Cook for the Season: Summer in the Kitchen

Let's face it -- hot summer days and haywire schedules do not make it easy to spend multiple hours a day in the kitchen, especially not if those hours involve finicky prep or standing over a stove. But trading in homemade meals for restaurant food grabbed on the go can add up quickly and impact not only your wallet but your health. So what can you do to make sure you're eating well and staying cool this summer? Here are a few ways to maximize summer eating!


Make a Salad

This is an easy one, and something you probably already do at least some of the time. Summer is the time for salads. And not just side salads, or the pile of lettuce that is really just a brave attempt to get your greens. Summer is time to fall in love with the salad -- make it the center of your meal. Think past lettuce and dream up the salads that make your dinner something to look forward to. An easy way to boost any salad is to add in fruit -- strawberries and peaches are particularly good for this -- a crumbly cheese and toasted nuts. Toss on a lemony dressing and you're good to go!

Make your salad a meal by adding in cooked rice, quinoa, beans, hardboiled eggs, bacon, grilled tofu, crisp tortillas... or anything else you can think of. Fresh herbs can transform the plainest of foods into first-class dining, so don't forget to add in sliced basil, sprigs of mint, or fresh thyme.


Turn on the Slow Cooker

The slow cooker is often thought of as the domain of wintertime cooking, but it's also made to help you with your summer cooking. Turn it on the morning when the weather is still almost-cool outside and then don't worry about having to stand over the stove at all. Simmer up a meat sauce for an easy pasta dish, or get some pulled pork ready for a picnic of sandwiches. Beans do great in the slow cooker and are delicious and nutritious topped with cheese and served with a big salad full of avocado and lime.

You can even use the slow cooker to mix up some fabulous dips for summer cocktail parties. Set the cooker on low for a couple hours to make that spinach-crab dip ready in time for hors-d'oeuvres. And don't forget dessert -- the slow cooker is great for custard, caramelly bananas, and bread pudding.


Get Out the Grill

You knew this one was coming, right? Summer is when you want to be outside but you still need to eat... So cook outside! The grill is great for turning simple meals into something spectacular -- throw some veggies and meat on and you have a gourmet supper with almost no work. The great thing about grilling is that you hardly need any sauces or accoutrements to make your food taste amazing; just cooking it over the open flame does all that for you. So keep it simple and expect greatness.

Grill up food you might not think to put over the fire -- grilled corn surpasses boiled corn by about a million taste bud points, and peaches on the grill will make you doubt you ever need to eat anything else. Fish is a great summer grill food and tastes even better if you grill it on a cedar plank.

No matter how you decide to eat this summer, enjoy it! That's what the season is really for.