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Hot weather food

(30 Posts)
watermeadow Mon 13-Jul-26 17:07:18

I haven’t cooked a proper meal since the heat waves began. I don’t want to use the cooker or eat anything cooked. I shan’t get scurvy because I eat salad and fruit every day but I end up with strange meals. Tonight’s dinner will be potato waffles, toasted and cold baked beans.
All I really want is ice cream.

BoggledMind Mon 13-Jul-26 17:12:44

You're not on your own. Dinner for me a couple of days ago was two bowls of cereal.

Chestnut Mon 13-Jul-26 17:13:33

You need to chuck some protein in with that. What about grated cheese on top? Would make it much more tasty.

I've not really changed my meals despite the heat. I have bought the food and will darn well eat it!

MollyNew Mon 13-Jul-26 17:16:40

Same here, variations on a salad. The main cooking going on in our house is boiling pasta, new potatoes or rice to add variety.

M0nica Mon 13-Jul-26 17:17:06

I am alternating hot and cold main meals on different days. The hot meals are home made ready meals from the freezer so only need reheating in the microwave. Summer smaller meals means are always cold.

Whitewavemark2 Mon 13-Jul-26 17:23:55

I had a dead easy dinner yesterday.

Poached salmon flakes - bought ready poached - on top of a salad and a few new boiled spuds.

Tonight another dead easy. Chop courgettes and onion, fry - add a Boursin plus zest of lemon and juice to taste s+p. Cook spaghetti. Done. You can add more veg if you want.

Prawns and noodles with veg of choice plus sauces of choice are dead quick.

MollyNew Mon 13-Jul-26 17:26:38

M0nica we are also using up some of our batch cooked meals from the freezer so we spend less time preparing and cooking hot meals.

Fallingstar Mon 13-Jul-26 18:44:26

Naan bread or pitta with fridge tuna in little pots or ready cooked salmon with boiled eggs and lots of crunchy salad with olives, or use feta cheese or mature cheddar, crusty bread or foccacia also good, with olive oil drizzled over it all.
Or falafels warmed up in microwave or Spanish tortillas heated up in microwave with crispy salad or mixed beans in chilli sauce heated in microwave.

valdali Mon 13-Jul-26 18:46:26

Mixed beans in chilli sauce is delish cold.
But if it's out of a can, maybe you have to warm it up.

Fallingstar Mon 13-Jul-26 19:47:20

valdali

Mixed beans in chilli sauce is delish cold.
But if it's out of a can, maybe you have to warm it up.

It is out of a can but can eat it hot or cold, just prefer it hot, best with wraps and some grated mature cheddar on top. Yum!

valdali Mon 13-Jul-26 19:52:23

Definitely Yum!

Norah Mon 13-Jul-26 20:03:06

Jamie Oliver's Farro salad is nice on a hot day.

I grill the veg, outside, after early dog walk.

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables/farro-salad-with-roasted-veg-insalata-di-farro-con-verdure-al-forno/

BoggledMind Mon 13-Jul-26 20:08:56

I've had salmon, mayo and sweetcorn on wholemeal seeded toast for my evening meal. A much better option to cooking something.

foxie48 Mon 13-Jul-26 21:34:36

We had a crispy pork in sweet chilli with a salad for lunch, pork had been slow cooked in the instapot for yesterday's lunch. I made a pesto because we had too much basil growing and mixed it with fettucine and some leftover chicken for supper. Both meals were tasty, fairly light and quick to make.

Redhead56 Tue 14-Jul-26 01:45:00

Jamie Oliver Five and the Mediterranean version can not be beaten. Every single day a meal can provide balanced nutrition with little effort. I have the store cupboard basics in all the time the rest is simple shop in advance. Swap and change ingredients if you wish there is never waste its brilliant.

Rosiebee Tue 14-Jul-26 13:22:15

Last two lunches have been Chilled Cheese and Cucumber soup. Sooooo refreshing and tasty. It was originally from a recipe card I had nearly 60 years ago. Think it was sponsored by Good Housekeeping and the Cheese Bureau. I now add a bit more mustard for extra bite. I could live on this and salad but DH still needs "proper" food every now and then.hmm

WithNobsOnIt Tue 14-Jul-26 13:51:06

Cold gazpacho soup with garlic bread is good on hot days. Or if you have one. Make your own with a blender.

sazz1 Tue 14-Jul-26 13:52:25

We're using the slow cooker for chicken curry tonight. Doesn't give out too much heat like the hob or oven

Frenchgalinspain Tue 14-Jul-26 13:53:24

We have our main meal for lunch which usually includes a salad and fish.

For the evening we both eat quite light.

Today we had a lovely poached egg with escarola and walnut salad.

Dessert was just some fresh fruits with Greek Yogurt.

HobbyCat Tue 14-Jul-26 14:01:39

The heat hasn’t affected my appetite at all, nothing ever does! Well apart from pneumonia a couple of years ago and the odd stomach bug.

AuntieE Tue 14-Jul-26 14:20:07

Hot weather makes me hungry, so I cook anyhow, but make different meals and much later in the day for my main meal than in cold weather.

A sandwich or two at midday.

Dinner between 7 and 9 in the evening.

Cold soups such as gazpacho, either the classic tomato one or the asparagus version, plain youghurt diluted with buttermilk and with sugar and lemon juice added, served reasonably cold, but not directly from the fridge.

Alternatives could be tuna from a tin with black olives and a hard-boiled egg, or fruit juice heated and thickened with potato flour than stood to cool before eating (prepare in the morning).

Frequently, I am so hungry I just make whatever I would at any other time of the year - meat balls with boiled potatoes, an omelette, or anything else, I feel like.

Fara56 Tue 14-Jul-26 14:28:19

Was a bit nippy here first thing. So prepped celery and Stilton soup. Ate it in garden with thermometer registering 30 degrees in shade!!!!

Romola Tue 14-Jul-26 14:36:46

Lots of family visiting over the weekend and we ate masses of salad and cold chicken bought ready roasted from Tesco, ice cream and fruit.
But on my own, I'm glad to have my little air fryer for something hot in the evening; it was spicy prawns last night.

Twopence Tue 14-Jul-26 15:08:42

Tub of Coronation Chicken with salad and a baked potato.

merrellina Tue 14-Jul-26 15:18:24

Bought quiche , bought potato salad , bought cooked beetroot , canned drained chickpeas , sliced tomatoes , M&S blue cheese dressing , not keen on the usual salad stuff . Easy peasy no cook meal ! Lazy old git am I !