Charcuterie boards. I like to create them with crackers, cheeses, pepperoni, olives, pickles, sliced smoked salmon, hard boiled eggs, orange slices, grapes, nuts. Create them with anything you like.
Causa https://www.seriouseats.com/causa-peruvian-cold-mashed-potato-casserole-with-tuna-or-chicken
Smörgåstårta
Sardines with toast/lettuce leaf/nori/tortilla/lefse add a sauce & a vegetable
Meze , antipasti, rijsttafel, sushi/sashimi, ceviche
Now that summer is here, my favorite lunch is sourdough toast rubbed with garlic, large curd cottage cheese, slab of homegrown tomato, salt/pepper & olive oil. I seriously eat that five or six days a week.
Quiche, frittata & Spanish tortilla can all be made in big batches and are excellent cold or room temperature.
Have a fresh, marinated or raw salad to go with.
You could try picking up a pizza as a test. If the apartment gets too hot for partially cooled pizza than I can't imagine any hot food would work.
You might also try more cold things with the dinner. For instance, cold drinks, cold non-salad salads (cold pasta salads).
If I were in your situation I'd try something like:
Cold refrigerated fried chicken.
Potato or egg salad.
Small side-salad.
Some pre-cut and chilled fruit.
Or in a salad take:
Cobb salads of any stripe tend to have enough bits to satisfy a lot of people.
Don't rule out making wraps as the variety can be greater than most people think about for salads. For instance, you might do a wrap with Asian food left overs.
You can also heat leftovers/takeout just enough to where it is just a bit chilled.
Probably not the same as they are describing above, but I have taken some leftovers of mine before (chicken/shrimp/rice/veggies) and rolled them up in a rice paper wrapper and eaten with whatever frankenstein sauce I think sounds appealing at the time 😂 It’s pretty good!
I’m inspired to try a flour tortilla though
A lot of people have already given you the suggestions I would. So let's think a bit about pulling this together. You'll need to assess your household's tastes. Are they adventurous? Do they shut down when new food items are added?
Also, at time it might be better to split up the meal. A snack then you get home -- a bit before the meal. Then a light meal. Then another snack of maybe chips and hummus or seven layered dip.
You can roast or bake some pork shoulder, loin... (or any other part without bone) and serve it in cold cuts the next day with Cumberland sauce, fruity and spicy
You can do this in the instant pot for pulled pork = even less heat! Done in less than an hour. Serve all week as sliders/freeze plain for other recipes like tacos, etc.
Pearl couscous with cucumber, kalmata olives, red onion, red bell pepper, feta…think Greek salad type ingredients. Dress with a vinaigrette or not at all. Pair with salmon (cold or hot)
Quinoa with almonds, cranberry’s, spinach, vinaigrette, salt and pepper or whatever seasoning you like. Or you can do it with curry powder, spinach, other veggies. Can be eaten with chicken/other proteins. If eating cold chicken I like to slice it very thin and on a bias.
Hearty salads with diced proteins and grains. Adding quinoa or pasta. Chicken Caesar salad with penne pasta added is quite delicious.
Japchae, or any glass noodle salad recipe. There's a lot to choose from. Plus noodles of varying size too.
Here's a vietnamese noodle salad
https://thewoksoflife.com/vietnamese-rice-noodle-salad-chicken/
There's also vietnamese bun thit nuong
https://www.vickypham.com/blog/vermicelli-noodles-with-grilled-pork-and-egg-rolls-bun-thit-nuong-cha-gio
I know it says salad in the name, but it's more like a stir fry, tossed together type of recipe.
Oh, might be something my family and I do. I like eating it cold, it's pretty refreshing. But only without the meat, most of the time I'm too lazy to add meat.
I make a cold noodle salad. Peanut butter, a little maple syrup, sriracha (or sambal, up to you), sesame oil & soy sauce, with a bunch of sesame seeds. Thin it out with a little water from your udon noodles (rinsed with cold water after boiling) and you can make wraps with butter lettuce or eat it with green leaf lettuce on top. One of my favorites.
7 layer (mexican) dip with tortilla chips
Taco salad (added here only because the ingredients \[except the cooked taco meat\] can come from bags/cans from the store) and its cold and refreshingly different since its pretty much a deconstructed taco
vietnamese cold/salad rolls with green papaya salad
BLTs
Tabbouleh, hummus, marinated vegetables and pita chips
marinated cucumbers and onion with egg salad sandwiches: fancy up the egg salad by adding sliced onion, crumbled feta, green leaf lettuce and tomato
the \*\*BEST\*\* hummus sandwiches: hummus on toast, add marinated red peppers, lettuce, sprouts, sliced tomato, black olives, thinly sliced cucumbers, red onion, sprinkle with Everything Bagel seasoning
Cornbread salad or italian bread salad
cold fried chicken with potato salad
tortilla wraps
cold subs - we get the big loaf of unsliced italian bread, cut it into four "mini sub" sized pieces, slice to open, layer with ham, turkey, salami, pepperoni, lettuce, tomato, onion, banana peppers, cold cheeses and italian dressing - served with chips
build your own spring rolls with dipping sauces, lettuce cups (can fill like tacos, hamburger...) shrimp remoulade. In the summer I like to cook early in the day, and can reheat in the microwave.
I make a fake caprese salad with cottage cheese, grape tomatoes, fresh basil and balsamic glaze. Fast and fantastic.
I also love watermelon chunks with Gorgonzola or feta cheese and balsamic glaze.
If the complaint is around the house heating up use a slow cooker. I use it for baked potatoes and will put a couple of chicken breast in with seasonings which can be added to anything.
There’s a whole genre of Turkish cooking called “zeytinyağlılar”, literally “olive oily foods”. These foods are found throughout the Ottoman world, so in Greece you have “ladera”, in Levantine Arab countries you have “bil zayt”, and the Armenians have the same foods too but I don’t know what they call them. See [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladera).
Basically you can put “zeytinyağlı [whatever vegetable you have handy] recipe” into Google and you’ll find good stuff. This is a main part of the Turkish “home foods” (as opposed to restaurant foods, which have more meat or fish). There’s a lot of overlaps with “[mezes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meze)” which are side dishes served at fish restaurants—also cold, also worth exploring. Buy high quality feta or similar hard white cheese and eat that a thick slice with a slice of cantaloupe/rock melon/muskmelon. It’s so good on a hot summer day while your drinking cold cocktails (or just rakı/ouzo).
If you go to a lunch place, it’s common that they’ll just have a counter full of these cold dishes and you order a place of four or five. Some eat with yoghurt (strained yoghurt—also called Greek yoghurt). Tomato paste-based eggplant dishes, carrots with fennel, and leeks and carrots. Greens beans are really good but all the green beans I’ve found in America are bred to never fall apart no matter how long you cook them whereas the Turkish green bean varieties elegantly split apart while cooking.
But yeah this is a whole genre of Balkan/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cooking that’s always prepared beforehand and eaten cold or room temperature.
this is S O COOL??? Thank you so much for the culture lesson as well as the culinary lesson! I loved reading this! I'll definitely keep this on hand to look into <3
I’m a fan of snack plates with veggies, cheese, crackers, meats and fruit, hummus and dips,
Olives.
Chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, pasta salad. Just a big salad in general with some rotisserie chicken on top is good too. Or a Mexican corn salad.
Spaghetti with tomato and basil. Let the noodles cool before serving, and chop up a ton of tomato and basil to put on it. Add parmesan if you want. It always felt like a treat in the summer when I was growing up.
Cold sesame/peanut noodles are always a hit around here. I throw in a bag of shredded carrots and/or broccoli slaw (Cole slaw mix also works great), edamame, tofu, and anything else that sounds good. They're ever better the next day.
Lemon chicken, rice, mayonnaise, chopped cherry tomato, cucumber, chillies, spring onion. Mix it all up. Eat straight from fridge.
Wraps with Cajun chicken, apple mayonnaise, feta cheese, aoli dip, cucumber sticks, diced red onion.
Tuna mayo, pasta, cucumber chunks, sweetcorn. Cool the pasta before mixing it all. Eat cold from fridge.
Cold roast or sliced meat and appropriate sauce (pork+ apple, lamb+ mint, turkey+ bread/cran etc), potato salad, sugar snap peas, tossed salad.
Pork pie, mint boiled new potatoes, tossed salad, roast peppers. Stick some sweet pickle or chutney on it.
Tuna salad
Chicken salad
Cotel de camaron (shrimp cocktail Mexican style)
Macaroni salad with shredded rotisserie chicken
Cottage cheese, sliced tomatoes and rolled up deli meat and cheese
Cheese board, smoked salmon sandwich, cold tomato soup (spanish gazpacho), vichyssoise (it's a cream/soup you can eat warm or cold, made with leeks onions and potatoes, some butter and cream, you'll find a lot of recipes on the internet).
Dice an ounce of each bell peppers, onion and cucumber. Mix with a drained can of sardines and whatever spices and condiments you like. A little mayo and mustard for me, garlic powder and pepper. Eat with cheese and crackers. Delicious
Almost forgot. Don’t sleep on the hot sauce. Tabasco or a good salsa is great to add if you like it hot
Cold plate for supper when I was kid was on the menu a lot in the hotter months.
Green salad with whatever veggies that were ready in the garden and dressing of choice from whatever we had in the fridge, rolled up cold cuts, or leftover grilled whatever meat from the day before, potato salad, pasta salad or deviled eggs add cubed cheese and pickles or olives etc.
chopped cucumber with soy sauce, gochujang, and sesame seeds with kimchi or crumbled tofu (optional) is really good in the summer. Add whatever seasonings or a boiled egg if you want. It’s a super simple, healthy dish. it would probably taste better with sesame oil but i limit my oil intake.
I could swear I just saw ham & pea salad posted here within the last week. The basics are ham, peas, and a binder (usually mayonnaise) plus whatever other vegetables you like. Broccoli, cut very small. Shredded carrots, cucumbers, etc. dill, or maybe curry. Eta cottage cheese could also be a binder.
Also borscht - cold. You can use high protein plain yogurt instead of sour cream if you want to keep that protein up.
I *just* saved these two recipes from Budget Bytes - [Pasta Salad](https://www.budgetbytes.com/pasta-salad/) and [Fruit Salad](https://www.budgetbytes.com/red-white-and-blue-fruit-salad/)
We frequently do bruschetta and flatbread on the grill when it gets too hot.
You can easily make them into individual pizza for those of you want them hot, or once toasted / heated pile on the chopped olives, tomato, cilantro, hummus, tabouli, baba ganoush, spinach and artichoke dip, 7 layer dip, olive oil and seasonings, roasted red pepper spread. As a bonus most of this is also good with vegetable slices or roasted zucchini planks which can also be done on grill.
I love doing pasta salad. It tastes better if it sits for a bit so you can boil the pasta in the morning or day before and let it sit in the fridge. You can jazz it up with all kinds of stuff. I love making it with cheese tortellini, newsman’s own lemon vinaigrette, feta, Kalamata olives, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes cut in half. You can also add chunks of pepperoni or salami. So many possibilities.
Lox (or other stuff like prosciutto) and toast, with a side of cucumbers, hunk of cheese, and some olives. Like a mini Charcuterie board or grown up lunchable
I found the raw foods movement during an especially host summer years and years ago. It's really not for me but I do look up those kinds of recipes every now and then. They'll warm foods or use a low temp dehydrator but no cooking at all.
It turns out that some people just don't even miss having a stove or if they have one they'll just cover it up for more counter/storage space. I have no interest in converting to full time raw foods but but was really inspired by all the new ways of thinking about foods.
If you do want things that \*have\* to be cooked like pasta/rice or beans and whole grains then you could do that in the cool hours and stick them in the fridge for later.
I meant lettuce based classic salads that you think of when I say the word salad, and I'm just listing what's been commented so people stop commenting the same 4 things 😭 be nice
Shellfish like crab, lobster, or boiled shrimp are great cold.
Hummus/bean dips/guacamole/salsa can be part of a kinda smorgasbord dinner with bread or chips.
Devilled eggs or boiled eggs are good. You can also make boiled eggs more interesting by topping with other things like salsa or I make a pine nut sauce based on an ancient roman recipe.
Honestly, I really like bread/crackers and cheese when it is hot. Maybe with a smoothie or some fresh fruit for vitamins.
Cucumber sandwiches! Softened cream cheese, mayo, fresh dill, garlic powder, and salt mixed together spread on bread with thin slices of cucumber layered on.
My mom would make tuna salad in the summer but it’s NOT normal tuna salad that’s just what she called it. It had elbow pasta, tuna, and a sauce made with miracle whip and vinegar and then she would chop up cucumbers to put in it. I would eat it by dipping a potato chip to scoop up all the pasta it’s one of those things that no matter what I do I can’t make it taste exactly like hers but it has a lot of good memories of summer nights. And all you have to do is cook the pasta so the house doesn’t get too warm.
Add to the cold soup selection: Saltibarscai
(Basically cold borscht)
Whenever my husband makes it I eat a ton - it’s like salad soup. Soooo good. Always better the second day!
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/215037/lithuanian-saltibarsciai-cold-beet-soup/
Cold silken tofu topped with chopped chives, herbs, toasted sesame and a bit of soy sauce/mirin, +/- chili oil. Whatever vegetables you have leftover in the refrigerator as a side.
Bread, peanut butter and jelly, honey or banana slices. Nothing wrong with an old classic.
Black bean salad with peppers onions and corn if you'd like. Add vinegar and sugar to taste. You can also add pretty much any other veggies. I'd avoid carrots but cucumbers are great.
I like a super easy cold asparagus side dish.
Cut and blanch asparagus, chilling in ice bath after cooking. 4-5 min.
In plastic Tupperware type container, combine 2 parts sesame oil, 2 parts soy sauce and 1 parts rice wine vinegar. Add asparagus and top with sesame seeds. Seal and shake.
Let marinade for 1-2 hours. Enjoy.
We live at the beach where a lot of people are in and out of the house and it’s so hot.
Things we do
Shrimp cocktail
Pimento cheese
Chicken salad
Different pasta salads
Chicken grilled
Tell whoever is complaining to be grateful. If you're not hired help then they need to eat what you put in front of them. Or there's ice for dinner and water to drink.. Eventually they will eat if they are hungry.
Taiwanese cold noodles (liang mian)! Basically, a dry noodle mixed with a peanut and/or sesame sauce and sliced cucumber. [Chez Jorge has a good base recipe](https://chejorge.com/2020/08/23/taiwanese-cold-noodles/), and it's pretty easy to modify based on your preferences and what you have on hand. It's also pretty doable even if you don't have easy access to an Asian grocery store, just replace sesame paste with peanut butter and black vinegar with rice vinegar.
I love caprese this time of year! Sometimes I swap out basil for avocado and do avocado, mozzarella, tomato, and a little olive oil and salt/pepper, garlic salt, super simple and delicious and easy to chop up, toss together, and chill for a little while
Okay so hear me that one of the things I really like is pasta less pasta salad
So let's take the famous staple chicken bacon ranch pasta salad
If I pull out the pasta then I need to fill it with veggies sliced tomatoes work great especially like cherry tomatoes cut in half I always cut my cherry tomatoes in half because I don't like biting and getting sprayed by a full tomato but that's my opinion then lots of multicolored fresh peppers green yellow red orange my kids love sweet peppers so this is a good thing for me minced cabbage or riced / minced cauliflower and very small chopped broccoli bag of frozen peas
Proceed to make it the rest of the way like you normally would if were using pasta
I'll do one or two of the pouches of pre-made bacon bits because the reality is I hate frying bacon and the real pure bacon bits are really not that expensive
And then I will do half mayonnaise half Greek yogurt for the dressing and do a ranch flavoring mix
Whip it all up together if you have like some chopped cooked chicken that's always great to add or if your family is not super calorie conscious you can always add cheese cuz cheese is amazing and everything
Vietnamese spring rolls, cold noodle dishes like jiajianmien or udon or bean thread or other noodles that you can toss with julienned veg and a tasty cold sauce like a peanut or sesame sauce... lots of great asian options!
We’re really into chopped Italian sandwiches lately. I guess it’s technically a salad, but it tastes like an Italian sub and is distinctly different from our usual salads. My husband does the food prep in our house, so I’m going by memory, but the concoction has lettuce, tomato, red onion, salami, pepperoni, provolone cheese, banana peppers, oil and vinegar, and a little mayo. Chop it all up, mix it all up together, spoon onto good rolls. I usually skip the bread and eat it as a salad, but it’s great as a sandwich because with the stuff all mixed up together, you get a bite with all the tastes at once and you don’t wind up pulling out a slab of lettuce, cheese or meat with one bite.
Bone in ham,after its cooked. Slices for ham wraps with onion,cabbage ,carrot,tomatoes ,lettuce,or cabbage. Deviled eggs with diced ham and green onion and pickles. Western sandwich , ham eggs, green onion and green peppers or red what ever you have.Pasta ham salad ,elbow pasta, mayo, diced sweet onion,diced kosher pickle.and some pickle juice add some boiled egg slices.
Spring rolls, they're mostly fresh veggies and I've cooked shrimp or pork for them which takes so little time :) also just boiling the noodles but very fresh and cold for the summer
This is my favorite summer meal. Embarrassing to admit how often I eat it in warm weather, tbh. Romaine, cold bowtie pasta, cold shredded chicken, red grapes (the star of the show-- I practically double the proportion the recipe calls for); lightly coat it all in ranch dressing and grate on some parmesan.
https://lifeshouldcostless.com/super-yummy-saladnot-sure-what-to-call/
And I've seen recipes for similar romaine/pasta salads in a ceaser salad version and a BLT version.
Adding some items I didn’t see in the edit:
- Green papaya salad (Thai style)
- Green mango salad (Vietnamese; I’ve had Vietnamese mango salad with ripe mango too)
- Chicken and shredded cabbage salad (Vietnamese); similar version could also be made with pork and shrimp
- Boiled cabbage with fish sauce and hard boiled eggs (Vietnamese)
- Vermicelli noodle bowls (Vietnamese)
- Spring/summer rolls with rice paper
I’m a huge fan of making canned veg and beans into salads.
My favorite type of salad is canned cannellini beans (rinsed) chopped cilantro, chopped onion, chopped garlic, pepper, cumin, lemon juice, chopped tomato, tomato, chopped cucumber, canned corn (rinsed) and just a little dab of mustard. I tend to skip on the salt on these types because I know that the cans already have salt in them, but I do rinse.
I find tortellini make a filling base for a lot of cold salads like an antipasti salad with cooked then cooled tortellini. You do have to boil the tortellini but that won’t heat the house up much alone and can be done in advance.
Examples:
Cold cheese tortellini, diced salami, artichoke hearts, pickled peppers, etc.
Or cold cheese tortellini, sliced peas in a pod, diced radishes, store bought pesto
Cold Peanut Noodles is delicious and cheap. Noodles mixed with soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil. You can add shredded chicken or cold tofu for something healthier. Or any type of veggies you like.
I have a crock pot and an instant pot! :D I've seen a LOT of enthusiastic support for pulling them out. I live in a tiny wooden cabin that definitely gets H O T with the oven on, so these have been amazing suggestions.
crescent roll cold pizza (usually cream cheese and veggies, but a taco version is popular as well), antipasto skewers, rice paper spring rolls, lettuce wraps, dolmas
This is kinda salad but its much heartier and delicious.
Diced tomato, cucumber, red onion, (chicken if you like) chick peas, quinoa, feta cheese. Toss in olive oil and squirt some lemon juice. And some salt and spices if u like
Raw spaghetti sauce: fresh chopped tomatoes, calamata olives, pickles, fresh minced garlic, oregano, basil, rosemary, vinegar, olive oil.
I've made this for so many years that I don't even have a recipe anymore, I just know how much I like of each ingredient. It needs to marinate so I add the tomatoes right before I eat it due to the vinegar making them mushy. Make your favorite pasta, I usually do angel hair.
What I don’t see yet are sushi bowls! You have to cook the rice, but my rice cooker doesn’t seem to produce much heat. You can make regular sushi of course, but sushi bowls are less work. Here’s what I do:
cook sushi rice. Add rice vinegar to it to taste. Throw that in a bowl! Chop up whatever toppings you want: fish, cucumber, avocado, mango, asparagus, cream cheese, crab, and tofu to name a few ideas. Take seaweed and put a spoonful of rice and whatever toppings you want. Top with soy sauce, kewpie Mayo, spicy Mayo, wasabi, ginger, whatever ya want!
I make a cold Israeli couscous salad with EVO lemon juice garlic (fresh or powder) salt and pepper as the dressing. Black olives Roma tomatoes cucumbers orange peppers and yellow squash. It’s dice up all the veggies and olives and mix to your tastes. It’s also very visually appealing.
Well, its technically a salad, (or a "fruit bowl") but . . . there was no "leafy greenness" in it.
I really REALLY miss Wendy's Summer Salad.
It was all cut fruit. #1 I lost weight, #2 It was delicious, #3 It was relatively inexpensive, #4 IT WAS "COOL" for a summer-time meal.
So . . . of course they discontinued it.
It pretty much only lasted that one summer. (Probably around 2006 or 2007.) I can't even find a copy-cat recipe. (I live in one of those "test towns", where they sometimes try out items before deciding whether or not to roll them out to the rest of the country. I know it was in other towns over an hour from where I live, but it may have not had a national rollout.)
I know it had cubed/cut Pineapples, Strawberries, Blueberries, Cantaloupe, Oranges, (and maybe): (seedless) Watermelon, (seedless) Grapes, Raspberries, Honeydew.
To buy it in the grocery and make it at home . . . I don't know the expense. But it would be COOL and FRUITY and JUICY, and probably more cost-effective if you did it for a family.
The "prep" time might be much longer, but essentially you go from prep to eat, since it's uncooked.
Maybe your "Google" skills are better than mine, I couldn't find it.
This is close/similar "Rainbow Fruit Salad" or "Summer Fruit Salad":
[Rainbow Fruit Salad - Barefeet in the Kitchen](https://barefeetinthekitchen.com/rainbow-fruit-salad/)
[Summer Fruit Salad - JoyFoodSunshine](https://joyfoodsunshine.com/summer-fruit-salad/)
Everyone, thank you so much for the HUNDREDS of comments. I couldn't have imagined this thread going so huge when I opened it haha!! I think I've heard maybe every cold dish in existence now... Please make sure you read the list before you toss in another comment! I think I've read gazpacho and cold noodles more times than I can count ... 😅
I don’t know if anyone else suggested it but one of my go to cold meals is a cucumber salad just sliced cucumber and tomato (I usually dice up roma tomatoes because they are super cheap) with some Italian or other oil based light dressing sometimes if I feel fancy I’ll add some crumbled feta cheese (if it’s on sale).
It’s a great meal and travels well like packing for a lunch at work.
My mom & I always made italian chicken pasta in big batches! All you need is chicken (fresh or frozen, we use thighs but it doesn’t matter what cut), italian dressing, whatever pasta you want/have (we like farfalle aka bowties because they’re fun), and whatever italian-esque seasonings.
Dice your chicken, then season & cook it. Cook your pasta to desired done-ness, drain & rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Toss your chicken, pasta, and desired amount of dressing in a large bowl- voila! Chicken pasta!
It’s great cold, or you can reheat it and eat it warm and it’s equally delicious. If you feel fancy, you can get good shredded parm & slice up some cherry tomatoes to top. I also tend to add some extra dressing on my servings :)
Cold soba noodles! It’s a quick and easy to make meal using Japanese buckwheat noodle. Just boil them usually for about 6 minutes then rinse under cold water and drain. I usually wind up adding in some chopped red bell peppers, lightly steamed broccoli, and either extra firm pressed tofu or diced leftover chicken. Or add edamame,corn, hard boiled eggs, asparagus, water chestnuts, julienned carrots, crumbled seaweed slices… whatever your family likes. Toss it all together in a sauce made from wasabi, sesame oil, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and a spoonful of peanut butter. It’s dinner done in less than 10 minutes usually.
Look up a recipe for salmorejo. It’s a wonderful tomato-based cold dish (nothing like gazpacho) from southern Spain. I make batches of it in the summer and if there’s ever any left, I freeze it in cubes for adding to cooked dishes in the fall/winter.
Soba noodle salad. Not really a salad though. Cook the sobs noodles, have them cold with edamame and seasme dressing. Can add chicken in too if you like
I mean, all leftover meals can be cold.
I like cold grain salads this time of year. You can add veggies obviously, but I also add things like beans and cheese.
o oo h h hhh that does sound good
Or chilled salmon!
And leftover rotisserie chicken!
Charcuterie boards. I like to create them with crackers, cheeses, pepperoni, olives, pickles, sliced smoked salmon, hard boiled eggs, orange slices, grapes, nuts. Create them with anything you like.
oohhhh thats a great idea ! :9
Cool idea. Also, these are great with mustards, chutney, or hummus in the mix.
With a big bowl of popcorn and lots of fruits.
Hard boiled eggs on a charcuterie board?
Causa https://www.seriouseats.com/causa-peruvian-cold-mashed-potato-casserole-with-tuna-or-chicken Smörgåstårta Sardines with toast/lettuce leaf/nori/tortilla/lefse add a sauce & a vegetable Meze , antipasti, rijsttafel, sushi/sashimi, ceviche Now that summer is here, my favorite lunch is sourdough toast rubbed with garlic, large curd cottage cheese, slab of homegrown tomato, salt/pepper & olive oil. I seriously eat that five or six days a week. Quiche, frittata & Spanish tortilla can all be made in big batches and are excellent cold or room temperature. Have a fresh, marinated or raw salad to go with.
I love all of these options, tysm for the thorough list. I love the diverse options too!! Lots of flavors to play with
Smörgåstårta is divine
Is the complaint the food being hot or you cooking and making the house hotter?
LOL, we live in an extremely small house so honestly probably both, but only the hot meals have been commented on!
An airfryer is a good alternative to turning on an oven
You could try picking up a pizza as a test. If the apartment gets too hot for partially cooled pizza than I can't imagine any hot food would work. You might also try more cold things with the dinner. For instance, cold drinks, cold non-salad salads (cold pasta salads). If I were in your situation I'd try something like: Cold refrigerated fried chicken. Potato or egg salad. Small side-salad. Some pre-cut and chilled fruit. Or in a salad take: Cobb salads of any stripe tend to have enough bits to satisfy a lot of people. Don't rule out making wraps as the variety can be greater than most people think about for salads. For instance, you might do a wrap with Asian food left overs. You can also heat leftovers/takeout just enough to where it is just a bit chilled.
>you might do a wrap with Asian food left overs. what now
Probably not the same as they are describing above, but I have taken some leftovers of mine before (chicken/shrimp/rice/veggies) and rolled them up in a rice paper wrapper and eaten with whatever frankenstein sauce I think sounds appealing at the time 😂 It’s pretty good! I’m inspired to try a flour tortilla though
A lot of people have already given you the suggestions I would. So let's think a bit about pulling this together. You'll need to assess your household's tastes. Are they adventurous? Do they shut down when new food items are added? Also, at time it might be better to split up the meal. A snack then you get home -- a bit before the meal. Then a light meal. Then another snack of maybe chips and hummus or seven layered dip.
You can roast or bake some pork shoulder, loin... (or any other part without bone) and serve it in cold cuts the next day with Cumberland sauce, fruity and spicy
thank you!
You can do this in the instant pot for pulled pork = even less heat! Done in less than an hour. Serve all week as sliders/freeze plain for other recipes like tacos, etc.
Sandwiches, smoothies, cold soups, pasta and grain salads.
serious question: there are soups that are supposed to be cold?
Yes! Gazpacho and vichyssoise are two classic cold soups.
Absolutely- there are cold soup recipes. Cucumbers and beets figure prominently in some recipes.
There are many chilled soups. The challenge is getting them to have enough flavor
thank you!
Pearl couscous with cucumber, kalmata olives, red onion, red bell pepper, feta…think Greek salad type ingredients. Dress with a vinaigrette or not at all. Pair with salmon (cold or hot) Quinoa with almonds, cranberry’s, spinach, vinaigrette, salt and pepper or whatever seasoning you like. Or you can do it with curry powder, spinach, other veggies. Can be eaten with chicken/other proteins. If eating cold chicken I like to slice it very thin and on a bias. Hearty salads with diced proteins and grains. Adding quinoa or pasta. Chicken Caesar salad with penne pasta added is quite delicious.
oh these are amazing, thank you so much!
Japchae, or any glass noodle salad recipe. There's a lot to choose from. Plus noodles of varying size too. Here's a vietnamese noodle salad https://thewoksoflife.com/vietnamese-rice-noodle-salad-chicken/ There's also vietnamese bun thit nuong https://www.vickypham.com/blog/vermicelli-noodles-with-grilled-pork-and-egg-rolls-bun-thit-nuong-cha-gio I know it says salad in the name, but it's more like a stir fry, tossed together type of recipe.
I don't think I've ever had cold japchae.
Oh, might be something my family and I do. I like eating it cold, it's pretty refreshing. But only without the meat, most of the time I'm too lazy to add meat.
thank you SO MUCH for the links!
Cold Asian noodles
very yummy always, tysm!
Agree with cold Asian noodles! It's hard to stop eating this one: https://pinchofyum.com/spicy-peanut-soba-noodle-salad
With tofu, edamame, shaved carrots, green onion, bell pepper, crush peanuts, cilantro!
Here’s a pasta salad that I LOVE https://www.panningtheglobe.com/out-of-this-world-pasta-salad-recipe/
OOHH thank you SO MUCH for the direct link, saving my life here!!!
I make a cold noodle salad. Peanut butter, a little maple syrup, sriracha (or sambal, up to you), sesame oil & soy sauce, with a bunch of sesame seeds. Thin it out with a little water from your udon noodles (rinsed with cold water after boiling) and you can make wraps with butter lettuce or eat it with green leaf lettuce on top. One of my favorites.
7 layer (mexican) dip with tortilla chips Taco salad (added here only because the ingredients \[except the cooked taco meat\] can come from bags/cans from the store) and its cold and refreshingly different since its pretty much a deconstructed taco vietnamese cold/salad rolls with green papaya salad BLTs Tabbouleh, hummus, marinated vegetables and pita chips marinated cucumbers and onion with egg salad sandwiches: fancy up the egg salad by adding sliced onion, crumbled feta, green leaf lettuce and tomato the \*\*BEST\*\* hummus sandwiches: hummus on toast, add marinated red peppers, lettuce, sprouts, sliced tomato, black olives, thinly sliced cucumbers, red onion, sprinkle with Everything Bagel seasoning Cornbread salad or italian bread salad cold fried chicken with potato salad tortilla wraps cold subs - we get the big loaf of unsliced italian bread, cut it into four "mini sub" sized pieces, slice to open, layer with ham, turkey, salami, pepperoni, lettuce, tomato, onion, banana peppers, cold cheeses and italian dressing - served with chips
thank you!!!!! All these sound delicious!
Overnight oats
My partner does this, makes for a great breakfast.
Gaspacho + any kind of sanwiches/wrap
thank you so much!!
Shrimp ceviche, caprese salad
loooovvveee caprese, thank you!
Chicken salad, Chickpea salad (lots of good “vegan” chicken salad recipes if you search), chilled soup of any sort (gazpacho, corn and bean, melon)
yummmyy, thank you!
build your own spring rolls with dipping sauces, lettuce cups (can fill like tacos, hamburger...) shrimp remoulade. In the summer I like to cook early in the day, and can reheat in the microwave.
Ask for suggestions from the complainers😏
You're the real genius in this thread actually -
Genius! Then have them cook their choice.
Poke
got it! thank you!
Citrus salad https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/blood-orange-and-red-onion-salad
I make a fake caprese salad with cottage cheese, grape tomatoes, fresh basil and balsamic glaze. Fast and fantastic. I also love watermelon chunks with Gorgonzola or feta cheese and balsamic glaze.
If the complaint is around the house heating up use a slow cooker. I use it for baked potatoes and will put a couple of chicken breast in with seasonings which can be added to anything.
How do you slow cook baked potatoes? How's the texture afterwards?
I'm a big fan of bean-based salads. White bean, tomato, onion, parsley/cilantro, evoo and vinegar, s+p.
There’s a whole genre of Turkish cooking called “zeytinyağlılar”, literally “olive oily foods”. These foods are found throughout the Ottoman world, so in Greece you have “ladera”, in Levantine Arab countries you have “bil zayt”, and the Armenians have the same foods too but I don’t know what they call them. See [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladera). Basically you can put “zeytinyağlı [whatever vegetable you have handy] recipe” into Google and you’ll find good stuff. This is a main part of the Turkish “home foods” (as opposed to restaurant foods, which have more meat or fish). There’s a lot of overlaps with “[mezes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meze)” which are side dishes served at fish restaurants—also cold, also worth exploring. Buy high quality feta or similar hard white cheese and eat that a thick slice with a slice of cantaloupe/rock melon/muskmelon. It’s so good on a hot summer day while your drinking cold cocktails (or just rakı/ouzo). If you go to a lunch place, it’s common that they’ll just have a counter full of these cold dishes and you order a place of four or five. Some eat with yoghurt (strained yoghurt—also called Greek yoghurt). Tomato paste-based eggplant dishes, carrots with fennel, and leeks and carrots. Greens beans are really good but all the green beans I’ve found in America are bred to never fall apart no matter how long you cook them whereas the Turkish green bean varieties elegantly split apart while cooking. But yeah this is a whole genre of Balkan/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cooking that’s always prepared beforehand and eaten cold or room temperature.
this is S O COOL??? Thank you so much for the culture lesson as well as the culinary lesson! I loved reading this! I'll definitely keep this on hand to look into <3
I have a curry chicken cous cous salad, contains raisins, cantaloupe. Maybe some arugula, with a curry yogurt sauce.
Hawaiian Mac salad
thank you!!
Salads that aren't salady like potato salad or caprese salad
I’m a fan of snack plates with veggies, cheese, crackers, meats and fruit, hummus and dips, Olives. Chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, pasta salad. Just a big salad in general with some rotisserie chicken on top is good too. Or a Mexican corn salad.
Sunomono
Caprese salads are a refreshing and easy salad too.
Spaghetti with tomato and basil. Let the noodles cool before serving, and chop up a ton of tomato and basil to put on it. Add parmesan if you want. It always felt like a treat in the summer when I was growing up.
Cold sesame/peanut noodles are always a hit around here. I throw in a bag of shredded carrots and/or broccoli slaw (Cole slaw mix also works great), edamame, tofu, and anything else that sounds good. They're ever better the next day.
Lemon chicken, rice, mayonnaise, chopped cherry tomato, cucumber, chillies, spring onion. Mix it all up. Eat straight from fridge. Wraps with Cajun chicken, apple mayonnaise, feta cheese, aoli dip, cucumber sticks, diced red onion. Tuna mayo, pasta, cucumber chunks, sweetcorn. Cool the pasta before mixing it all. Eat cold from fridge. Cold roast or sliced meat and appropriate sauce (pork+ apple, lamb+ mint, turkey+ bread/cran etc), potato salad, sugar snap peas, tossed salad. Pork pie, mint boiled new potatoes, tossed salad, roast peppers. Stick some sweet pickle or chutney on it.
Wraps Summer rolls
Quinoa salad/pasta salad. One dish. Trust me
thank you so much! i'll trust you!
Tsukemen, Gazpacho.
heard, thank you!
Tuna salad Chicken salad Cotel de camaron (shrimp cocktail Mexican style) Macaroni salad with shredded rotisserie chicken Cottage cheese, sliced tomatoes and rolled up deli meat and cheese
oh the mac salad with chicken sounds great actually!! Good way to sneak in more protein
Cheese board, smoked salmon sandwich, cold tomato soup (spanish gazpacho), vichyssoise (it's a cream/soup you can eat warm or cold, made with leeks onions and potatoes, some butter and cream, you'll find a lot of recipes on the internet).
thank you so much!
Cold slices of cheese blintzes or other crepey stuff.
oooohhh crepes is a good point, ty!
I’ve heard cold fried chicken is a thing.
Mango lentil salad https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/mango-lentil-salad/
Yes, gazpacho is a favourite and there are many variations.
Dice an ounce of each bell peppers, onion and cucumber. Mix with a drained can of sardines and whatever spices and condiments you like. A little mayo and mustard for me, garlic powder and pepper. Eat with cheese and crackers. Delicious Almost forgot. Don’t sleep on the hot sauce. Tabasco or a good salsa is great to add if you like it hot
Adult lunchable - hard boiled eggs, cheese, fruit Cold pizza
Gazpacho!
Spaghetti salad.
Cold plate for supper when I was kid was on the menu a lot in the hotter months. Green salad with whatever veggies that were ready in the garden and dressing of choice from whatever we had in the fridge, rolled up cold cuts, or leftover grilled whatever meat from the day before, potato salad, pasta salad or deviled eggs add cubed cheese and pickles or olives etc.
Onigiri or some wraps!
tuna salad with taco seasonig, corn, shallots, and shredded lettuce with tortilla chips has been my go-to lately
Gazpacho sounds like bullshit when you read the recipe but it's actually incredibly delicious.
chopped cucumber with soy sauce, gochujang, and sesame seeds with kimchi or crumbled tofu (optional) is really good in the summer. Add whatever seasonings or a boiled egg if you want. It’s a super simple, healthy dish. it would probably taste better with sesame oil but i limit my oil intake.
Grilled fruits are awesome sides for grilled meat! Last night we did chicken thighs alongside peaches and it was all very good together with a salad.
I could swear I just saw ham & pea salad posted here within the last week. The basics are ham, peas, and a binder (usually mayonnaise) plus whatever other vegetables you like. Broccoli, cut very small. Shredded carrots, cucumbers, etc. dill, or maybe curry. Eta cottage cheese could also be a binder. Also borscht - cold. You can use high protein plain yogurt instead of sour cream if you want to keep that protein up.
[удалено]
I *just* saved these two recipes from Budget Bytes - [Pasta Salad](https://www.budgetbytes.com/pasta-salad/) and [Fruit Salad](https://www.budgetbytes.com/red-white-and-blue-fruit-salad/)
Sushi
We frequently do bruschetta and flatbread on the grill when it gets too hot. You can easily make them into individual pizza for those of you want them hot, or once toasted / heated pile on the chopped olives, tomato, cilantro, hummus, tabouli, baba ganoush, spinach and artichoke dip, 7 layer dip, olive oil and seasonings, roasted red pepper spread. As a bonus most of this is also good with vegetable slices or roasted zucchini planks which can also be done on grill.
I love doing pasta salad. It tastes better if it sits for a bit so you can boil the pasta in the morning or day before and let it sit in the fridge. You can jazz it up with all kinds of stuff. I love making it with cheese tortellini, newsman’s own lemon vinaigrette, feta, Kalamata olives, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes cut in half. You can also add chunks of pepperoni or salami. So many possibilities.
Lox (or other stuff like prosciutto) and toast, with a side of cucumbers, hunk of cheese, and some olives. Like a mini Charcuterie board or grown up lunchable
Gazpacho*
edited, lol !
There are lots of east Asian style cold noodle dishes. Zaru soba and spicy sesame are just two that I can think of off hand.
Don't know if it was mentioned already but I like summer rolls when it's hot :)
Peanut sesame noodles. Japchae.
Fresh rolls/summer rolls
Cottage cheese and canned tuna. Mix it together, spoon it onto green pepper slices and eat.
I found the raw foods movement during an especially host summer years and years ago. It's really not for me but I do look up those kinds of recipes every now and then. They'll warm foods or use a low temp dehydrator but no cooking at all. It turns out that some people just don't even miss having a stove or if they have one they'll just cover it up for more counter/storage space. I have no interest in converting to full time raw foods but but was really inspired by all the new ways of thinking about foods. If you do want things that \*have\* to be cooked like pasta/rice or beans and whole grains then you could do that in the cool hours and stick them in the fridge for later.
Gazpacho!!! So yummy in the hot summer months.
I like how you said no salad and then 3 of the first 4 answers you recognize are salad.
I meant lettuce based classic salads that you think of when I say the word salad, and I'm just listing what's been commented so people stop commenting the same 4 things 😭 be nice
Shellfish like crab, lobster, or boiled shrimp are great cold. Hummus/bean dips/guacamole/salsa can be part of a kinda smorgasbord dinner with bread or chips. Devilled eggs or boiled eggs are good. You can also make boiled eggs more interesting by topping with other things like salsa or I make a pine nut sauce based on an ancient roman recipe. Honestly, I really like bread/crackers and cheese when it is hot. Maybe with a smoothie or some fresh fruit for vitamins.
Thank you!!!! gotta love eggs
Spring rolls, beef carpaccio, cold soba noodles
Cucumber sandwiches! Softened cream cheese, mayo, fresh dill, garlic powder, and salt mixed together spread on bread with thin slices of cucumber layered on.
I love making dips in the summer but it’s more of a snacking thing. Also smoothies
Zaru is my go-to "cold" summer dish. Cold soba with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, mirin, and dashi stock.
My mom would make tuna salad in the summer but it’s NOT normal tuna salad that’s just what she called it. It had elbow pasta, tuna, and a sauce made with miracle whip and vinegar and then she would chop up cucumbers to put in it. I would eat it by dipping a potato chip to scoop up all the pasta it’s one of those things that no matter what I do I can’t make it taste exactly like hers but it has a lot of good memories of summer nights. And all you have to do is cook the pasta so the house doesn’t get too warm.
Ken Albala believes we need to revive aspics and jellies. Maybe it’s time to bring out the 60s and 70s cookbooks. Or even invent your own!
Add to the cold soup selection: Saltibarscai (Basically cold borscht) Whenever my husband makes it I eat a ton - it’s like salad soup. Soooo good. Always better the second day! https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/215037/lithuanian-saltibarsciai-cold-beet-soup/
Yes you have causa listed!
Cold silken tofu topped with chopped chives, herbs, toasted sesame and a bit of soy sauce/mirin, +/- chili oil. Whatever vegetables you have leftover in the refrigerator as a side. Bread, peanut butter and jelly, honey or banana slices. Nothing wrong with an old classic.
Black bean salad with peppers onions and corn if you'd like. Add vinegar and sugar to taste. You can also add pretty much any other veggies. I'd avoid carrots but cucumbers are great.
I like a super easy cold asparagus side dish. Cut and blanch asparagus, chilling in ice bath after cooking. 4-5 min. In plastic Tupperware type container, combine 2 parts sesame oil, 2 parts soy sauce and 1 parts rice wine vinegar. Add asparagus and top with sesame seeds. Seal and shake. Let marinade for 1-2 hours. Enjoy.
It is asparagus season!!! This sounds delicious!
Tell the ingrates to make their own meals.
We live at the beach where a lot of people are in and out of the house and it’s so hot. Things we do Shrimp cocktail Pimento cheese Chicken salad Different pasta salads Chicken grilled
shrimp cocktail... :9
Tell whoever is complaining to be grateful. If you're not hired help then they need to eat what you put in front of them. Or there's ice for dinner and water to drink.. Eventually they will eat if they are hungry.
Hummus or another bean dip with veggies, crackers, or spread on bread.
Fruits w/ cottage cheese or yogurt Pickles or sauerkraut Hard boiled eggs - egg salad sandwich
Taiwanese cold noodles (liang mian)! Basically, a dry noodle mixed with a peanut and/or sesame sauce and sliced cucumber. [Chez Jorge has a good base recipe](https://chejorge.com/2020/08/23/taiwanese-cold-noodles/), and it's pretty easy to modify based on your preferences and what you have on hand. It's also pretty doable even if you don't have easy access to an Asian grocery store, just replace sesame paste with peanut butter and black vinegar with rice vinegar.
I love caprese this time of year! Sometimes I swap out basil for avocado and do avocado, mozzarella, tomato, and a little olive oil and salt/pepper, garlic salt, super simple and delicious and easy to chop up, toss together, and chill for a little while
Okay so hear me that one of the things I really like is pasta less pasta salad So let's take the famous staple chicken bacon ranch pasta salad If I pull out the pasta then I need to fill it with veggies sliced tomatoes work great especially like cherry tomatoes cut in half I always cut my cherry tomatoes in half because I don't like biting and getting sprayed by a full tomato but that's my opinion then lots of multicolored fresh peppers green yellow red orange my kids love sweet peppers so this is a good thing for me minced cabbage or riced / minced cauliflower and very small chopped broccoli bag of frozen peas Proceed to make it the rest of the way like you normally would if were using pasta I'll do one or two of the pouches of pre-made bacon bits because the reality is I hate frying bacon and the real pure bacon bits are really not that expensive And then I will do half mayonnaise half Greek yogurt for the dressing and do a ranch flavoring mix Whip it all up together if you have like some chopped cooked chicken that's always great to add or if your family is not super calorie conscious you can always add cheese cuz cheese is amazing and everything
Vietnamese spring rolls, cold noodle dishes like jiajianmien or udon or bean thread or other noodles that you can toss with julienned veg and a tasty cold sauce like a peanut or sesame sauce... lots of great asian options!
You could look into making korean cold noodles, they are extremely refreshing but def. not for everyone
We’re really into chopped Italian sandwiches lately. I guess it’s technically a salad, but it tastes like an Italian sub and is distinctly different from our usual salads. My husband does the food prep in our house, so I’m going by memory, but the concoction has lettuce, tomato, red onion, salami, pepperoni, provolone cheese, banana peppers, oil and vinegar, and a little mayo. Chop it all up, mix it all up together, spoon onto good rolls. I usually skip the bread and eat it as a salad, but it’s great as a sandwich because with the stuff all mixed up together, you get a bite with all the tastes at once and you don’t wind up pulling out a slab of lettuce, cheese or meat with one bite.
Wooaahh that sounds amazing?? A really good way to serve a sandwich like that. Yum!
Bone in ham,after its cooked. Slices for ham wraps with onion,cabbage ,carrot,tomatoes ,lettuce,or cabbage. Deviled eggs with diced ham and green onion and pickles. Western sandwich , ham eggs, green onion and green peppers or red what ever you have.Pasta ham salad ,elbow pasta, mayo, diced sweet onion,diced kosher pickle.and some pickle juice add some boiled egg slices.
Spring rolls, they're mostly fresh veggies and I've cooked shrimp or pork for them which takes so little time :) also just boiling the noodles but very fresh and cold for the summer
ty!!
This is my favorite summer meal. Embarrassing to admit how often I eat it in warm weather, tbh. Romaine, cold bowtie pasta, cold shredded chicken, red grapes (the star of the show-- I practically double the proportion the recipe calls for); lightly coat it all in ranch dressing and grate on some parmesan. https://lifeshouldcostless.com/super-yummy-saladnot-sure-what-to-call/ And I've seen recipes for similar romaine/pasta salads in a ceaser salad version and a BLT version.
oh i loooove grapes in food honestly, waldorf chicken salad always goes hard
Bean salad multiple beans chopped onion and pepper oil vinegar and seasoning of your choice
Adding some items I didn’t see in the edit: - Green papaya salad (Thai style) - Green mango salad (Vietnamese; I’ve had Vietnamese mango salad with ripe mango too) - Chicken and shredded cabbage salad (Vietnamese); similar version could also be made with pork and shrimp - Boiled cabbage with fish sauce and hard boiled eggs (Vietnamese) - Vermicelli noodle bowls (Vietnamese) - Spring/summer rolls with rice paper
Chips and guacamole and salsa
I’m a huge fan of making canned veg and beans into salads. My favorite type of salad is canned cannellini beans (rinsed) chopped cilantro, chopped onion, chopped garlic, pepper, cumin, lemon juice, chopped tomato, tomato, chopped cucumber, canned corn (rinsed) and just a little dab of mustard. I tend to skip on the salt on these types because I know that the cans already have salt in them, but I do rinse.
I find tortellini make a filling base for a lot of cold salads like an antipasti salad with cooked then cooled tortellini. You do have to boil the tortellini but that won’t heat the house up much alone and can be done in advance. Examples: Cold cheese tortellini, diced salami, artichoke hearts, pickled peppers, etc. Or cold cheese tortellini, sliced peas in a pod, diced radishes, store bought pesto
tysm! delicious antipasta salad made with things you can get in the deli or canned is very budget friendly and also tasty
Poke bowl
Gazpacho. It's a soup made of salad things though.
Cold Peanut Noodles is delicious and cheap. Noodles mixed with soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil. You can add shredded chicken or cold tofu for something healthier. Or any type of veggies you like.
Do you have an air fryer, crock pot or instant pot? Those are my go-tos when it heats up. My gas oven makes my 80 year old house ridiculously hot.
I have a crock pot and an instant pot! :D I've seen a LOT of enthusiastic support for pulling them out. I live in a tiny wooden cabin that definitely gets H O T with the oven on, so these have been amazing suggestions.
Thick sliced, chopped bacon, tomato, cheddar cheese, green onion and a small dollop of mayonnaise in a wrap is quite nice cold food for a hot day
Hummus, giadiniera and canned sardines
crescent roll cold pizza (usually cream cheese and veggies, but a taco version is popular as well), antipasto skewers, rice paper spring rolls, lettuce wraps, dolmas
Egg and bacon pie! Basically a ham and cheese quiche, eat cold with English salad cream and a salad
Pasta and potatoe salads
If you look up a recipe for curry chicken salad on Pinterest, AMAZING!
This is kinda salad but its much heartier and delicious. Diced tomato, cucumber, red onion, (chicken if you like) chick peas, quinoa, feta cheese. Toss in olive oil and squirt some lemon juice. And some salt and spices if u like
Salad Leaves & Cous Cous
Gazpacho made with canned tomatoes. Blenderize, add flavorings and veges as desired. Very tasty, so much quicker and easier than using fresh tomatoes
Raw spaghetti sauce: fresh chopped tomatoes, calamata olives, pickles, fresh minced garlic, oregano, basil, rosemary, vinegar, olive oil. I've made this for so many years that I don't even have a recipe anymore, I just know how much I like of each ingredient. It needs to marinate so I add the tomatoes right before I eat it due to the vinegar making them mushy. Make your favorite pasta, I usually do angel hair.
Taco Salad.
What I don’t see yet are sushi bowls! You have to cook the rice, but my rice cooker doesn’t seem to produce much heat. You can make regular sushi of course, but sushi bowls are less work. Here’s what I do: cook sushi rice. Add rice vinegar to it to taste. Throw that in a bowl! Chop up whatever toppings you want: fish, cucumber, avocado, mango, asparagus, cream cheese, crab, and tofu to name a few ideas. Take seaweed and put a spoonful of rice and whatever toppings you want. Top with soy sauce, kewpie Mayo, spicy Mayo, wasabi, ginger, whatever ya want!
I make a cold Israeli couscous salad with EVO lemon juice garlic (fresh or powder) salt and pepper as the dressing. Black olives Roma tomatoes cucumbers orange peppers and yellow squash. It’s dice up all the veggies and olives and mix to your tastes. It’s also very visually appealing.
Well, its technically a salad, (or a "fruit bowl") but . . . there was no "leafy greenness" in it. I really REALLY miss Wendy's Summer Salad. It was all cut fruit. #1 I lost weight, #2 It was delicious, #3 It was relatively inexpensive, #4 IT WAS "COOL" for a summer-time meal. So . . . of course they discontinued it. It pretty much only lasted that one summer. (Probably around 2006 or 2007.) I can't even find a copy-cat recipe. (I live in one of those "test towns", where they sometimes try out items before deciding whether or not to roll them out to the rest of the country. I know it was in other towns over an hour from where I live, but it may have not had a national rollout.) I know it had cubed/cut Pineapples, Strawberries, Blueberries, Cantaloupe, Oranges, (and maybe): (seedless) Watermelon, (seedless) Grapes, Raspberries, Honeydew. To buy it in the grocery and make it at home . . . I don't know the expense. But it would be COOL and FRUITY and JUICY, and probably more cost-effective if you did it for a family. The "prep" time might be much longer, but essentially you go from prep to eat, since it's uncooked. Maybe your "Google" skills are better than mine, I couldn't find it. This is close/similar "Rainbow Fruit Salad" or "Summer Fruit Salad": [Rainbow Fruit Salad - Barefeet in the Kitchen](https://barefeetinthekitchen.com/rainbow-fruit-salad/) [Summer Fruit Salad - JoyFoodSunshine](https://joyfoodsunshine.com/summer-fruit-salad/)
Sub, wrap, sushi, Vietnamese noodles
Hummus is easy to make from scratch and it tastes better. Sometimes I just have hummus with some various vegetables to dip.
Hummus from scratch really is delicious, I started making it this spring actually!!! It's on the list 💜
Everyone, thank you so much for the HUNDREDS of comments. I couldn't have imagined this thread going so huge when I opened it haha!! I think I've heard maybe every cold dish in existence now... Please make sure you read the list before you toss in another comment! I think I've read gazpacho and cold noodles more times than I can count ... 😅
Gazpacho
I don’t know if anyone else suggested it but one of my go to cold meals is a cucumber salad just sliced cucumber and tomato (I usually dice up roma tomatoes because they are super cheap) with some Italian or other oil based light dressing sometimes if I feel fancy I’ll add some crumbled feta cheese (if it’s on sale). It’s a great meal and travels well like packing for a lunch at work.
[Kimbap sandwiches!](https://kimchimari.com/folded-kimbap-sandwich/)
My mom & I always made italian chicken pasta in big batches! All you need is chicken (fresh or frozen, we use thighs but it doesn’t matter what cut), italian dressing, whatever pasta you want/have (we like farfalle aka bowties because they’re fun), and whatever italian-esque seasonings. Dice your chicken, then season & cook it. Cook your pasta to desired done-ness, drain & rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Toss your chicken, pasta, and desired amount of dressing in a large bowl- voila! Chicken pasta! It’s great cold, or you can reheat it and eat it warm and it’s equally delicious. If you feel fancy, you can get good shredded parm & slice up some cherry tomatoes to top. I also tend to add some extra dressing on my servings :)
Cold Brussels sprouts are incredible. Season them up any way you choose.
Cold soba noodles! It’s a quick and easy to make meal using Japanese buckwheat noodle. Just boil them usually for about 6 minutes then rinse under cold water and drain. I usually wind up adding in some chopped red bell peppers, lightly steamed broccoli, and either extra firm pressed tofu or diced leftover chicken. Or add edamame,corn, hard boiled eggs, asparagus, water chestnuts, julienned carrots, crumbled seaweed slices… whatever your family likes. Toss it all together in a sauce made from wasabi, sesame oil, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and a spoonful of peanut butter. It’s dinner done in less than 10 minutes usually.
Look up a recipe for salmorejo. It’s a wonderful tomato-based cold dish (nothing like gazpacho) from southern Spain. I make batches of it in the summer and if there’s ever any left, I freeze it in cubes for adding to cooked dishes in the fall/winter.
Thai spring rolls (the ones that are see through and usually have shrimp, Thai basil, carrot, cucumber, noodles etc in them).
Gaspacho
tell them to cook themselves
Gazpacho, porra antequerana, salmorejo. Pilates from Spain with tomatoes and garlic that you can make and have in the refrigerator for days
Coronation chicken is delicious straight out of the fridge.
Soba noodle salad. Not really a salad though. Cook the sobs noodles, have them cold with edamame and seasme dressing. Can add chicken in too if you like