Earlier this week, Becky (she doesn't have a blog but is a wonderful commenter) and I were commiserating with each other about the intense summer heat and how little energy we had to prepare dinner in the heat. She wrote about how she was making cold salads that would suffice for dinner, especially if some sort of protein was added. She wondered if I had any new suggestions and then wondered if I might ask you, the readers if you had any suggestions. I've gotten several good ideas for posts from Becky, and this one struck me as another good idea.
We've both made potato salad, macaroni salad, broccoli salad, black-eyed pea salad, and ramen noodle salad.
While I was thinking about this post, I spent some time searching and came up with these possibilities:
I haven't tried these but they sounded good to me. They all use chicken which is relatively easy to grill yourself, and it's also quite easy to buy a prepared chicken (Costco!) and shred it.
Here are a couple of other new-to-me recipes that I found and couldn't resist giving them a try. We had Raspberry Pecan Chicken Salad on Tuesday and I absolutely loved it. I didn't have any Chinese five spice powder but will try to get some to try it next time. John wasn't sure about this take on chicken salad, but he ate leftover grilled sausages after his first couple of bites, which left more for me.
We had everyone's favorite, Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad on Wednesday, and we both liked it. I didn't grill the romaine because grilled lettuce isn't my favorite, but the anchovies in the dressing made it taste great.
I didn't want to ask you for help with dinner without providing a possible recipe or two, so now that I've prattled on about possible salad ideas, it's your turn. If you have any ideas, recipes, or suggestions about cold salads for hot weather, especially those that require a minimum of cooking, Becky and I would be most grateful. Thanks in advance and Happy Summer Eating!
One of my favorite summer meals is a caprese salad with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden and a loaf of crusty bread to soak up the oil and vinegar. And if you don't have tomatoes and basil in your garden, it's the right time of year to get them at the supermarket or farmer's market!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the recipe links - the raspberry pecan chicken salad looks interesting with the orange yogurt! I make a chicken salad with red grapes, pecans and use a bit of vanilla yogurt along with mayonnaise for dressing. I also love to take French or Italian bread, slice it and brush with EVOO and then broil a little bit. Pull it out and add bruschetta and stick it back under the broiler for a little bit. Doesn't take long so the kitchen doesn't get too hot. Also very good with the addition of prosciutto and/or a little cheese (provolone or parm). Deviled eggs are a good, hot weather option too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bonny, for asking your readers for suggestions. All are very welcome, and the current suggestions all look very good. I find that people from different parts of the country often have ideas I would never thought of on my own. I haven't tried chicken salad, and I need to do that. It rained for the first time in 5 weeks this morning. A very short rain, but very welcome. We should get a break from the heat this weekend, but the heat returns on Monday, so I will be putting recipe suggestions into my grocery list.
ReplyDeleteI make the Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad quite often. I do my chicken in the toaster oven ---- boneless breasts sprinkled with onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. It is one of our favorite hot weather dishes. Usually we have it on croissants, but leftovers get put over romaine lettuce.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the other links. They ALL sound good.
This pasta salad is a favorite at this point in the summer, when I can get local corn and tomatoes and even local feta at the farmer's market. It's vegetarian, but you could serve it along with grilled chicken or a chicken sandwich or something. https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/petite-pasta-salad-with-corn-tomatoes-and-feta/11589/ You can also serve it on a bed of lettuce if lettuce is what you have to get rid of.
ReplyDeleteThat was me with the corn-tomato-feta comment - forgot to log in!
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