14 June 2008

Hot Weather Cooking: Take 1


I am cheap.

Seriously.

Super cheap. Like it is over 100 degrees inside of my house, and I refuse to turn on the air conditioning cheap. Like my dogs are preparing a coup where they duct tape me to my bed and figure out how to get the air on- bills be damned! Yeah, I am a little crazy, but I figure the insane temperatures cannot last. So I (along with Crash and Millie) continue to suffer. Is this where I insert a joke about the dog days of summer?

So what do you eat when standing in your kitchen sends rivulets of sweat streaking down your back and chest? When cooking seems slightly less enticing as a drip of sweat slides down your nose and splats on your cutting board? If you are anything like me, you have a couple very simple staples like cottage cheese mixed with chopped tomatoes and green onions or vanilla yogurt mixed with fresh fruit. But those dishes can get a little old, especially with all the beautiful produce turning up at the farmers' markets at this time of year. So the natural progression for me - salad. The cooking is minimal, if non-existent, and the end result is usually light, satisfying and pretty.

Last week for dinner, it was a Fish Taco Salad - minus any tortilla. I made guacamole, pico de gallo, and sautéed a turbot fillet in a dash of olive oil and lime juice. I drizzled the salad with a dressing made of light sour cream, lime juice, salt and big spoonful of pureed chipotle in adobo sauce. Definitely fit the bill - light, spicy, gorgeous and delicious!

1 comment:

RecipeGirl said...

Oh my gawsh, this looks totally amazing. It's not even that hot here yet (just about upper 70's right now), but I'm diggin' the salad scene for sure.