Oven-Free Meals to Help You Beat the Heat
Summer has only just begun and it’s already one of the hottest on record. With temperatures climbing so high you don’t even want to think about the thermometer, cooking can be a hassle, especially if you don’t want to add more heat to your home by using the oven and stove. To combat this, we’ve put together a list of 20 healthy and fun meals that will help you stay cool, replenish any water you may have lost by being outside, and avoid feeling bloated.
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1. Cucumber Salad
One of the easiest meals on this list, cucumber salad comes together in under five minutes and can be made with whatever ingredients you have on hand. Cucumbers are 95% water and are super refreshing after you’ve been sweating out in the sun. Slice and toss with salt and dill for a classic dish, or spice things up with gochujang and kewpie mayo.
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2. Turkey pinwheels
A sandwich with a twist! Like cucumber salad, turkey pinwheels are an established crowd-pleaser that comes together in little time and can be adapted to fit your tastes. Not only is this balanced and refreshing meal a great way to use up that extra lunchmeat in the fridge, but it’s also much more fun to eat food that’s been cut into different shapes.
3. Gazpacho
If you’re a soup-lover looking for a compromise, why not check out this Andalusian dish, traditionally served cold during the summer. Using a puree of tomato and vegetables, gazpacho is widely eaten throughout Spain and Portugal as a way to chill out during the summer months. For a more modern twist, try adding watermelon, parsley, or avocado for a more complex flavor.
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4. Overnight Oats
Similarly, overnight oats work great for people who like hot food but don’t want to overheat. The hearty texture of overnight oats can be a bit of an adjustment for fans of hot oatmeal, but the sky truly is the limit with this dish and there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of unique recipes out there. Best of all, you don’t have to do any real cooking! Just pop everything in a jar, mix it up, and let it set overnight to enjoy the next morning.
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5. Sesame Noodles
While most noodle dishes are traditionally served warm, these Taiwanese noodles—also known as Ma Jiang Mian—are actually better at room temperature. Drenched in sweet and tangy peanut sauce and packed with flavor, these noodles come together in ten minutes and can be stored in the fridge for up to four days. Add some protein to this dish with beef, chicken, or a meat substitute of your choice.
6. No-Churn Ice Cream
Can you imagine a summer without ice cream? We certainly can’t! Ice cream makers are expensive, custard bases can be temperamental, and you don’t want to break the bank by going out after dinner every night. That’s why this no-churn alternative will save you time, money, and the stress of trying to pick your favorite flavor. Just mix your ingredients, set to chill, and enjoy at the end of a long day.
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7. Taco Salad
There’s no excuse for skipping Taco Tuesday with this classic Tex-Mex dish. Tortilla chips replicate the perfect crunch of a hard-shell taco without any of the mess, and an extra-generous squeeze of lime on top adds a tangy kick to this dish. Try taco salad for lunch to stay full all day long and entice picky eaters to eat their greens.
8. Shrimp Cocktail
Something about a shrimp cocktail always feels summery. Packed with protein, Vitamin B12, and iodine, shrimp can actually help you lose weight and avoid feeling bloated the way that heavier dishes can. Just be sure that you watch out for store-bought cocktail sauce which can be high in sodium; it’s always good to replenish sodium that you’ve sweat out in the sun, but you don’t want to go overboard.
9. Mayak Eggs
Easy and irresistible, these hard-boiled Korean eggs are the perfect addition to your usual lunch. Marinated in a nutty, aromatic sauce with a perfectly jammy centre, mayak eggs are endlessly customizable. Whether served with rice, noodles, or even savoury oats, it won’t take long to understand why these eggs are such a phenomenon. We’d understand if you ate them directly from the container
10. Icebox Cake
Back when refrigerators were still called iceboxes, this cool cake with chocolate and Nabisco wafers was all the rage. Over a century later, the icebox cake is still beloved for its simplicity and use of pre-made ingredients that won’t have you toiling away with a hot oven for hours. Whether you have a birthday coming up or simply want a sweet treat at the end of a long day, icebox cake still puts smiles on faces even after a hundred years.
11. Caprese Salad
Evoking the tricolor Italian flag, a caprese salad is one of the most low-risk, high-reward dishes out there. With only three ingredients and no cooking required, it’s impossible to mess up this delicious tomato, mozzarella, and basil combo. Traditionally plated with olive oil and salt, you could also shake things up and try caprese skewers or a caprese sandwich on your favorite bread for a more filling meal.
12. Poke Bowl
Poke bowls, it seems, are everywhere nowadays, and while they may be fun for a treat-yourself lunch, you can enjoy this Hawaiian classic in the comfort of your own home. Like many dishes on this list, almost every part of a poke bowl is customizable from the fish used to the toppings. With as many combinations as there are fish in the sea, you can feel whisked away to a tropical vacation without even leaving the house.
13. Avocado Toast
While avocado toast has become a meme about how millennials will never be able to own a house, its nutritional value is no joke. With heart-healthy antioxidants and enough fiber to keep your gut health in check, this delicious fruit is full of necessary fats to keep you going on those hot summer days. Spread over toast with toppings of your choice, you don’t need to worry about being able to afford the nutritional properties of this year-round breakfast.
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14. Coleslaw
A barbecue staple for a reason, coleslaw actually comes to us from 18th-century Holland. Today, coleslaw accounts for almost half of all American cabbage production to make us feel better while we chow down on plates of hot dogs, hamburgers, and ribs. Adding a side of coleslaw to your meal is a great way to get your greens in (or purples, depending on which variety of cabbage you use)!
15. Summer Rolls
Whether you call them summer rolls, rice paper rolls, or gỏi cuốn, we can all agree that these Vietnamese appetizers are as fresh as their name implies. Stuffed full of vermicelli, crisp vegetables and chilled shrimp, these rolls are the perfect dish to give you energy to make it through your day without weighing you down with fat and grease.
16. Cobb Salad
A heartier, more protein-packed option than your usual side salad, this is one everything-and-the-kitchen-sink dish that won’t leave you feeling bloated after eating. If you want to spend more time cooling down in front of the fan than preparing multi-course meals, then maximize your time and energy with the salad that combines protein, leafy greens and some of those rich, necessary nutrients that keep you going.
17. Club sandwich
If there was a membership card to join the club sandwich, we’d keep it in our wallet. This classic three-layer sandwich has been satisfying cravings since the end of the 19th century. A BLT with a bit more heft, substitute cooked chicken for lunch meat of your choice and serve on toothpicks for maximum coolness.
18. Macaroni salad
While macaroni and cheese may be the most famous dish to use this elbow-shaped pasta, sometimes it’s simply too hot to even look at the oven, let alone turn it on. Enter the humble macaroni salad, a deli staple that won’t let you down. Season with white pepper for a more refined dish or garnish with veggies of your choice, and you’ll definitely get invited back to your neighborhood mixer.
19. Real fruit popsicles
Store-bought popsicles are loaded with artificial sugars and flavors and, worst of all, are always gone before you’ve had a chance to try one. Avoid these problems by buying a simple set of popsicle molds and making your own! The freezer does the hard part for you, and once they’re gone, you can experiment with all-new flavors. Who knows, maybe you’ll stumble upon a new favorite.
20. Veggie wraps
A dish that’s as colorful and vibrant as summer flowers, veggie wraps are a great alternative to heavier dishes like burritos or breakfast wraps, which are served hot and take more active cooking time. Got too excited at the farmer’s market and bought more seasonal veg than you can eat? Plop it down on a tortilla, slather on a dressing of your choice, and that’s a wrap on your dinner plans for tonight!
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