Summer Menu Ideas

[kathirynne]

I need some ideas/recipes for easy and yummy dishes to serve in the summer.  They also need to be cheap!  (I'm feeding 6 people on $120 per week).

It would be fantastic if they only involved minimal oven/stovetop use (or none at all!)

Spam me with your best summer vegan or vegetarian fare!

Thanks in advance!

[parsley]

Here's what we've come up with for the next few nights:

tofu chili dogs with chili made in a large batch and stored in the freezer (pretty cheap to make).

succotash with fava beans, zuccinni, tomatoes and corn.  Not sure what we'll serve it with.

Chef salad-- greens, cucumbers, diced pickles, tomatoes, diced cheese, diced hard boiled eggs

black bean salsa with avocados, tomatos, cilantro, scallions and maybe corn.  served with either tortillas or corn griddle cakes.

veggie burgers with bbq roasted potatos (cookings all outside)

gazpacho soup (no cooking)

tandoori vegetables (vegetables and tofu marinated in yogurt, lemon and spices)

How much any of these cost depends of course on how you get your veggies and what you are willing to spend on them.  We have a garden but also go to farmers markets.  I could easily make each meal for $10-15 but I'm only cooking for 3 (though I try to always have leftovers).

Can't wait to see what other suggest!

[mamayogibear]

I'm not sure of the exact prices but I'm quite thrifty. A few meals we have had recently are:

burritos: black beans made in a large batch so there will be leftovers, soyrizo from 'field roast', almond cheese, tofuttii sourcream, diced tomatoes, onion and avocado

burgers: use left over beans and TVP to make burgers for cheap, these can be dehydrated or frozen for later use topped with almond cheese and assorted 'sandwich' veggies

curry anything: basmattii rice, steamed veggies, garbonzo beans and tofu

Miso soup: buckwheat noodles, tons o'veggies, and tofu or seitan

Quinoia caserole

Gee all of those are rather labor intensive and require a lot of baking/cooking. I was eating a lot more raw foods 80% or so until I cut out leafy green veggies.

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread for some ideas as well...

Also for affordable local fruits and veggies check to see if you have a CSA nearby. Here it makes organic veggies cost less than plain veggies at the grocery store. I just dropped out of mine for a month but am thinking of returning in another month or so...

[greenemami]

I can't wait to see some ideas as well-I am feeling so uninspired as it gets warmer.

Today I made a pasta salad with lots of veggies served cold.  There are some good rice salad recipes out there too (I make a blackbean/mango rice salad that is yummy!)

We grill, but I"m not really sure what else to grill besides veggie burgers as a "main" dish besides potatoes and veg, etc.

I was looking for recipes for cold soups, but I will probably be the only one to like those lol! 

Anyway, I will be checking back for ideas, thanks for posting!

[Shantimama]

When I have a lot of people around I like to have lots of salads and bread on hand. Can you make a couple of salads that keep well in the fridge (sweet potato salad, rice salad, etc) and keep plenty of greens and veggies on hand to set up a salad bar for meals? Add some cheese and a loaf of bread and you have a meal. When dh's family comes to stay this is what I do for lunch every day.

[lapoli]

I have been inspired by Heidi Swanson's new cookbook, Super Natural Every Day. It's AMAZING - there are TONS of great ideas for healthy meals made from whole foods and are perfect for warm or hot days.  We love everything we've made from there so far, but some of our favorites have been muesli, chickpea wraps, and summer pasta.  All of them have been appropriately filling without feeling heavy and none of them have required intense amounts of time in the kitchen over a stove, too. :)

[maciascl]

I love to make quinoa and black bean salad. I throw in some corn and cliantro and what ever other veggies I have, usually some pumpkin seeds too.

[SandyBeachBums]

pizza..you can do it on a grill, in a skillet or use pita, english muffins etc.

Sloppy joes...I use the frozen crumbles and lentils.

corn roasted on the grill serve with mayo and limes.

falafel...I use the mix

nori rolls...I do these after another meal that uses veggies like falafel, taco salad etc.

tofu, rice, veg and coleslaw wrapped in a flour tortilla. You can use anything you want though...burgers, chiken patties, etc. Use your favorite sauces like teriyaki or barbecue.

chickpea salad melts

Layered Salad...where you layer everything and top it that thick layer of mayo dressing...easily veganized with Vegenaisse!