Hot weather means cold cooking; here we share with you four meals that can be made ahead in the cool of the morning and put together just before eating. The cold meals are complete with vegetables so cooking is made simple.
1. Cold Chinese Style Noodles with Shrimp
The first menu has an oriental twist. It is as good when you substitute grilled scallops, tuna, swordfish, or fresh crab for the shrimp. At our fish market and super market you can have your sea food steamed for free. The cooked seafood can then be packed in ice; by the time you arrive home, it will be cold.
2. Penne with Fresh Summer Vegetables
Our second menu is vegetarian in nature. At this time of the year, local growers bring just picked vegetables to farmers’ markets and your friends drop off excess crops from their gardens. The problem is how to use this crop to make something that does them proud. This recipe fits the bill. We add a frozen light dessert and you are ready at 6:00 after cooking in the cool of the morning.
3. Cantaloupe Granita
4. Artichoke and Leek Soup
We love salmon-it’s especially good when teamed with fresh asparagus and finely chopped dill, freshly picked from our garden. If your market won’t poach the salmon for you, you can do it early in the day, while you’re cooking the potatoes and asparagus.
Once the ingredients are cooked, they are tossed together with the dressing and kept chilling in the fridge until time to serve supper. The first course is a lively soup that you make early in the day while the kitchen’s still cool. Serve cold, with an Italian bread stick. Go easy on yourself with dessert. Serve a bowl of chilled bunches of red and green seedless grapes. Supper couldn’t be simpler or more delicious!
5. Salmon Salad
6. Grilled Citrus Chicken
7. Vegetable Salad Burritos
8. Watermelon Salsa
Our last menu requires that you put most everything together in the morning, then while the chicken is grilling outside, you assemble the vegetable burritos and transfer the watermelon salsa to a pretty serving dish. Pour some glasses of iced tea, and you’re ready to serve. If you must have dessert, pile sliced strawberries and sliced kiwi in pretty dessert bowls.
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