August can be hot—too hot to cook. A meal made in a hot oven may be the last thing you want when the temperature rises.
To help you stay cool, here are some ideas for delicious and healthy no-cook meals that are quick, easy and refreshing.
Try building your meals around cool, simple ingredients. Start with a base like lettuce, whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa, or a wrap. Then add protein like beans, turkey or tuna, fresh vegetables, fruit and flavorful toppings like cheese, hummus or avocado. A simple salad or sandwich packed with turkey, tomatoes, avocado and Swiss cheese gives a burst of flavor without heating up your kitchen.
No-cook recipes
Try one of these no-cook recipes that don’t use a hot oven or stove top:
- Berry-Yogurt Protein Bowls.
- Breakfast Peanut Butter and Jelly Wrap-up.
- Crunchy Thai Chicken Salad.
- Hummus and Veggie Wrap-Up.
- Mediterranean Salmon Salad.
- Rosemary Tuna Salad Sandwiches.
- Tuscan Tuna Salad Wrap.
- Summer Fruit Salad with Lime Yogurt Sauce.
And don’t forget to stay hydrated! Hot weather makes you sweat, which increases your risk of dehydration, when your body loses too much fluid. Drink water throughout the day and eat fruits and vegetables with natural electrolytes, like watermelon, cucumber or oranges.
For more tips, read Water, Hydration, and Health or contact your local VA registered dietitian for help planning healthy summer meals.
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Try genoa tuna in the can and pasta with capers, lemons ,olive oil and garlic cloves. Put olive oil in a pasta bowl ( to your liking ) then crush garlic cloves ( we love garlic so we use a lot ) then squeeze about 4 or 5 lemons, put in some capers then add the tuna packed in oil (5 or 6 cans )depending on how much pasta you are doing. Mix it up and leave it on the counter or in the fridge til you get home covered. Then cook the pasta and let it cool, then mix it in with the tuna. How much of the ingredients you use is up to you but we love it left over after it has been in the fridge so we make at least a pound of the farfala or whatever we want for the 2 of us.