Simple, no-cook ideas for upgrading rotisserie chicken dinners

When it’s too hot to cook—or you’re too busy—these easy, no-cook ideas can turn a store-bought rotisserie chicken into a satisfying meal.

The simplest way to make a meal of a rotisserie chicken was once witnessed by Marion’s sister at Costco. A fellow customer purchased his chicken at the store, proceeded to the store dining area and sat down and started eating it. I don’t remember now if some utensils or perhaps a soft drink figured into the meal or not. Continue reading “Simple, no-cook ideas for upgrading rotisserie chicken dinners” →

It’s too darn hot: Six cool recipes for when it’s just too hot to cook

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. Continue reading “It’s too darn hot: Six cool recipes for when it’s just too hot to cook” →

Five easy meals for summer

With the fourth of July weekend in the rearview mirror, summer is officially in full swing. And as much as we may like to cook, there’s no shortage of diversions ready to lure us from the kitchen. These five recipes run the gamut, from quick cooking to outdoor cooking to no cooking at all. Gathered from the Blue Kitchen archives, they’ll help you get great summer meals on the table with minimal time and effort in the kitchen.

tomato-basil-cruda

1. Tomato Basil Salsa Cruda with Pasta

Cooking doesn’t get much easier than this—salsa cruda is Italian for uncooked sauce. The only thing you cook for Tomato Basil Salsa Cruda with Pasta is the pasta itself. The hot pasta warms the salsa of raw, chopped tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil, filling the kitchen with a big, delicious fragrance. And the uncooked salsa slightly cools the pasta, making for a light summery meal.

spicy-turkey-burger

2. Spicy Turkey Burgers

In the days before air conditioning, a separate summer kitchen was sometimes added to homes to keep the heat of cooking out of the house. Today, the ubiquitous grill Continue reading “Five easy meals for summer” →