I thought it would be fun to see what people are doing with warm weather eating.

Thursday night was a zucchini feta frittata with fresh dill.

Last night I made a fabulous saute of fresh chard, lots of garlic, cannelini beans, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a sliced tomato tossed in at the last minute. I served it over raw zucchini spirals with a small handful of rf cheese (definitely would have been pasta in the old days).

Tonight we are having a Mexican broccoli & black bean salad and veggie burgers.

My grill is finicky and I'm trying to get it working properly. For now it's just meals that don't take long to heat.

Have to admit... During the summer, I buy things to go on the grill. It's too hot to use the oven for sure! Tonight, we're having pork chops and zucchini on the grill and three bean salad. Yum!

Where I live, it's summer most of the year. It's also Air Conditioning most of the year, so I'm ok using the oven or the grill year round. In the heat, though, lighter meals are more appealing. There are few days year round when a stew or other hearty dish doesn't seem like it would sit heavily.

That being said, a big piece of roasted/baked lean meat is great. It means you can have cooked slices of something cold for future meals with little effort. Or have it as toppings on a big salad.
Grilled chicken breast, London Broil, beef or pork loin, steak, lean pork chops, are great for salads or served originally hot with two side veggies, especially if one is cold.
Shish-ka-bob with lots of veggies.
Veggies grilled in slabs (eggplant sliced, half peppers, zucchini or yellow squash sliced lengthwise, onion slices, tomatoes sliced in half, thirds or quarters), sprayed with olive oil, seasoned lightly and grilled until they soften and have grill marks. Mmmmm.
Leftover veggies, chilled, on top of salad greens, with leftover cold meat, a couple olives, some feta cheese, mmm.
Pre-cooked shrimp, thawed in running water, dusted with Old Bay Seasoning on top of salad.
Quick stir fry with fresh vegetables, leftover meat or thawed shrimp, ginger, soy sauce & garlic.
Tuna or chicken salad with light mayo, little mayo, or made with an olive oil based dressing.
Take your whole grain (couscous, brown rice, whole wheat pasta), cook it ahead of time and chill it. Stir in several chopped vegetables and an oil based dressing and you have a tasty side dish.
Yogurt with chopped cucumbers, let site for the flavors to blend makes a nice dressing. Look for raita recipes.

Next time you buy fresh herbs, for about the same price you can buy the plant (in my grocery anyway). Plant it in the ground near your grill, or several herbs in a large pot - even on an apartment balcony. Then use snips of fresh basil with halved cherry or grape tomatoes and shredded mozzarella with a touch of olive oil. Add mint to your raita or iced tea.
Use raw cabbage in your salads. Raw it can be spicy.
You can microwave a wedge of fresh cabbage for a minute or so and have a sweet side dish.

I'm going to try the Ezekial pasta for the first time tonight. I'll add a little olive oil, garlic, fresh basil, tomatoes, feta and black olives.ETA-and pine nuts. For added protein I have precooked chicken slices. I bought raw organic chicken from Costco and cooked it all at once for use later.

Of course, a huge fresh salad which is all my organic greens from the CSA. I bulk it up with cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, and cucumber.

I was thinking of you, Cyndi. I would like to make my own dehydrated soup mix. I'd like to do a vegie combo, and a bean mix, but haven't had inspiration regarding the spices yet.

Grilled anything with veggies done the same way. I also do 3-bean salad, tabbouleh, couscous salads and cacik or gazpacho....simple and quick and prepped in the cool of the morning.

Ruth... Please share your gazpacho recipe. I had a cold tomato/basil soup years ago and still remember how wonderful and fresh it was.

I grilled shrimp marinated with lime juice and then chilled them and mixed them with mango and cilantro. Not bad but it needs some veggies. I love the idea of 3 bean salad. I'll have to make that this week.

Chelby - if you like avocado I have a really tasty avocado gazpacho recipe I'll dig it out and post it

I would love to have the avocado recipe!
and what is the spiral zucchini idea?

I would love the 3 bean recipe also.I am assuming its just beans, oil and vinegar.And maybe onion.Am I missing anything.Do you add splenda?

Rikki - It's a raw foods thing that Cat recommended. It makes spirals out of raw veggies. I think it will also be good for sweet potato fries and salads. Right now I'm obsessed with the zucchini "noodles" though. I can't believe how perfect they are in the summer. I didn't heat them at all but next time will try a very quick saute in olive oil spray just for comparison. I have this one: http://world-cuisine.com/store/index...7331-pA4982799 but there are quite a few variations.

harrismm - I don't use sweetener in my bean salad, though I know a lot of people do. I use seasoned wine vinegar, lots of oregano, and a little EVOO. I mix whatever beans I have around, sweet onion, sometimes a little green pepper or celery. I'm a flexible cook

My new favorite easy salad is one my Mom makes every time I visit (since I started SBD anyway!). It's just raw broccoli & cauliflower, sweet onion, & halved grape tomatoes with a good Italian dressing. I prefer her homemade dressing but any acceptable bottled dressing would work. Let it marinade a few hours or overnight. We go through several bowls when I visit.

Chelby - A couple of cold soup recipes from my favorite cook book author: http://vegkitchen.com/recipes/cold-soups.htm I'm going to try that bean recipe this week.

I'll get that avocado gazpacho recipe up as soon as I'm awake enough to read it

Harris, I do use a little Splenda in my 3 bean salad. Yesterday, I used a little lemon herb seasoning. It was really good.

Cyndi, I would love the avocado soup recipe. Yum!

3 bean salad, 7 - layer salad, salade nicoise, tuna couscous salad - we like cold stuff in the summer, or anything grilled.

Mmm.....everything sounds good and healthy. Schmoodle, what are your 7 layers?

I'm looking for a SB cole slaw. I'm having cravings.

Tonight, we have the oven on. Cooking everything at once. Baked chix and turkey/buffalo meatloaf for our picnic tomorrow, ezekial pizza for dinner and sweet potato salad, also for our road trip picnic.

we had beef fajitas - i just has the steak and fixings no wrap.
Cole slaw sounds so good. Is there a recipe for SB cole slaw.
take care
Sophie