Healthy Vegetarian Meals When It's Too Hot To Cook

[PoetryLover]

What are some of your favorite meals for days when it's too hot to have the stove on? I wish I had a grill and could barbecue! How about crock pot meals?

[catnip]

My favorite hot weather dinner:

2 cups boiling water
2 cups bulghur wheat (actually, quinoa is even better)

1 bunch parsley, chopped in a food processor
1 sprig mint, chopped in a food processor

1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup dried fruit (I use a combo of raisins and chopped unsulphured apricots)
1/4 cup chopped roasted almonds
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Fresh ground pepper
Juice of one lemon
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

Combine bulghur and water, cover and set aside for at least 10 minutes. I usually leave it for about an hour so it has cooled to room temp. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and chill.

I usually make this first thing in the AM so that it is cold and ready to eat at dinner time.

[kavamamakava]

i love noodle salads using various asian noodles. like chap chae http://koreanfood.about.com/od/ricea...r/chapchae.htm
and japanese cold noodles (somen)
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...Noodles-105509

sandwiches are always a big hit with my family made from an entire loaf of french bread hot from the grocery store. Then we spread vegenaise and artichoke hearts and avocadoes and our fave cheese (munster, cheddar, swiss) and lettuce.

[caiesmommy]

We do a lot of "buffet" style meals when it's too hot to cook. We jsut find things in the fridge and lay them out lol

-Hummus/baba ganoush/pitas and raw veggies are huge here. The kids love it
-Gazpacho is another big hit here-I add in a can of black beans and serve it with tortilla chips and guac
-I roast potatoes in the slow cooker and serve them with all types oftoppings-better then sour cream, nutrtional yeast cheese sauce, beans, veggie chili, guac ect
-Cold spring rolls-rice wrappers filled with lettuce, tomato, peppers, cilantro, carrot w peanut dipping sauce-if you do fake meat you could add fake chicken strips
-Cold noodle salad with mango, red peppers, red onion, cilantro peanuts and peanut sauce dressing
-The kids and dhlove devilled eggs(I HATE eggs lol)
-A salad that goes over wel here is chickpea/tomato and cukes with lemon juice and chives
-Cold rice salads w avocado/beans/corn/peppers
-Tacos-refried beans(either make your own or canned) w assorted toppings

[audreyhorne]

i signed on expressly to post this exact query!

i'm looking forward to trying the grain/nut/fruit salad idea, catnip! yum!

we've been eating peanut noodles with red cabbage, yellow peppers, broccoli, carrots and snap peas once a week as our "it's too hot to cook" meal, but going forward with meal plans, i'm stumped. it takes a while to get into the groove of hot-weather cooking, and the heat has crept up on me! i've got nori maki rolls, tempeh tacos, rice paper spring rolls with avocado, hummus wraps and quinoa salad on the calendar for the next few days, but i'm tired of recycling the same few meals, and my eight-year-old is really into cooking and wants some new recipes to try. sandwiches are popular here but it's too hot to bake bread and i have a "thing" about store bought bread.(that i should probably get over, ha!) i'll be checking this thread for more ideas, especially as the weather gets warmer!

[pinksprklybarefoot]

Originally Posted by caiesmommy

-Cold spring rolls-rice wrappers filled with lettuce, tomato, peppers, cilantro, carrot w peanut dipping sauce-if you do fake meat you could add fake chicken strips

As I would say to the baby... Um-yum-yum!

[catnip]

Oh, another thing I like to do if I have a little warning of an impending heatwave: Cook up a big batch of this to serve chilled with toast. This is my husband's favorite "I just walked a 14 mile mail route in 108 heat" dinner.

* 5 big carrots
* 2 big sweet potatoes
* 1 yellow onion
* 1 cup orange juice
* 1 clove garlic
* 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
* Water or stock to cover simmering veggies
* Olive oil for sauteeing onions
* Salt and pepper to taste.

Start by simmering chopped up carrots and peeled sweet potatoes in stock until soft. Cut them small if you are short on time, but if you have time, leave them large, as they retain nutrients better. Chop your onion and sautee it in olive oil. You can add the garlic now, or later if you like it to be sharper flavored. Add the onions to the simmering veggies, and either mash everything up with a potato masher or puree it in a blender. Stir in the orange juice and the fresh ginger, add water if you need to adjust the thickness.

Good hot or chilled.

[jessaroo]

lots of dips and spreads and cold salads.
I make lentil and various bean salads.

[jkn]

When it gets too hot we're all over the cold salads, regular veggie salads with breads and dips on the side, or cold bean, lentil or pasta salads! We don't usually use recipes, just experiment with whatever we've got on hand.

[PoetryLover]

Thanks to all for your replies! Please feel free to keep your hot weather meal ideas coming! I'll log back in to post some when I have time.

[catnip]

Tofu 'egg' salad sandwiches
Gazpacho
Chickpea 'tuna' stuffed tomatoes (or sandwiches)