It’s hot. Far too hot to turn on the oven and cook up a meal for the family. Even the barbecue seems like too much of a challenge in the sweltering heat. But before you considering take-out, how about whipping up one of these easy no-cook meals instead? They’re healthier than whatever the delivery man will bring, and they’re chock-full of light, refreshing flavours that will cool you off with a few bites.
Entertaining
Simple no-cook meals for the hottest days of summer
Roast Chicken and Mango Salad
Perfect for using up chicken leftovers (or you can pick up a roasted chicken at the grocery store), this salad is filling and refreshing for those hot summer days. Whisk together a dressing of olive oil, mango chutney, lemon juice, and curry powder, then toss with arugula and top with roasted chicken and mango slices. Add a dollop of plain yogurt for a bit of creamy texture. Recipe: epicurious.com
Mint-Marinated Shrimp
Bulgur is a type of dried wheat and its high nutritional value makes it a good alternate to carbs—especially since it requires no boiling. For this Middle Eastern-inspired meal, mix bulgur with tomatoes, arugula, feta, green onions and garlic, and top with cooked shrimp that’s been marinated in a mix of lemon juice, olive oil, mint, and salt. Recipe: bonappetit.com
Cantaloupe, Lime and Chili Soup
Only four ingredients are needed to make this super-easy summer soup. Puree cubed cantaloupe with fresh lime juice, salt, and sambal oelek (an Asian chili paste available at many large grocery stores). Refrigerate for one hour and you’re done! Dinner is served. Recipe: marthastewart.com
Red Cabbage and Apple Salad
Brighten up your salad options by going for colourful red cabbage instead of typical lettuce. Slice up a head of red cabbage, a red onion and an apple, and mix together with a tahini-ginger dressing made from sesame seed butter, orange and lemon juices, olive oil, honey, garlic, and ginger. Top with dried currants and a few pecans for some added crunch. Recipe: pureandsimple.typepad.com
Open-Faced Tuna and Fennel Sandwich
Tuna sandwiches don’t have to be those mayo-loaded meals you get at your average sub shop. Lighten it up with a dressing of red wine vinegar and olive oil, topped with fennel and parsley. Serve it open-faced on a crusty baguette, no mayonnaise required. Recipe: realsimple.com
Citrus Gazpacho
Get a dose of your daily vitamins with this fruit and veggie-loaded chilled soup. Mix together vegetable juice, tomato juice, and ready-to-serve chicken broth, then toss in chopped and seeded grapefruit, oranges, plum tomatoes, a bell pepper, a cucumber, and an onion. Stir in fresh cilantro, garlic, lime juice and hot sauce, and let it chill for four hours. Recipe: southernliving.com
Roast Beef Summer Rolls
These will take a bit more work than just tossing ingredients into a bowl, but once you get the hang of rolling spring rolls, they’re actually quite fun to make (especially when they’re cold rolls that don’t require deep-frying). Slice up rare deli roast beef and mix it with a coleslaw mix (you can make your own coleslaw or buy one of the pre-packaged kits). Load the rolls with the roast beef and coleslaw filling, as well as a dollop of curried mayonnaise. For the dipping sauce, an easy mixture of brown sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, cilantro, and mint will work perfectly. Recipe: foodandwine.com
Tapas Plate with Marinated Chickpeas
Easy to prep and perfect with a chilled glass of wine on a summer’s day, a charcuterie plate is a life saver for those days you just don’t want to cook. Serve up a platter of cured meat such as prosciutto or Serrano ham, slices of your favourite specialty cheeses, a handful of olives and crusty bread or crackers. Add a bit extra by mixing up a side salad of chickpeas with raisins, roasted red peppers, parsley, scallions, olive oil, and black pepper. Recipe: realsimple.com
Apricot-Basil Chicken Salad
Another option for leftover chicken, this sandwich mixes some sweetness and crunch into your standard chicken salad. Mix together mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, garlic, paprika, and white wine vinegar for the dressing. Then add pieces of chicken, almonds, onion, celery, apricots, and basil. Serve open-faced on toasted bread or crackers. Recipe: marthastewart.com
Cold Cucumber Soup
Cucumber is the ultimate refreshing flavour, perfect for hot days when all you want to do at dinner is cool off. For this easy summertime soup, blend together chopped cucumber, Greek yogurt, a shallot, lemon juice, garlic, dill, parsley, tarragon, and olive oil. Refrigerate overnight or for at least eight hours before serving. Recipe: foodandwine.com
Panzanella Salad
This classic Italian salad is perfect for using up stale bread and making the most of tomato season. Tear up your loaf into bite-sized pieces—some recipes call for soaking it in water before you toss the salad, but this is up to you, depending on how soft you’d like the bread to be. Mix together the bread cubes with any combination of tomato, cucumber, red onion, celery, artichokes, olives, capers and/or cheese (maybe bocconcini or buffalo mozzarella), along with garlic, parsley, and basil. Top with a dressing of red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Recipe: italianfoodforever.com
Curried Tofu Salad
Vegetarians will appreciate this take on the traditional curried chicken salad sandwich. Swap out the poultry for extra-firm tofu, crumbled and mixed together with a dressing of yogurt, mayo, mango chutney, and curry powder. For extra flavour and texture, add in grapes, scallions, and walnuts. Serve it on toasted bread. Recipe: eatingwell.com
