12 No Cook Meals for Hot Summer Days

I don’t know about you, but here in Oklahoma it gets HOT in the summertime. I’m talking 110° in the shade hot. On days like these, even the thought of going into the kitchen to cook something makes a person want to pack their bags and head for cooler country. And grilling outdoors isn’t any better. Unless you have an insane person in your house who actually wants to stand out there and grill something. No sir, on days like these it’s good to have some ideas for no cook meals, something cool for when it’s too hot to feel like eating much. So here you are, a nice round dozen no cook meal ideas for summer.

Tuna Salad (or Salmon or Chicken) — Open some canned tuna ( or salmon or chicken ) and make a big batch of tuna salad with celery and onion. Serve atop some shredded lettuce along with some crackers and fresh fruit.

Bean Salad — Again, open several cans of beans and mix up a batch of bean salad with lots of veggies like celery, onion, tomatoes or even corn, all held together with a little Italian dressing or vinaigrette. Serve on lettuce leaves with French bread and a nice dish of berries with whipped topping.

Chef Salad — I don’t know if this is a regional dish or not, but around here, you can go into a restaurant and order something called a Chef Salad. What you will get is a dish or pasta plate full of iceberg lettuce topped with tomato wedges, ham cubes, sliced hard boiled eggs, and cheese all swimming in about a half-gallon of ranch dressing. In case, that isn’t enough for you, they will bring you a basket full of saltines and butter crackers. This isn’t a bad idea, it’s just that it could be a little healthier. I like to line plates with some dark, healthy greens like romaine or red leaf lettuce. Top this with tomato wedges, onion slivers, and carrot shreds. Add a sliced, hard cooked egg and a minimum of ham and cheese to each plate.  Drizzle with your favorite dressing. Serve with whole grain crackers and maybe some lovely cantaloupe slices. Oh, so good.

Sandwiches — I know, I know. This is the old summer staple and after a while you get sick of them. But at the beginning of summer, when you haven’t had a sandwich in a while, there’s just nothing like a good ol’ bologna and cheese sandwich with plain potato chips. Okay, put the chips inside your sandwich if you must, but I like mine on the side. Still, if you vary the types of sandwiches you serve, you can still probably get away with serving them once a week all summer long. Try making a sandwich using the leftover tuna salad from above on whole wheat bread, or maybe cheese spread or make mini-subs sandwiches on hamburger or hot dog buns or…. I can see there’s a whole other article begging to be written about sandwiches. Stay tuned.

Cold Meat Platter with Potato Salad — When I was a kid, my mother used to make this in the summer with cold cuts like bologna, salami and that disgusting liver loaf that only my Dad would eat. After we grew up and found out that all those nitrates in that stuff were going to kill us, I changed it up a little. Use whatever cooked meat you have on hand, leftover chicken, turkey, ham or roast beef are all good. Slice thinly and lay the meat(s) out on a platter. If the meat seems a little dry, drizzle with some vinaigrette or serve a mayonnaise dressing along side it. Serve with your favorite potato salad and some French bread. A nice fruit salad wouldn’t be bad here either.

Tabbouleh with Beans — Make a nice big batch of Tabbouleh salad with plenty of chopped veggies. Drain and rinse a can of white beans and add to the salad. Serve on lettuce greens along with some flat bread like pita or tortillas. End with some lovely sliced oranges or an orange and pineapple salad.

Pasta Salad — Okay, I concede that at some point you had to cook the pasta, but maybe you had the foresight to cook some extra last night when you did have the nerve to cook in that sweltering kitchen. Or, maybe you have some leftover rice sitting in your refrigerator instead. Anyway, make your favorite pasta ( or rice ) salad with lots of chopped veggies. Add some cubes of cheese or ham or…you remember that lonely piece of grilled chicken wasting away in the back of your refrigerator? Serve with some crusty rolls and a selection of grapes. Yum!

Tortilla Wraps — The kids love these because they can grab them in their little hands and run back outside into the sprinkler. Spread a tortilla with mayonnaise or whatever kind of dressing you like on your sandwiches. Layer on some cold cuts, maybe sliced ham or turkey or bologna if that’s what you have. Add a slice of cheese if you like, or don’t. It doesn’t really matter. Put in some chopped veggies like lettuce or onions or sweet peppers. Not too much though, you’ve got to be able to roll the thing up. Roll it up and eat it. What could be simpler? For those who aren’t outside in the sprinkler, you might want to round off the plate with some carrot and celery sticks and fresh fruit.

Cottage Cheese Plate — There’s two ways to go with this one. There’s the cottage cheese and vegetables route, or the cottage cheese and fruit version. Either way, you can’t beat this for cool and refreshing on a hot summer day. For the veggie version, place a nice scoop of cottage cheese on a plate and surround it with sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, pepper rings, onion slivers, carrot and celery sticks, whatever nice fresh vegetables you have on hand. Sprinkle the veggies with salt and pepper or vinaigrette if you like. Serve with crisp crackers. For the fruit version, you do the same only you surround the cottage cheese with whatever fresh summer fruits you may have — maybe some nice cantaloupe, strawberries, peaches, grapes or pineapple chunks.

Hummus on Bread — Pretty self-explanatory.  Spread hummus or white bean spread on crisp baguette slices. Serve with crunchy fresh veggies or a green salad. For dessert?? How about a perfectly ripe summer peach?

Meat and Cheese Kabobs — Here’s another one the kids love. Get out the skewers and spear cubes of cold meats such as ham or chicken and cheese. You can roll up sliced meats and cheeses and skewer them if you don’t have any meat or cheese that is thick enough to cube. You get the idea, just use what you have. Or use toothpicks and let the kids spear their own. Skewer some fruit cubes, too and put out a basket of crackers and some baby carrots and broccoli florets with ranch dressing for dipping.  Happy kids. Happy Mom. Yeah!

Antipasto Platter — This is the ultimate summer supper on a platter. And improvisation is not only allowed, it’s encouraged. Get out your biggest platter and look into the refrigerator to see what you have. Pull out all those cold meats, cheeses, olives, pickles, spreads and relishes. See if there are any leftover salads that would work here and bring out the baguettes or crackers. Really, anything goes here. Anything that is good served cold or at room temperature will work. Finger foods are great, but you can use a fork, too if you like.  I once paid a ghastly amount at a restaurant for an antipasto appetizer that turned out to be a small loaf of bread, a wedge of nice cheese, a dish of olives and a bunch of grapes on a bread board. It was good, but still……you can do better. Slice or cube the meats and cheeses. Put the olives, pickles, salads and relishes in little dishes. Arrange it all nicely on the platter filling in the spaces with some fresh veggies or maybe some little bunches of grapes. Put the baguette on a bread board with a knife, the crackers in a basket and supper is ready. Give everyone a plate and a fork and let them choose what they want from the platter.