When I was little, we didn’t have central air in our house. My parents had a window unit air conditioner in their bedroom window that cooled their room and the short hallway to a bedroom my sister and I shared. During one especially hot summer, we would set up the card table in the bedroom to eat. It was just too hot to eat in the kitchen.
And the meal of choice was Chef Salad. Cool iceburg lettuce, chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, lunch meat, sliced American cheese all topped with Seven Seas Green Goddess dressing or maybe Russian dressing.
Side note: Remember that Green Goddess Dressing from the 70s? I think it disappeared for a while, but now Kraft is selling it. I haven’t tried it since I was little.
Chef salad still makes a great dinner on a hot evening, but there are some other good no-heat meals too. Here are a few that will keep you and the kitchen cool.
Gazpacho
This cold soup is full of garden veggies. It’s a great way to use all that zucchini!
Tomato Sandwich
Admittedly, this is a pretty light meal for dinner. But if you’ve got garden fresh tomatoes, what else do you really need in life?
Peach Chutney Chicken Salad
This 15 minute recipe calls for using homemade peach chutney that you’ve already frozen. You can skip that and use store-bought chutney instead. Or go for this Chicken Salad recipe with grapes and pecans. Use rotisserie chicken to keep it cool and quick. (The photos on that post are old and not great, but the recipe is wonderful.)
Summer Time Tuna Salad
There’s no mayo in this version. Instead the tuna is served over sliced avocado with plenty of tomatoes and other goodies. This is one of my favorites! It’s quick and easy to make too.
What are your favorite no-heat dinners to beat the sweltering summer heat?
Yes, I remember that Green Goddess dressing from the 70s. I especially loved it on the salad bar at Ponderosa Steak House. I recently bought some of the Kraft. No comparison at all. At least, not like I remember it. I was sadly disappointed.
Yes, much like you I grew up with no central AC. We used box fans in the windows or on bad nights we slept on the floor in front of one, all 4 of us lined up in the cool of the fan for the whole summer. It was like camp at home and I hated to go back to my room at the end when school would start. I still live in a house with no central air, window units and yes they blow the fuse sometimes. These are great ideas for summer meals, I have no idea how my mum fed us all in the heat. I know we didn’t have a grill because nobody did back then. Stay cool!