You don’t have to heat up the kitchen to eat well this summer
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Keep your kitchen cool with advice from area dietitians.
“We can absolutely still create a balanced meal without spending hours cooking or even turning on the oven,” said Elizabeth Eisnor, clinical dietitian with Center for Community Health & Prevention at University of Rochester. “Some of my favorite hot weather meals are fun summer salads that include a starch. They can serve as a main meal or a reliable side throughout the week.
One example is a variation of a Mediterranean pasta salad using any kind of pasta or couscous, chickpeas, feta, kalamata olives, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes with a dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, black pepper and garlic powder. The variety of flavors and textures are appealing even when it’s beastly hot.
“You can include different veggies and herbs as desired,” Eisnor added.
She’s also a fan of creating a “snack plate” with items such as baby carrots and whole grain crackers dipped in tuna salad or chicken salad with a piece of fruit. Try deli turkey and cheese roll ups with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, a grain such as pretzels or popcorn and humus. Or perhaps chips and mashed avocado with hard boiled eggs and sliced raw bell pepper. Children love the chance to build their own plate.
Grace Krizen, registered dietitian with UMMC Healthy Living Campus with Rochester Regional Health, likes to build meals around no-cook or low-cook options.
“Think hearty salads with protein like grilled chicken, beans or canned tuna; wraps; or grain bowls using pre-cooked items like rotisserie chicken or microwaveable quinoa, rice,” she said.
It’s the perfect time to accompany meals with seasonal produce for optimal freshness and nutrition. Krizen added that it’s also usually cheaper.
Look for roadside farmstands, farm stores and farmers’ markets to snap up the season’s produce.
If you’ve had a busy day and still need to pull together supper, “don’t underestimate shortcuts,” Krizen said. “Pre-cut vegetables, bagged salads, frozen fruits and simple store-bought items can still be part of a very healthy meal.”
How you cook matters. Using a slow cooker or microwave reduces the heat in the kitchen. Toaster ovens take less time to preheat than the large oven.
“Grilling is your best friend in summer because it keeps the heat outside,” Krizen said. “You can grill more than just meat — vegetables, fruit like pineapple or peaches and even flatbreads cook quickly and add variety.”
Consider buying a vegetable grilling basket so you can easily cook the entire meal outside.
Amanda Reynolds, wellness coordinator with Thompson Health, is also a fan of grilling.
“Make a variety of fun meals like kabobs — assorted veggies and proteins — with rice on the side, grilled chicken with salad and quinoa, naan pizzas, etc,” she said.
Salad can be a little too light. So, she advises offering numerous salad fixings so each family member can select what they want such as marinated chicken grilled and sliced, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, rotini pasta, parmesan cheese, croutons, dressing and more. With some bread or rolls on the side, salad can be a hearty meal.