When that temperature starts rising outside, the last thing you may feel like doing is turning on the oven to make dinner. But do you look in the fridge and wonder what you will make for your next family meal or snack? Peruse these fun and light meals and snacks that are perfect for hot weather and save you time in the kitchen!
Salads
A salad may sound humdrum to everyone for dinner time, but it can be catered to whatever everyone is feeling like! Start with a base of lettuce, and it can be anything from iceberg to romaine to a mix of five or six different kinds! You can chop up a bunch of different veggies or simply buy some pre-cut varieties at the store. The possibilities are endless when it comes to the salad additions, and it can be the majority of veggies that your family likes, such as cucumbers, broccoli, peas, carrots, radishes, tomatoes and more!
Next, you can switch up the protein involved as well, whether your family enjoys meat, tofu, black beans, or something entirely different. You can buy some cold cuts to make the salad entirely chill, or even grill some chicken, sausage, or even hot dogs to cut up and add to your salad. Don’t forget the dressing of your choice, as well as croutons! Salads are so versatile you can make them multiple times each week and simply switch up all the ingredients!
Fruit is Variety!
A fun snack, dessert, or accent to a meal is a variety of fruit! You can call them mixed fruit, fruit parfaits or fruit salads, but a variety of fruit is another easy way to create something different without putting in a lot of time in the kitchen! You can make a salad of strawberries and bananas one day, then a mix of berries the next day, like raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. Make it more tropical one day and do a trio of mangoes, pineapples, and melons!
You can cut up the fruit and leave it as it is, or you can add certain spices to offset or accent the sweetness of the fruit. You can blend them to make smoothies, or even blend them and freeze into ice cube trays to make your own frozen fruit bars! You can add yogurt to your fruit for a parfait treat, or use a medley of fruit on top of pudding, Jell-O, or other whipped treat. You can make a variety of salads with fruit, such as an ambrosia salad, which uses mandarin oranges, pineapple, a smooth creamy base that can be either more sweet or savory (such as whipped cream or mayo), and coconut! The possibilities are endless!
Katie Kyzivat