With temperatures hovering around 100º for the foreseeable future, I’ve dipped into the Blue Kitchen archives for some no-cook and minimal-cook recipes.
The recent heatwave has the Cole Porter classic “Too Darn Hot” running through my head—as sung by Ella Fitzgerald, of course. What the heat doesn’t have me thinking about, despite my best intentions, is the kitchen. Here are a few ideas for some cool foods that require little or no cooking. A couple are complete meals. Others can be paired with sandwich makings—cold cuts or a store-bought roast chicken, for instance—so you can eat well without overheating.
1. Berry Blue Cheese Watercress Salad
Take advantage of abundant berries now in the market. Blueberries and raspberries team up with watercress, butter lettuce, blue cheese and a simple vinaigrette for the salad shown above. Every ingredient plays a role, from the fresh, tart berries to the peppery watercress and earthy blue cheese, in creating a lively summer salad. Here’s the recipe.
2. Flank Steak with Watercress Salad
Okay, this one requires a little cooking—a grill pan on the stove for the steak and a quick sauté of the shallots. But the resulting meal is satisfying without seeming too heavy or hot. And the time in the kitchen is minimal. A Dijon mustard vinaigrette adds a nice kick to the already lively watercress. You’ll find the recipe here.
3. Strawberry Gazpacho
Besides being cool and refreshing—and just a little spicy—this gazpacho is just plain cool, an unexpected, impressive starter for summer dinner parties. Marion combines strawberries, cucumber, cayenne pepper, chives and hot sauce into a sweet, tangy, spicy no-cook first course. But you don’t have to wait for a dinner party. Larger servings of this strawberry gazpacho would nicely pair with a sandwich for a quick, cool lunch.
4. Peach Caprese Salad
With fresh basil, tomato slices and slabs of creamy mozzarella, caprese salad just tastes like summer. And if anything, this version that swaps out the tomato for juicy slices of peach is even more summery. You could serve it alongside cold leftover chicken, but there’s really no need. This recipe is satisfying as a light meal on its own.
5. Pasta Shells with Italian Tuna and Artichokes
I first posted this salsa cruda here almost five years ago. It remains a summer go-to meal for us. Salsa cruda is Italian for no-cook sauce; the only thing you cook for this dish is the pasta. The mix of capers, artichoke hearts, garlic, parsley, canned Italian tuna and lemon juice and zest all explode with fragrance and flavor when mixed with the still hot pasta. And they cool the pasta slightly, making this a delicious, warm, light meal.
6. Seared Salmon with Mixed Greens and Miso Vinaigrette
Minimal cooking creates maximum results with this dish. Thin slices of salmon seasoned with Japanese chili pepper are quickly sautéed; they slightly warm the bed of mixed greens, green beans, snow pea pods and cilantro tossed with a Japanese-based miso vinaigrette.
Ah, these would totally hit the spot! Especially like the tuna and pasta, yum!
Great selection of dishes! I particularly like the Berry Watercress Salad and the Strawberry Gazpacho. OK, and the Seared Salmon & Mixed Greens. That one looks spectacular. I’ve been pondering doing something similar with salmon and greens, but hadn’t been thinking of a miso vinaigrette – that’s genius. Anyway, I’m open to cool stuff to eat at the moment – the heat is miserable! – so thank you for this.
very refreshing dishes!
ah, great timing, Terry!
We’ve been cooking very lightly. But even something that requires the quick blast in the oven needs that long preheat time. It’s tough.
We’ll give your salmon a try!
Sara, that dish is a family summer favorite.
Thanks, Kitchenriffs! One nice thing is how the salmon slightly warms the greens and they slightly cool the salmon. The resulting dish feels more like a real dinner than a completely chilled salad, without being too hot.
Thanks, Fargo!
Kitty—I know, right? I see so many alleged summer recipes that call for baking croutons or roasting vegetables in the oven or firing up the broiler for crostini. Um, no. At least not until it cools down considerably.
When it’s really hot, you can use canned salmon and not have to turn the stove on at all. As long as you get a decent quality brand, it’s an excellent product. I always stock up when it’s on sale, so it’s affordable too.
An interesting idea, Jeri, but while canned salmon (and tuna) can be great in many recipes, they are fundamentally different from fresh and usually not interchangeable. Just as I wouldn’t substitute fresh tuna for the canned Italian tuna in the dish with pasta shells and artichoke hearts, I wouldn’t swap canned salmon for the fresh in the seared salmon and mixed greens recipe.
Hi Terry,,
I agree with you in theory, but right now it’s 95 degrees outside and significantly hotter in my NYC kitchen. When it gets down to 90 I would probably make the heat sacrifice, but for now, I can live with elevating the canned salmon with the miso dressing. That’s the downside of summer. There is so much to eat, but it’s just too hot to cook it. But I bit the bullet today and made a blueberry/nectarine crumble. OMG, talk about 2 fruits that work together. Plus I filled the oven with baked potatoes, baked beans and even the corn, so I have food for the week. When it’s this hot, you just have to pick your battles.
I’ve been making your Italian Tuna and Artichoke Salad ever since you posted it the first time. I love it! It’s my absolute favorite summer dish. I’ve started eating it on top of arugula instead of with the pasta and it’s just as good. Such a quick, easy, no cook meal. Thank you!!
Jeri, the hot skillet will heat up your kitchen much less than the oven did. Still, one way new dishes are created is by improvising on old ones. Have fun!
Thanks, Justine! And the idea of serving the tuna over arugula sounds like a nice change up, with no cooking whatsoever.
Thank you for these! I tried the first with goat cheese instead of blue (because blue cheese is one of three tastes that taste evil on my tongue) (It’s beyond “I don’t like them”… they are EVIL) and it worked fine. The peach caprese was marvelous! I had never imagined peaches and cheese, but it works. And finally the gazpacho – using the last of the strawberries. Oh yum. Tuna and pasta scheduled for after upcoming time away from home – living alone, I have to plan for leftovers.
p.s. Kindly stop sending the oogy weather this way. The derecho that passed overhead in your area wreaked all sorts of havoc here, and resulted in my having to restock the refrigerator right down to the condiments.
Looks like exactly what we’ve been cooking (or not) in this heatwave. Love the new idea of peach caprese salad.
Wow, Anita. Thanks for trying so many of these recipes—especially in the heat (sorry about the derecho—where re you?). The goat cheese sounds like an excellent substitute for blue cheese in the berry, cheese and watercress salad; with its nice tanginess.
Thanks, Heather! As much as I love a traditional caprese salad with tomatoes, the peaches make for a nice change. Also totally impressive when you serve it for company.
These look delicious – we’re in the midst of a cold winter so I’ll put them aside for the warmer months, but there’s nothing like a good salad for dinner. I especially love the last three.
I always overbuy fruit/berries at the farmer’s market… thus I was able to try the salad(y) items without extra shopping! I live in the Washington DC area, so I really appreciated some cool meal options. We just had 11 straight days of 95+ degree highs, and that right after the storm knocked out electricity for hundreds of thousands.
Barbara—This is one cool thing I love about blogging, that it connects us with people everywhere. Also love that parts of our planet are in winter now. That never ceases to wow me.
I thought it might be DC, Anita—not sure why. We have good friends there and always enjoy our too infrequent visits.
I love your Peach Caprese Salad. The combination of peach and tomatoes are perfect. I will try your other delicious recipes soon.
The Strawberry Gazpacho is delicious ….. Thanks