Sesame noodles (can be served warm or room temp)
Gazpacho
The Post had a great sounding recipe for roasted cauliflower with dates this week

Check out Mark Bittman's book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and you'll be set.

I'm a major meat eater, but made a veggie/carnie dinner this weekend that was well-received by all. Grilled kabobs (some veggie, some beef, all with peppers, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions and tomatoes), tzatziki, hummus, greek salad, olives, feta, tabbouli.

I make a cold (or room temp) chick pea salad. I usually use chick peas, olive oil, sesame oil, raw red onions, curry powder, raisins (or currants) and salt. But you can skip the curry powder and change the theme.

OP here...thanks, all great suggestions. Think I will wait a bit later in summer for the tomato soup, but cucumber sounds nice, esp next to some of the hearty salads.

Please share your cold cuke soup recipes!

Cold cucumber soup!

There is a recipe on the back of the Trader Joe's quinoa for a black bean, quinoa, avocado, etc salad that is really good.

Stuffed grape leaves, hummus, baba, tabouli and spinach pies.

This is a nice quinoa salad. I like to make it ahead and serve chilled. Great for summer.

http://www.thescramble.com/recipes-blog/new-recipe-incan-quinoa-delight/

+1 on Gazpacho. BTW, it's a soup, but if you blend it a little thinner and add vodka, it's a darn tasty Spanish Bloody Mary.

Baba Ghanouj is really easy to make. Or, a good garlicky tsatziki, with raw veggies and pita chips for dipping.

Here's the fresh (cold) tomato soup - http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/07/fresh-tomato-soup-with-roasted.html

Artichoke olive crostini-
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/04/artichoke-olive-crostini/

This is good too, or sub quinoa for protein-
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/07/pearly-whites/

Add some stuffed mushrooms, a good salad, some grilled veggies....some combination of all this sounds like a meal. Now I'm hungry!

Mushroom / Tomato Bruschetta
Serves 4

1 lb white or cremini mushrooms, or a combination
1 tbls olive oil
1/2 medium onion
2 garlic cloves minced plus an additional clove
Kosher salt
1 lb of fresh tomatoes (peeled and seeded) or canned whole tomatoes (seeds removed) chopped
1/2 cup water
2 tbls chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Oil for brushing bread:
1 tbls of extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic crushed

Grated Parmesan (optional)

Crusty bread

1. Remove stems from the mushrooms or trim the ends, rinse quickly and dry. Cut into thick slices.
2. Over medium heat (4/5 out of 10) heat 1 tablespoon of olive oi in a large skillet (adjust the temp based on your skillet, better to go low than to burn the onions). Slice the onion and add to the oil. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions start to turn golden brown 6-10 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms, 2 cloves of finely minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt (more or less to taste) to the onions.
4. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms begin to sweat.
5, Add the tomatoes and water, give it a good ,stir to combine ingredients. Increase heat to bring to a simmer, cover and reduce the heat to keep a simmer while covered, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add the chopped parsley, and then add black pepper and salt to taste. Remove from heat.

7. Crush a clove of garlic and add it to tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil.

8. Lightly toast slices of bread and then brush lightly with the extra-virgin olive oil that had the garlic.

9. Spoon the mushroom gravy over the pieces of bread.
10. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan.

Pp again, maybe gazpacho or look on serious eats for fresh tomato soup. (I can send links later if you need them)

Look on smitten kitchen for the artichoke olive spread on crostini. Both parts you can make ahead and the just serve or assemble right before. I do this as a light lunch with tomato soup and salad for guests but would be a nice side or app for dinner.

Looking for ideas for some really good vegetarian recipes I can make for a semi-nice dinner for family this weekend. Normally I would make something like spanikopita or lasagne but it's going to be so hot, I'm thinking maybe some nice salads, grilled veggies...what else? Make-ahead ideas a plus.