You can totally make roasted vegetables work!

Roast cauliflower and yellow squash with spices for tacos (beans, guac, salsas, tortillas etc..).

Roast brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, whatever, and have on a bed of your favorite lettuce and veggies with a vinaigrette. Add shrimp or tofu or cheese or nuts for protein.

Make corn chowder with fresh corn. Serve with fresh produce of your choice and bread.

Make chili and grill hot dogs to go with it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say this affectionately— you’re all nuts! I appreciate that it being too hot to use the oven is a challenge, but the trade off is the best fruit & veg season of the year! It’s a chance to do something different than we do the rest of the year, and you truly can only make certain dishes this time of year

LIKE WHAT? Don’t be smug, offer actual suggestions. The OP asked for suggestions, not your superior attitude.

NP-I think PP was just light heartedly ribbing you guys. But below are some of my favorites:

Cold soups-Cucumber yogurt soup, Gazpacho
Sandwiches-BLTs (I live on these when my tomatoes go wild), grilled Caprese paninis
Hot soups-Creamy tomato, creamy zucchini, corn chowder (all made with seasonal produce)
Greek salad with all the great seasonal produce
Stewed tomatoes-made with seasonal tomatoes, peppers, etc.
Grilled anything-meat, chicken, fish, vegetables
Pan fried/grilled mahi mahi with cherry tomato, lime, and avocado salsa
Pasta with homemade tomato sauce
Pasta with fresh pesto sauce
Pasta with sautéed zucchini, garlic, corn, fresh mozzarella, and shredded basil
Tacos with any grilled protein, or use the instant pot/crockpot for some type of shredded meat

Anonymous wrote:I say this affectionately— you’re all nuts! I appreciate that it being too hot to use the oven is a challenge, but the trade off is the best fruit & veg season of the year! It’s a chance to do something different than we do the rest of the year, and you truly can only make certain dishes this time of year

Show your work.

Anonymous wrote:I say this affectionately— you’re all nuts! I appreciate that it being too hot to use the oven is a challenge, but the trade off is the best fruit & veg season of the year! It’s a chance to do something different than we do the rest of the year, and you truly can only make certain dishes this time of year

LIKE WHAT? Don’t be smug, offer actual suggestions. The OP asked for suggestions, not your superior attitude.

I say this affectionately— you’re all nuts! I appreciate that it being too hot to use the oven is a challenge, but the trade off is the best fruit & veg season of the year! It’s a chance to do something different than we do the rest of the year, and you truly can only make certain dishes this time of year

Glad to see I'm not alone. I really do no cooking over the summer, I thought it was merely because I am worn out with the kids home all of the time but really, no. I came to the realization we practically eat raw vegetables all summer long.

Same. My 7 year old learned to make "pizza quesadillas" at camp so that's a new go-to replacement for pizza from scratch, which we do almost weekly in winter. I also like to do tomato sandwiches/BLTs/mozzarella and basil salads, but unfortunately my kids won't eat tomatoes, so they basically eat bread, fruit, and bacon or cheese. Have also gotten more into grilling as my kids have turned carnivorous this year, and throwing on a few veggie skewers is easy enough.

Me, too, though largely because my teen loves foods that require the oven and stove. I’d be happy eating PB and J for dinner all summer long.

I love the freshness of the vegetables and fruit, and I see summer as the opportunity to keep cooking quick and simple.

None of this is new, just a reframing of how I think about meals during the summer. There is a lot more running in and out, and sometimes dinner is just fresh fruit, roast corn, cucumbers and fried eggs. Other go-tos are sliced tomatoes with some mozzarella and basil, pan-seared fish/chicken with green beans, roasted corn on the cob, tomato-based stews, with white beans and greens, meatballs with veg. Pesto, romesco, olive tapenade, or soy sauce offer variety. A crockpot recipe once a week, short ribs or roast, helps me just add some meat to a dish over the course of several days.

Smitten Kitchen has a "summer" option in the recipes, so it's a good place to seek out menu/recipe ideas for the season. https://smittenkitchen.com/recipes/summer/?format=list

I also grill a lot in the summer. I get the big pack of chicken and pound it down and cover it with marinade and then grill all of it at once. Can be reheated or eaten cold throughout the week. We do a lot of salads with it too. I also cook a pot of rice every few days and that can be reheated easily in the microwave without heating up the kitchen. And there’s always a bowl of watermelon, berries, and/or pineapple in the fridge. Cooking in the summer actually always feels easier to me because I don’t have to make something new everyday.

I grill a lot in the summer. Kebabs with lots of vegetables are great on the grill. Grilled corn. Hamburgers with various toppings.

Yeah, same. We’ve been grilling at the pool as often as possible, which mixes things up. Doing different kinds of pasta salads, also a fun change. I have three kids who are on summer swim team, so they need something more substantial than just regular salads, i.e., ones with no starches and minimal protein.

Salads every day here. There are plenty of options to mix it up.

But by September, I'm ready to start cooking again (unfortunately, it still feels too hot out)

I love cold-season foods, and when it's cold, I hate salads and raw vegetables. Funnily enough, I find myself craving fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, and all kinds of lighter, more vegetarian dishes when it's warm. I make mixed salads without lettuce (raw veggies, canned salmon or tuna or ham, eggs, maybe rice) or tabouleh, that kind of thing. Unfortunately, my kids hate that stuff and want to keep eating curries, pasta and meat year-round, so I do make those too.

It’s just the opposite of what I love to cook and eat: soups, stews, casseroles, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables. I don’t like cooking in the summer at all and have no meal ideas and no desire to be in the kitchen. Anybody feel this way? Any ideas?