unusual for me,,, Processed foods)
Grabbed Costco "power greens", rotisserie chicken, Shredded Mexican cheese mix, Powdered Cheese, tortilla chips, and some Picante and have had 10+ salads and plenty of stock remaining = <$1.00 serving

I need some more variety for the next 6 weeks of summer...

Salmon / Steelhead season is just around the corner, as is 'edible Landscape' (300+# of berries) from my 'ornamentals'

Of course we still make home-made Ice Cream every Sunday night. (Fresh Strawberries still this week, Raspberries are a tad late.)

Hot August Days,,, What to fix?

Ideas welcome

[SATX56]

We just avoid using the oven and use either the air fryer or counter top oven. No stews or other hot liquid meals. Could grab a rotisserie chicken at the store. Salads of course. Grilling outdoors is an option only it's too dang hot to cook out there.

Best option eat out and take in a movie and then come home to your ice cream.

[TabulaRasa]

Cold peanut noodles with snow peas, shredded carrots, scallions, etc.

Chicken salad on a bed of greens.

Raw vegetables with hummus, fresh fruit skewers.

[nmnita]

We have all kinds of meals that help on hot days: I like to make a pot of soup. I know, we think of soup as a winter meal, but it keeps the heat out of the kitchen and makes clean up easy. A nice salad with protein is another dish we like. Usually either a steak salad, or seafood and if we are having a normal 3 course meal which is most of the time: I keep it simple, still with a lot of salad and keep the carbs down. Always follow the meal with a nice juice bar or ice cream bar when it is really hot. Add, a great summer breakfast is a smoothy.

[Jkgourmet]

This 'not heating up the kitchen' issue was one of the reasons I finally broke down and purchased an Instant Pot. And I'm very glad I did. (Wish I had one of these during the 25+ years I lived in phoenix!)