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Dinner Tonight. Oven Stays Off.
Published about 7 hours ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader,
Some July evenings, turning on the oven is the last thing the kitchen needs. It is too warm, the day was too long, and a 400-degree box running for an hour only makes the room worse. Those are the nights I do not cook so much as assemble. A good no-cook dinner is not a sad dinner. A platter of cold shrimp, a bean salad with real bite, a watermelon-and-feta plate, bread and good butter, and you have fed people properly without raising the temperature of a single room. For the next hot night that catches you with no plan, dinner can go on the table without touching a burner.
Dinner, No Heat
Shop like the fridge is your stove. Cooked shrimp, good canned fish, a rotisserie bird, ripe tomatoes. The cooking already happened somewhere else.
Make a salad with structure, not just leaves. Beans, grains, or bread give a cold dinner enough body to be the meal, not the side.
Season harder than you think. Cold food mutes flavor, so cold dishes need a heavier hand with salt, acid, and herbs to taste like anything.
Build a board, not a recipe. Spread several cold things across a platter and let people graze. It reads as effort and asks for none.
Keep the wine and the water colder than the room. That is most of the battle on a hot night. Build tonight's dinner from the no-cook lineup that follows.
This luscious shrimp salad from the Barefoot Contessa herself--Ina Garten--is made with shrimp, mayo, mustard, vinegar, and more. Excellent for picnics, brunch, showers.
This watermelon salad with Aleppo pepper is a simple side dish that is made with fruity Aleppo pepper, watermelon cubes, black olives, and fresh mint. It's easy to make and is ready in just 15 minutes.
Tuna salad with white beans is an elegantly simple dish that can be prepped in minutes. Full of protein and healthy fat, it will leave you satisfied but not sluggish.
This is a nice, light salad that pairs well with a soufflé or a main with a rich sauce, as the brightness of the fennel, apple, and citrus cut through all the richness to balance the palate.
Herbed ricotta dip with spring vegetables is easy as can be to make with just a few ingredients, including garlic, chives, parsley, mint, and lemon zest. And it's inspired at least one 5-year-old to eat an entire bag of carrots in a single sitting. Just ask his mom.
This easy-peasy creamy coleslaw combines cabbage, red onion, carrot, and cilantro in a tangy mayonnaise-based orange dressing. It can be mostly prepared ahead of time and tossed with dressing just before serving. No wonder people are calling it the best creamy coleslaw they've ever tried.
Cowboy caviar salad--a no-ccok mix of beans, scallions, onion, bell peppers, jalapeños, corn, tomato, and avocado tossed in a lime-honey dressing. Perfect for picnics and tailgating.
Why, hello! Leite's Culinaria is the James Beard Award-winning site that helps home cooks and bakers put dinner on the table and laughs in the kitchen. Hungry for more? Join 40,000 food lovers and subscribe.
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