As you’re approaching the summer temperatures, certain household duties become frustratingly morte laborious, cooking being a prime example. Of course, you need to eat, and while you might enjoy cooking, the heat makes it difficult to enjoy eating or cooking certain dishes, and you’ll want to spend less time in the kitchen, and make things a little lighter than usual. For example, few people dislike Lasagne, but it’s a very heavy dish, and not usually one you’d eat in the hot weather. So here are a couple of suggestions that may help you in your decision, that are either lighter to eat, or are just quick and easy and require minimal effort from yourself.
Summer Stew
Now, this may sound straight away like a winter dish: A hot stew to warm your stomach, right? Great for cold nights when you’d like nothing more than to cosy up. While that’s correct, a good stew is also great for the warm weather, for a couple of reasons. One, using a slow cooker eliminates all necessity for you to stand watch and stir a pot. You don’t even need to be present. You could chop up your ingredients, put them in the slow cooker and leave it for a few hours. It’s a great way of preparing for later if you have a lot to do, and by the time you return you’ll likely have dinner ready. The other reason is, the availability and freshness of the ingredients are likely to be top tier at this time of year, at your local farmer’s markets. You’re not only supporting local business, but your ingredients tend to be that much tastier, and you’ll likely find ingredients that may be difficult to purchase otherwise, maybe healthier alternatives. You could buy organic chicken broth for your stew, which could save you making your own, and have the luxury of the knowledge that it’s all organic.
Get Creative With Salad
Salad doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, it’s actually one of the more versatile compliments you can have on a dish. Salad can be a side or a main, depending on how you decide to build it, and can have as little or as many ingredients as you like, and feel free to mix up the food groups a bit to accompany it. You can add almost any type of meat, bolster up it’s general ‘fullness’ with carbohydrates, such as potatoes or pasta, add various sources of protein such as eggs or beans if you’re not keen on meat, or add them alongside meat if you so wish, or add different cheeses. Feel free to add ALL of them if you feel adventurous enough. The point is, a good salad is interpretive, much like a charcuterie board. Which is another great idea, as you can be as artistic and minimalist as you prefer, and can make an entire salad based charcuterie if cured meats aren’t your thing, and making a decorative board will never not be fun.
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