It's roasting outside, what do you cook?

[MNeagle]

As the title suggests, I'm looking for cool cooking ideas.

The heat index is soaring, & my appetite is zero. However, I have a family to feed later for supper...

Ideas welcomed. Thank you!!

[EE_]

A nice egg sammy?

http://www.treehugger.com/egg-frying-on-sidewalk-photo.jpg

http://1000simplepleasures.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/watermelon1.jpg

[Sparky]

Pasta salad with a scoop of chicken salad on top.

To cooked rotini pasta, add diced tomatoes, shredded carrots, sliced black olives, Italian salad dressing. Stir. Refrigerate for two hours (or stick in the freezer for 20 minutes and then re-stir, if you are short on time). Separately, mix canned chicken with mayo (diced celery optional). To each serving of pasta salad, plop a healthy scoop of chicken salad on top, and drizzle with Italian dressing.

[osoab]

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[EE_]

Love good homemade macaroni/potato salad. Boiled or grilled hotdogs on toasted buns. Watermelon for desert.
Love Caprese too!

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UIXOn06Pz70/SKyroyDV7TI/AAAAAAAAEKk/ubmt_ai39Pw/s800/Caprese+Salad+1+500.jpg

[EE_]

It's hard to believe Minnesota went from 20 below zero to 110 temps? wtf is up with that?

http://www.usairnet.com/weather/maps/current/heat-index/

[MNeagle]

yes, heat index 109 currently. May break up by Thursday. Too hot to even go to the beach imo.

As long as the AC/electricity holds, we'll be holding at 73 degrees indoors.

[osoab]

I do a variation of Sparky's recipe.

Rainbow rotinni noodles, once cooled add tomato, cucumber, and bell pepper. Then top off on the plate some zesty Italian dressing.

I don't put the dressing directly on in the serving bowl. The stuff won't last as long in the fridge with the dressing added.

[zap]

I'm soooo sorry MN , Oh how I hate the heat, but you gotta feed the family, I'd say send your hubby out to bbq and make a salad ;) I have learned over the years here to cook at night I made chicken with onions and peppers last night and cut up greens for a salad, Once the sun goes down I will go out and BBQ a sirloin for tomorrow, make some guacamole and salsa and have soft tacos tomorrow, ( yep microwave to heat up)

Stay close to that AC ;)

[muffin]

Something we love is some Greek food. The only thing you have to cook (as long as you can buy some pitas) is the chicken. I just shishkabob them and grill! Make some tzatziki, (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/tzatziki/detail.aspx) hummus, (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hummus-iii/detail.aspx) and Greek chicken. (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/greek-chicken/detail.aspx) I HIGHLY recommend the chicken recipe. We make that all the time and it is really good. The fun thing about hummus is you can add anything to it. Make it hot with some japapenos or add some roasted shallots. It's a great base recipe.

Then, get some feta, lettuce, tomato, maybe some onion. Put a dab of tzatziki in the pita, some chicken, veggies and maybe some hummus on top. You could add some Calamata olives too (love these).

We like to bake/nuke some potatoes and cut them into wedges. Add those to the chicken marinade after you've done the chicken. Grill those up too. That's a good side dish. You could make some seasoned rice if you'd like that better. A side salad maybe. Or sautee some zuchinis with tomatoes.

You could do like zap and grill the chicken the night before if you want to totally avoid being outside in the oppressive heat. It's good even when it's cold, imo. Yummy as leftovers!

And in some cooler weather, I'd suggest baking cut up pita wedges with olive oil and garlic salt. OMG! Delicious crunchy pita chips with hummus! That's another of our faves.

Couple of tips: If you make the hummus, make it at least a few hours ahead (maybe even the night before). It helps the flavor amp up. If you make the tzatziki, strain the yogurt. Put a fine strainer over a bowl. Put a paper towel sheet inside the strainer. Add the yogurt. Let the liquid drain off for a few hours or more. The thicker, the better. To me, that's key to making a great tzatziki.