Is anyone else feeling the heat out there? Summer is in full swing, and as much as I enjoy getting to wear shorts, sundresses and sandals, it is getting mighty toasty inside. In my fantasies, my apartment is regulated by central air at a perfect 70 degrees. In reality, my 2nd floor apartment is just a few degrees cooler than hell by about 4pm everyday, and stays that temperature well into the night. I ran my little wall AC last night, and according to the temperature gauge, it took four hours for my apartment to re-enter the high 70s. As I imagine I am not the only one feeling the heat, it seems this was a great time to pull out some of my favorite ways to stay cool!
The thing I love about summer is all the juicy fruits and vegetables that are in season. Some of the sweetest, juiciest fruits are in season this time of year like blueberries, cherries, plums, apricots and watermelon. It is also a great time of year for water filled veggies like green beans, cucumbers and corn. Nice to know that Mother Nature is working with us to keep us cool!
This is a perfect time to institute having a light meal for supper. Who wants to turn on the stove a cook a four course meal? You could make a fulfilling salad with greens, corn, black beans, berries, cucumber, string beans and maybe some goat cheese for fun. Make it a complete meal by cooking your meat in the morning on Sunday when it is cooler in your home so you can add it to your salad on Monday or Tuesday night. Want something healthier for your family than bottled vinaigrette? There is a link for lots of homemade vinaigrette recipes at the bottom of this page. They are easy to make and most of them don’t require a stove.
As a special note, this is a great time of year to whip out the jalapeños and the cayenne pepper. Eating spicy foods will help cool you from the inside. When you eat spicy, it triggers your body to glisten. (That’s woman talk for sweat!) This is your body’s natural mechanism to cool yourself down. Eat something spicy while going into the full heat of the day and your body will help regulate your temperature before you get the chance to heat up!
What about when you want something quick to help cool you down? I personally love to just take a frozen berry and let it defrost in my mouth. It is a burst of sweetness that is portable and sweetened by nature. It also takes no preparation time. It is just pop and go.
If you want something fancier, I have a super easy recipe for homemade Italian ice. Take one heaping cup of berries and ½ cup water. Blend them together, pour into a ramekin or small bowl and freeze. Viola! You have a super easy and healthy dessert. If the natural sweetness isn’t enough for you, add a touch of stevia or agave. Personally, I find the natural sweetness perfect but you decide for yourself!
Here is another recipe to cool you down. I call it:
Chilled gazpacho that’ll make you sweat.
It will cool you in two ways: 1) from the chilled vegetables and 2) from the spiciness of the jalapeños.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ready in: 1 ½ hours
This should yield about 2 large bowls or 4 smaller bowls of gazpacho.
3 medium tomatoes
½ or 1 whole jalapeño (omit or reduce if don’t like spice. If you include a whole jalapeño it will be “stick a fire hydrant in your mouth” spicy!)
1 cup cucumber
½ cup red pepper
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon cilantro
1 cup water
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Trader Joe’s 21 Season Salute (or mixed herbs you have available)
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup water
salt/pepper to taste
First, I sliced the tomatoes and the onions and grilled them (on my Foreman Grill – yes, I live in an apartment!) I grilled them until charred to give them a smokier flavor, removed from heat and chilled them for 1 hour. If you are short on time or prefer raw, go ahead and skip this step.
While the tomatoes and onions were cooling, I diced the cucumber, red pepper, jalapeño (again, warning: will be very spicy with a whole jalapeño) and cilantro and set them aside in a bowl. I added the 21 Season Salute (if you don’t have that, add extra herbs or spices like basil, thyme, etc) and the salt and pepper.
Once the tomatoes and onion were chilled I removed the charred areas, peeled the onion and chopped them into small pieces, removing as many of the tomato seeds as possible.
I added this whole mixture to the rest of the prepared ingredients I had just set aside.
I then took this mixture and poured it into my blender. I added the water, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and blended for 60 seconds. The consistency should be slightly lumpy. Since gazpacho is served cold, it was ready to eat! Easy peasy, totally tasty and super cooling!
Given that, at least where I live, this heat is only going to get worse through about October, finding ways to keep cool can be a life saver. Even if you are luckier than me with your central air, setting the thermostat a few degree higher will ease your tears when your electricity bill arrives. These are some of my favorite icy options. Surely you have a few favorites up your sleeve as well. Feel free to share my recipes and share your ideas so we may all keep just a little bit cooler.
*Homemade Vinaigrette Recipes: http://www.food.com/recipe/basic-vinaigrette-dressing-with-8-variations-213989
ALL of thees look incredible. I love Italian, though I will start making in now rather than buying it:) Yes, summer is hell In South Carolina. I appreciate the tips to make it a bit less so…and deliciously at that:)
Yes, I remember how hot a humid South Carolina is in the summer! We get the heat here in California, but I guess I can’t fully complain because it is a very dry heat. Good luck with the Italian dressing. Hope it works out!
Bring on the heat and humidity of summer and with it all the dishes you mention above. Gazpacho has always been a favorite of mine.
Glad you like gazpacho Tim. I’m usually such a big fan of food that is very hot, but I welcome the coolness this time of year!
Hi Erica – I live in Ontario and the warmest its been here is in the high eighties, so heat isn`t a big problem, but that doesn`t mean I`m not going to enjoy your recipes. Love the one for Italian Ice. Will be trying that later today.
Lenie
Hi Lenie. I didn’t know that Ontario had such consistent mild summers. That must be nice since I do like the heat, but of course anything over 90 is just never enjoyable. I hope you enjoy the Italian ice! It is very simple but a great way to enjoy some natural sweetness!
It does look tasty and nutritious. Too bad I have no time, nor the skill to even cook. I think I have forgotten how to boil water.
Haha William! Your comment made me laugh! I have faith that boiling water is like riding a bike and the skill would come back to you in no time!
I love gazpacho! And that Italian ice looks delicious. These would go well with my post this week for iced lemon green tea! 🙂
Yes, they would go together well! It is just that time of year when everyone has cold food on the mind I guess!
Great post for this time of the year. I’m very fortunate to have a house that stays cool most of the time even though it’s 85 degrees outside. Your tips are great though. I always wondered how the spicy food thing worked. And a frozen berry sounds delicious. Thanks so much for gazpacho recipe too:-)
Glad you enjoyed the recipes! I used to have a home that stayed very cool as well. I moved last summer and now I’m in an oven. Oh, well. It is a much nicer home so I guess it is worth it. Enjoy your summer!
I’m not a huge fan of gazpacho, but I will definitely be making your Italian ice dessert. And spicing up other foods!
Hi Donna. Yes, it think hot weather is a great excuse to eat spicy!
Hi Erica,
Yes, the heat of summer is upon us.
Even a hot bowl of soup will do the same thing and clear the nostrils at the same time. Break the heat by adding heat. Bring on the chilled gazpacho!
Kind Regards,
Bill
Hi Bill. Yes, you wouldn’t think heat would help beat the heat. it seems counter intuitive. Sometimes the body works in complex and mysterious ways!
Love these recipes, especially the one for Gazpacho. Today I ate a whole chili at lunch and though it burned a bit at first, it really helped with the humidity we are having here. Gotta love the summer as an excuse for more fruits and veg, huh?
Thanks for sharing these awesome dishes!
Yes, summer is such a great time for produce. Wow, braving a hot bowl of chili in summer is impressive. Glad it cooled you down. Luckily we don’t have much humidity here, but I know how oppressive it can be.
I love your recipe for Italian Ice! I have a bowl of raspberries I need to do something with and I think I just figured it out! Like you, I love what summertime means when it comes to food. The farmer’s markets out here in California are fantastic and it’s so rewarding to buy all my fruits and veggies straight from the growers! And when you mentioned eating jalapenos…our plant is producing more peppers than we know what to do with! It’s fun all this fresh food keeping things cool with our triple digit heat!
Hi Pamela. I live in California as well and I am amazed at just how many farmers markets there are where I live. I do enjoy getting to meet the people who grow the food and knowing that my food was grown locally. Have fun with all the jalapenos. I’m sure you will find a bunch of spicy recipes to use them in!
I love cold soups. My mom used to make something called sweet soup that we ate cold. It was mostly fruit and some tapioca. Sounds awful but it was yummy. She always insisted there was no recipe and I didn’t chronicle it so there’s no way I can make it.
Hi Beth. Oh, that must be so frustrating to not be able to recreate that soup. I’ve never had anything like it but is sounds yummy and almost like a cooling dessert. Now I’m craving it and I certainly don’t have the recipe. Oh, well!
Hi erica; Thanks for sharing. You sure have a good round up of tasty ideas that won’t heat up the house. I like those bags of frozen fruit that you can eat as they thaw in your mouth or in a bowl on the counter. and we get sherbet. Someone said italian ice is sherbet without the milk. Is this correct. Maybe we could make our own sherbet. I think it would be even better if I could mix some nuts in it. thanks again, max
Hi Max. Good question about sherbet. Quite frankly, I’ve never made sherbet before so I’m certainly not the expert. Having said that, I believe you would actually need an ice cream maker to make sherbet properly. If you simply froze it, it would come out like a sheet of ice instead of the creamy texture of ice cream. If you had an ice cream maker, you could make your own healthier ice creams made of whole fruit, nuts and other natural ingredients as opposed to the concoctions we normally get at the store.
I haven’t tried any cold soups in years. With the heat wave Pittsburgh is having this summer (90 degrees + humidity) anything that will help keep us cool is a good idea!