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What's for dinner? It's waaaay too hot edition


melbotoast
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I've been doing grazing boards for little kids and salads for anyone old enough to ask for them.

And a bit of pasta, DH grilled leftovers, some cold "salads" DH picked up from the deli after I swore I'd never make potato salad myself again.  We've also been snacking on more junky stuff like potato chips than usual, but I figure if I'm sweating this much the kids need salt.

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It was hot here in Los Angeles yesterday.

Everyone wanted a cool light meal.

So I made a Mexican-style shrimp "ceviche" salad (just not raw).

We had some pre-cooked large frozen shrimp that Mrs Spy Car had been tempted to purchase on sale, so I cut them up into pieces and added to a mix of finely diced white onion, diced persian cucumber, diced tomato, chopped cilantro, diced avocado, diced jalapeno, with Mexican key-lime juice and salt. 

Boy did that hit the spot.

Bill

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My family has been known to resort to fruit, bread, smoked salmon or salami and cheese for dinner when it’s too hot to cook.  Another thing I do when it is hot is make a salad with meat in the morning, put it in the fridge and pull it out for dinner.  Curried chicken salad, Thai steak salad, pasta salad with shrimp.  That way I can do the cooking in the morning or the night before when it’s cooler and then have a nicely chilled meal for dinner time.  
 

ETA- I’m also not above making a big bowl of curried chicken salad or whatever and living off that for several hot days in a row.  

Edited by LucyStoner
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Thanks for all of the ideas! I doubt my kids will like any of the cold salads, but that means I won't have to share 😋 I will do grazing boards tonight since I can pull that together without running to the store.

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When it's hot here it's corn season, so we do fresh corn, limas, etc., basically anything off the local produce stand. Finish off with pie. 

It's not that hot here yet and the corn is not in, so I threw chili in the crockpot. Something counterintuitive about that, but oh well.

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I love these ideas!! We are having salad for lunch that has plenty of protein in it (chicken seasoned with rosemary, bacon, cheese.) But, for dinner I plan to make Green Enchilada Chicken Zucchini Boats. They need to be put in the oven long enough to melt the cheese. I could probably do that in the microwave, though. I will microwave some fresh corn on the cob  that I got at the farmer's market yesterday to go with it. No dessert-I wish, but I am desperately trying to lose weight. I won't even eat the corn-it's not low carb!!

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2 hours ago, math teacher said:

I love these ideas!! We are having salad for lunch that has plenty of protein in it (chicken seasoned with rosemary, bacon, cheese.) But, for dinner I plan to make Green Enchilada Chicken Zucchini Boats. They need to be put in the oven long enough to melt the cheese. I could probably do that in the microwave, though. I will microwave some fresh corn on the cob  that I got at the farmer's market yesterday to go with it. No dessert-I wish, but I am desperately trying to lose weight. I won't even eat the corn-it's not low carb!!

Or on the grill 

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For tonight I’m making crockpot ravioli. I use the big frozen bag from Walmart, the big bag of frozen turkey meatballs, two jars of Rao’s pasta sauce, and water. 

In a large slow cooker dump in one jar of sauce, fill the jar halfway with water, put the lid back on & shake to get the last drop of sauce. Pour it in with the sauce. Dump in the entire bag of frozen ravioli. Pour second jar on top, repeat water.  Dump meatballs on top of that.  Put on lid, turn on high. Stir when you can smell it and at least once again before serving unless you like burnt bits on the side of your pan.  Done in about 4 hours. 

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34 minutes ago, Katy said:

For tonight I’m making crockpot ravioli. I use the big frozen bag from Walmart, the big bag of frozen turkey meatballs, two jars of Rao’s pasta sauce, and water. 

In a large slow cooker dump in one jar of sauce, fill the jar halfway with water, put the lid back on & shake to get the last drop of sauce. Pour it in with the sauce. Dump in the entire bag of frozen ravioli. Pour second jar on top, repeat water.  Dump meatballs on top of that.  Put on lid, turn on high. Stir when you can smell it and at least once again before serving unless you like burnt bits on the side of your pan.  Done in about 4 hours. 

This sounds really good.  Would you mind giving me more details (I'm not an adventurous cook)?  Like, what brands of raviolis and meatballs?  Also, is the finished meal very saucy (we like our pasta on the drier side)?  If it's very saucy, do you think it would cook okay without the additional water or would it actually burn?  

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15 minutes ago, Kassia said:

This sounds really good.  Would you mind giving me more details (I'm not an adventurous cook)?  Like, what brands of raviolis and meatballs?  Also, is the finished meal very saucy (we like our pasta on the drier side)?  If it's very saucy, do you think it would cook okay without the additional water or would it actually burn?  

Great Value 48 oz cheese ravioli. Great Value 32 oz Fully cooked Turkey meatballs. It’s the generic kind available for pickup at the smallest Walmart near me. It’s cheese not meat ravioli. It’s not saucy at all, it would definitely burn without the extra water. 

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1 hour ago, Katy said:

two jars of Rao’s pasta sauce, and water. 

 

I'm sorry for all the questions and taking over the thread!  What size Rao's?  I see it comes in 24 and 32 oz.  Is there a reason why you use that brand?  

 

Do you add extra cheese or just have the cheese in the raviolis?

 

Maybe you should make this for me so I can see exactly how it's done!  🙂 

 

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We like sandwiches made with good quality hearty bread (especially sourdough!), Mayo, sliced fresh tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, S&P.

ETA: I also like chips & salsa/pico for a light dinner too. But that’s not nearly substantial enough for my household full of growing t/weens. 

Edited by mmasc
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20 minutes ago, Kassia said:

I'm sorry for all the questions and taking over the thread!  What size Rao's?  I see it comes in 24 and 32 oz.  Is there a reason why you use that brand?  

 

Do you add extra cheese or just have the cheese in the raviolis?

 

Maybe you should make this for me so I can see exactly how it's done!  🙂 

 

It’s my favorite. I buy it in bulk at Costco. I like the chunks of tomato in it. I have no idea what size the jars are, I’d guess closer to 32 than 24, but I remember a few years ago being disappointed the size of the jars at Costco got smaller.  All of this fills my huge slow cooker, the kids get full, there’s usually plenty of leftovers. 
 

ETA:  no extra cheese. I have shakers with Parmesan/Romano mix & nutritional yeast if people want more. 

Edited by Katy
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We grill a lot during the summer.  I always grill enough foe 2-3 meals and make the extra into various quick and easy stir fry, pasta salad, burritos, salads etc.   I also make a double batch of brown rice or use cauliflower rice so it's ready for whatever meal we decide.  I keep several staples on hand to make a variety of the above.     But I am also good with eating nothing but watermelon for dinner on hot days,  my family not so much.

Edited by lynn
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DH is making this super fast and easy poached eggs with grits and salsa one pot meal tonight. I thought it was from Smitten Kitchen but here’s something similar: https://under500calories.com/recipe/d82b3-salsa-poached-eggs--grits.

Cold plates with dolmas (I love the dolmas in the can from Trader Joe’s), falafel, tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives are a favorite hot day dinner or lunch. 
 

@Spy Car I have to have your shrimp dish immediately. It sounds amazing! 

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On 6/14/2021 at 1:19 PM, melbotoast said:

It's only noon and it already feels like 102 outside. Besides ice cream and watermelon, what on earth will I feed my family this week? 

We made a version of Greek gyros with ground beef - shaped into rectangular patties and cooked on grill.  Easy and didn’t heat up kitchen.

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16 minutes ago, matrips said:

We made a version of Greek gyros with ground beef - shaped into rectangular patties and cooked on grill.  Easy and didn’t heat up kitchen.

May I ask how you season the meat? This sounds delicious.

Regards,

Kareni

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For hot weather, we like
 

Antipasta platter

Tuna Salad, roast beef, or club sandwiches, or a big build-your-own sandwich platter

Sushi (take a cooler when you pick it up)

Lo Mein . . .or anything that cooks quickly in the wok

Cold cereal (My family wouldn't go for it, but some of you live with reasonable people.)

Chef's salad with a cold protein on top.  I like chilled salmon, but my kids like grilled chicken.

 

I do have to be honest and admit to living in a cold house.  My people keep it cool year-round.

 

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I made harissa-baked carrots with garlic butterbean puree, plus kohlrabi with lime, sesame oil and mint.  The carrot dish was room temperature eta and the kohlrabi was raw and chilled.  We had brown rolls on the side, but flat breads would have been good too to scoop up the puree.  Here's the carrot recipe:

https://www.falklandkitchenfarm.co.uk/recipes2/2020/6/10/slu89r1wfvw3nnvvlslgi05lgf5ppy

Edited by Laura Corin
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20 hours ago, PeterPan said:

When it's hot here it's corn season, so we do fresh corn, limas, etc., basically anything off the local produce stand. Finish off with pie. 

It's not that hot here yet and the corn is not in, so I threw chili in the crockpot. Something counterintuitive about that, but oh well.

Haha I’m making chili as well, but it was only in the low 70 range yesterday. 

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I just finished my menu for next week. Note that for chicken, I use either rotisserie chicken or my husband cooks several pounds of chicken on the barbecue on the weekend to last the week (depending on weather/availability at my grocer).

Father's Day: steak, grilled sweet potatoes, wedge salad, berry shortcake

Monday: chicken gyro salad wraps

Tuesday: crockpot summer chili, corn muffins (baked early in the morning)

Wednesday: barbecue chicken salad, bakery rolls

Thursday: white gazpacho soup, bread

Friday: sandwich with the last of the chicken, cucumber, and tomato (I wish my local grocer carried alfalfa sprouts!), Sunchips

Saturday: charcuterie board, leftovers, maybe a fruit salad if I can talk one of the kids into making it (I recently broke my foot, so I can't stand long enough for all that chopping)

 

The summer chili and white gazpacho soup are new recipes for me. With yet another elimination from our diet recently, I need more recipes to rotate in the summer.

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On super hot days, I'll pick up a Rotisserie chicken, rolls, and a bag of salad. Sandwiches work well too. Things in the crockpot and instapot keep my kitchen from getting hot. And then, there's always pizza...

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