One of our standard warm-weather dinners is pan bagnat, which is just salade nicoise on a baguette. I make a vinaigrette dressing with a big slug of mustard (we both love mustard), then add sliced hard boiled egg, canned tuna, capers, olives, salad greens, other salad veggies. The traditional nicoise is made with bitter salad greens, so I look for arugula or escarole but mesclun is fine too. Good tuna makes this special so we try to find genovese tuna in olive oil. The capers are a must. DH likes artichoke hearts as well. The salad should be a good blend of intense flavors.

I make a very simple gazpacho with nothing but pureed tomatoes with some wine vinegar and good olive oil. Recipe is from Suzanne Goin's Sunday Suppers at Lucques. We won't have good tomatoes until late summer, and as these give all the flavor to the soup, I wouldn't make it with flavorless tomatoes. It's wonderful with Sungolds or Brandywines. We had this by the gallon last summer when we were drowning in sungolds.

Cheryl

We love this and it's quite lean.

Thai chicken salad

1/3 cup lemon juice (fresh)
ý tsp. ginger, ground
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. Soya sauce
ý cup chicken stock
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. honey
ý tsp. Tabasco
Dry roasted peanuts.

Cooked chicken breast, cut into strips
Steamed noodles (cooked and cooled)
Carrot matchsticks
Green onion
Pea pods or bean sprouts

Garnish, dry roasted peanuts

Combine dressing ingredients in blender. I llike to serve it separately as it in quite thin.

Here are some more ideas:

Hummus with pita bread, sliced tomatoes, cucumber & onion salad, carrots or other marinated vegetables or salads

Shrimp Caesar Salad - romaine, Parmesan, shrimp, croutons, Caesar dressing

Souvlaki - chicken breasts, yogurt, cucumber, pita or tortillas, tomato, lettuce, add a bean salad

Salmon Platter - fresh salmon to poach, HB egg, tomato, cucumber, yogurt sauce, add some potato salad

Oriental Chicken Salad

2 -3 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts ( depending on the amount of chicken you like)
1 head cabbage, shredded or chopped (Napa is best for this recipe)
1 bunch green onion, finely chopped ( or to taste)
2 (2 1/2 ounce) packages slivered almonds
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 packages Ramen noodles
3 tablespoons oil

Dressing
3/4 cup vegetable oil or 3/4 cup canola oil
4 1/2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
4 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Prepare dressing and set aside.
Smash ramen noodles (discard seasoning packets) and brown over medium heat in 3 tbs oil.
Once noodles have begun to slightly brown, add slivered almonds. If you start to brown the Ramen and almonds at the same time, the almonds will burn before the Ramen browns.

Once the ramen noodles have turned a dark golden brown, remove from heat and set aside.
Combine cabbage, green onions, chicken and sunflower seeds in a large bowl. Add the ramen/almond mixture and stir well.

Drizzle on the dressing and toss well to coat.

Chicken salads are my go-to for hot weather. You can poach the chicken early in the morning before the weather heats up. Another trick I use is to cook an entire chicken, debone & divide into a couple of packages for the freezer.

One of our favs is to make chicken Caesar roll-ups. Just a basic Caesar salad (minus the croutons) plus chicken rolled up in flour tortillas.

Another favorite is spinach salad with chicken, mandarin oranges, walnuts, dried cranberries, red onion rings & raspberry vinaigrette.

Bun Thit Nuong, the Vietnamese rice noodle salad. There isnâÂÂt a Vietnamese restaurant IâÂÂve gone into that doesnâÂÂt have several variations of this one-bowl entree. IâÂÂve even made it at home, as itâÂÂs not overly difficult. A layer of chopped lettuce, usually romaine or iceberg, a heap of thin rice noodles, a large sprig of mint and another of cilantro, and a few raw veggies like carrot shreds, cucumber, and bean sprouts (at home I do a sweet pickle of the veggies the day beforehand, but it isnâÂÂt strictly necessary).

Then some protein is tossed on top: tofu, grilled sliced pork, shrimps, or the deep-fried spring rolls called cha gio. If youâÂÂre making it at home, a few slices of leftover steak make an ideal topper. Crushed dry-roasted peanuts are good on top, but not strictly necessary.

My spouse doesn't like the classic nuoc cham sauce, so I just thin fish sauce with sugar and water, and use that on top.

Our other favorite no-cook dinner for hot weather: take-out pizza!

I ended up making a cucumber yogurt soup that was just OK. Reminded everyone of raita and there is only so much raita anyone can drink. The mango arugula salad was better received. I am going to try vietnamese rolls for the next hot day.

If the weather is a killer from heat, one quick shortcut to cooking boneless chicken is to use the "steamer bags" and nuke it. Kitchen stays cool, no mess, chicken breast is still moist and you are done in a few minutes.

This is a favorite summer meal of ours. I always keep the ingredients in the pantry and is great for those lunches or dinners when I really don't ant to cook.

Pat's White Bean and Tuna Salad

4 c. cannellini beans (canned but you can cook dried ones if you wish)
1/4 c. oilive oil
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. salt
pepper
1/4 c. scallions
2 T. chopped parsley
7 oz. can tuna in olive oil (Trader Joe's)

Drain beans, wash in cold water, then drain again. Pat dry and put in a bowl.

Combine olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and pour over beans. Finely slice scallions and
add along with parsley to the beans. Gently mix.

Pour bean mixture onto a platter.

Drain tuna, fork into chunks and arrange on top.

I made Thai Chic Salad last night. With warmer weather we have been rotising on the grill while gardening on the weekends. I always make extra, two chickens, two pork loins, chop and freeze the leftovers for a quick salad or tacos. It was still a bit frozen though softish so i topped it with a bit of soy/ginger/sesame oil mix and toasted it under the broiler. Made a similar mix as above but chopped an apple, cashews, green onion, lime,garlic. Did not have my usual cilantro-celery-olive so just made do. Served warm over salad greens. So much leftover that i mixed a spoonful of greek yogurt in before bed and made wraps for work this morning.
I completely forgot to top with a grape tomato salsa i made, and had thawed a cilantro pesto as well...so i took out a packet of frozen pulled pork, frozen with the rhubarb bbq sauce, for an easy quick taco dinner tonight. I'll make a quick yogurt, fetta, cucumber salad to kill the heat of the pesto...haha, (it is labeled 'hot') i must have put too much habanero in that pesto.
I love that 'shrinky-dink' food saver thing. It keeps chopped leftovers so fresh. It isn't really a 'no heat' meal since i often pop it under the broiler for a 'toasting' , but it is quick!