Hot Weather Meal Strategies
- Plan ahead. Make menus each week and stick to them.
- Use your freezer. Freeze meat in marinades, fresh fruit pieces for snacks and look for freezable dessert recipes.
- Cook with everything but the oven. Use your rice steamer, the crock pot, pressure cooker and of course your charcoal or gas grill.
- Don’t forget your microwave—they don’t heat up the kitchen the way ovens and stoves do.
-Take advantage of plentiful fresh produce.
- When you cook, make it count. Cook once, but plan to eat at least three times.
- Make use of pre-prepared foods.
Tuna Pasta Salad
1 cup light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon dill weed
12 ½ ounces tuna in water flaked and drained
1 cup shell pasta cooked and drained
1 cup frozen peas thawed
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped red onion
First, make the dressing by combining first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; stir well and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a serving bowl and stir in dressing. Chill. Yield: 4 servings
Marinated Broccoli Matchsticks
5 ½ cups julienne-cut broccoli stalk (2x1/4 inch)
2 ½ cups diced seeded tomato
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Combine broccoli and tomato in a bowl; toss well, and set aside. Combine lemon juice and next 4 ingredients in a blender, and process until smooth. Pour over the broccoli mixture, and toss well. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour. Sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 6 servings