In praise of cold food

We've reached that part of summer when the thought of hot food is just gross.  I could live on salads, fruit, and ice cream, at this point. 

That's some watermelon gazpacho I made the other day, based on (but not exactly) this recipe here.  I used ground ginger and a whole jalapeño pepper, and added however much watermelon would fit in my blender after I put all the other ingredients in.  It's delish!

Salad-wise, we have a batch of at least one of these in the fridge at all times, ready to be side dishes for dinner, or lunches all by themselves. 

Black Bean and Couscous Salad (I substitute bulgur for the couscous, because we tend to always have bulgur in the pantry)

Balela (I became obsessed with this Middle Eastern chickpea salad last year, and it's in heavy rotation again this summer)

Tabouleh (this recipe calls only for parsley, but I like to use half mint, half parsley)

Tomato Basil Couscous Salad (also delicious with quinoa or bulgur as a base!)

And for those times when a tossed green salad is all you're really after, this has been my dressing of choice lately.  (The recipe is for a restaurant size bulk portion!  Size it way down to suit your particular salad-eating needs.)

What are some of your go-to summer meals?

Comments

[Greta]

Oh. My. God. The salad dressing sounds so good.

[Melissa]

Thanks for all the ideas! I'm printing stuff out like mad over here! Now, if you could just convince my dh that cold soups are not "gross and disgusting"....