OS Summer Cooking

melt71

My bf said something that got me thinking last night - we had chilli & rice and he said about eating salads or BBQ'd meat in summer and not cooking main meals like chilli.

Problem is; I hate salad! I only like tomatoes (which he hates!) beetroot and sweetcorn so I tend to use beans as the basis for my 'salads'. Mixing 3 types of beans, beetroot, sweetcorn and tomatoes with a protein such as egg, tuna, ham etc. I'm happy with this but I don't really want to eat it every night as I will probably be eating it for lunch at work. I love pasta and rice so I could make alternative salads using pasta or rice.

What do you normally do for your meal plans in summer? So far I've been doing great with the meal planning and I have to say it's made a massive difference to our budget and I also feel healthier as I'm not eating any processed foods. I don't want it all to go to pot in summer because I don't want a salad and we end up BBQing lots of meat every night.

Any ideas?

Wendrie

BBQs feature highly in my summer meals as do slow cookers and microwaves (they don't heat the house up as an oven does) Have bought an electric steamer and was thinking the other day how nice fish/rice/veg would be done in the steamer for a summer meal. Stick it all in, turn it on and carry on being outside. Heck I could even run the cord out onto the table and run it outside - might get some odd looks as my patio is right by the street but there you go.

Having just looked at July last year (August we didn't meal plan as much as we were away for most of it) as well as the above I had lots of potato meals with some being potato salad - ditto for pasta and rice - cook lots and then portion it up for salads over the next day or so. Microwaved veg, skillet/frying pan protein to go with the above. Also sandwiches with cold fillings. Hot meat salads - lettuce/spinach/other green stuff wilted by dumping hot stir fried meat strips and vegs on top. Stir fries are usually quite quick as well so the house doesn't get to hot.

brokenwings

some of my summer meals:

Fish with new potatoes and buttered peas/carrots.
Cooked ham with broad beans, mash or new potatoes and parsley sauce.
Cold soups with crusty bread.
Barbecued anything.
Tacos with help yourself fillings.
Wraps.
Fish cakes
Stuffed chicken breasts.
Baked brie.
Paella.

not all are that economical at first glance - but i buy whats on offer and bogofs, make substitutions and go from there.

Queenie

I don't find BBQ's particularly economical unless it's going to serve several.

For salads, most people think about soggy lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes but how about rice salads (using colourful peppers chopped in), pasta salads, potato salads; varieties of HM coleslaws; waldorf salads; French bean salad (simply french beans cold and tossed in a french dressing); Russian salad; tabbouleh (base is couscous); pickles come into their own too; Ploughmans; cheese salads. Sausage salad (cold sliced sausages with cottage cheese and tinned fruit salad on chopped iceburg lettuce :drool: ) Limed cabbage mould :drool: Carrot and lemon mould with tuna :drool: :drool:

Cold cooked meats; scotch eggs (easily made at home), pasties; omelettes; egg salads; chilled soups; fish, fish, fish and some more fish ( ) quiches; kebabs (meat and veg on skewers grilled); HM Meatloaves.

Even though in hot weather we all tend not to eat too much in the hot food variety, it's when my SC really comes into its own in our house (teeny kitchen heats up too much to have an oven on) and it's great to cook up meats for serving hot on the day with new potatoes and a salad of some description then having cold cuts other days.

Desserts come into their own more too: HM ice creams, sorbets; trifles; HM jellies; hm blancmanges; fresh fruit salads served on ice; summer fruits pudding; fruit custard moulds.

Time I went, I'm getting the nibblies

ladygrey_2

great idea for bbq's is to skwer veg and cook on bbq
you can use peppers, mushrooms, onions, tomatos and vary it to your likes/dislikes and bbq alongside the meat

Essex-girl_2

One simple dinner we love in summer is roast chicken with hm potatoe salad and hm bread delish.

Also love hm coleslaw & rice salad.

To be truthful my meals dont change that much in summer just dont have stews/casseroles. Have a lot of new potatoes (from farm up the road) and runner beans - home grown.

Spendless

Queenie wrote:

I don't find BBQ's particularly economical unless it's going to serve several.

is that due to the cost of the meat Queenie?

A few summers ago the majority of our meals were bbqs thruout the summer and our fuel bill when it came in was really low but I live in a large market town with many butchers stalls and can buy meat cheaply.

tootles_2

Cook salmon in a parcel and leave it to go cold, serve with steamed new potato's and peas.

Rice salad with peppers, and or peas.......

Cooked pasta with mayonnaise stirred in then add a cubed cooked chicken breast, serve with raw baby sweetcorn, three bean salad and garlic bread.

New spuds are delicious if they are steamed and allowed to go cold, chop them up and stir in some mayo and chopped onion.........

Rachie_B

we tend to have things like :

quiche / baked pot / salad
salad of tuna / cheese / ham/ prawn / chicken or whatever weve got in
ploughmans
grilled marinated chicken breast ,sliced and added to a bed of cous cous and roasted veg (peppers / red onion / cherry toms etc)
prawn or meat skewers
salmon or tuna fillet with pasta / rice and a light pesto sauce

billieboy_2

ladygrey wrote:

great idea for bbq's is to skwer veg and cook on bbq
you can use peppers, mushrooms, onions, tomatos and vary it to your likes/dislikes and bbq alongside the meat

Try brushing with pesto before bbqing. Also pre-boiled new potatoes are great to add.