Eat to beat the heat?

[H. du Bois]

My apartment is an oven tonight. Last night we lost electricity due to a big electrical fire beneath the street in front of our building, which meant no A/C, no refrigeration, no nothing. Not the way anyone wants to spend a heat wave in New York, especially when you have to shut your windows to keep out the smoke. (Cute firemen, though).

I've just dumped out half the contents of my refrigerator, and am about to do what all New Yorkers do when the going gets tough - eat out.

I think the mango salad at my local Thai place is calling my name. And maybe a drink with an umbrella in it.

[Terrasanct]

No AC here in Montana, over 90 and up to 100+ for at least the past two weeks. At least we have a basement, but we don't cook or eat there.

One night we had bread, cheese and wine. I made peach milkshakes the other night for dessert. Last night I put the ingredients for beef Burgundy in the crockpot and cooked it overnight, finishing at dinner. Not exactly traditional, but it was good.

I have tomatoes and peppers in the garden but it's so hot I can't seem to keep them hydrated.

[Pontormo]

Edy's TANGERINE Fruit Bars. REally, the best!!!!

ETA: Just read the two preceding posts. So sorry, you guys!

Edited July 19, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[Jensen]

After I've been outside working in the garden and/or with the dogs, I come inside and eat a big bowl of kim chi.

Yum.

[snowangel]

I've decided to eschew the Trusty Old Kettle at home, and opt for either the Kettle (not old and trusty yet) and opt for noshing or Kettling and lots of swims at The Cabin. I'm taking three or four kids, and have lots of food that can be eaten cold and require little or no prep.

[bavila]

I just read in the paper that our power grid operator suggested that people order takeout to avoid using the stove/oven during peak hours 3-7pm. We did just that last night -- good excuse for a Chinese run.

Monday night we grilled a couple of pork tenderloins which will likely show up next to capanata tonight. No cooking!

While the grill was going (the charcoal grill pushes me to be an efficient griller) I roasted some bell peppers which are now in the freezer for later use.

Jsolomon: funny you mention your dogs going nuts over the fried chicken. My late kitty would go bonkers everytime I roasted turkey.

[Chufi]

95 F in Amsterdam today and it's getting hotter tomorrow. Maybe not as hot as what some of you are experiencing, but for Dutch standards, this is HOT. No AC anywhere, accept for very large stores and new offices (of which mine, unfortunately, isn't one).

2 people died from the heat this week at our national hiking event the Nijmeegse Vierdaagse (4 days of hiking). It's hot.

Oddly, the heat makes me hungry.

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me too. And, I crave fried and deep-fried food! I also crave spicy food, with light and lively flavors. I tend to cook what I fancy, and not pay much attention to how hot it is in my kitchen. Oh and yes I know it's best not to drink alcohol, but it's so hard to resist a nice glass of Pernod with lots of tinkling icecubes on my balcony after work...

[phlawless]

I have been making quite a few melon margaritas...canteloupe works really well.

[JSD]

It was 104 yesterday, yet another record. I recently got a solar cooker and started experimenting with it. I made a cake yesterday!

[LindsayAnn]

Just hit the local farmers market (one of the chicago ones, another reason I love living in the actual city, tons onf farmers markets!).

Got some beautiful Peaches, Cherries, and a plasitc tub of spreadable cheese (raw milk white cheddar, really really good).

I got this cheese last week, that you grill (or heat in microwave). Its meant to be heated, and when you do it, man is it good. I love eating it plain, or with crusty bread. But many people like it with fruit (pears, ,apples), as well. I am not HUGE into the cheese and fruit pairings...I like to keep things seperate!

[kairous1]

call us crazy but we roasted a chicken yesterday in this crazy so cal heat. but we took the chicken and had dinner in our garden. that was well worth it.

i love making chinese cold noodles, tossed with seasame oil and light soy sauce with slivers of cucumbers, carrots and shredded chicken. exactly how my mom made it.

[jdtofbna]

..jeesh, and I thought 97 here in Nashville was bad! I got an e-mail from some friends in London last night and they said it had been 102.....now, in London, that's HOT. As for me, I'm eating lots of salads, gazpacho, tomato-basil-goat cheese sandwiches, watermelon, cantaloupe, and Publix Cherry Limeade Sherbet. (or is it sorbet? can't remember, just know it's got that wonderfully nasty maraschino cherry taste

[Eden]

We are heading off for a picnic with friends this afternoon so I have to cook this morning. Cherry pie & either pasta or potatoe salad are in my near future. the pie will get cooked in the "Pie oven" but there's nothing I can do re the potatoes/pasta needing a big pot of boiling water

Our friends are in charge of the fried chicken and deviled eggs so at least I'm only doing half the cooking. although I'm thinking right now of doing a cooking binge since I have to use the stove anyway & then not going near it again all weekend as the temperatures rise...

*I've heard that technically icecream is lousy warm weather food as it generates more heat in digestion (calorie content) than it cools, but the illusion holds for us.

That is just Heresy!!!

of course Ice-cream cools you down. not only are you putting nice frozen bits on your insides, it also makes you happy so you don't mind the heat as much - very important!

[Toliver]

It's going to be triple digits here all week with a projected high next Monday of 109°F. The overnight lows are expected to be around 80°F.

It's going to even hotter in the high desert where andiesenji lives. Stay cool, andie!

Needless to say, there won't be any stove or oven use in the near future for me.

Taking my own advice, last night I made chicken tostadas. I used shredded chicken pulled from a store-bought rotisserie chicken with refried beans heated in the microwave on a crisp store-bought corn tortilla. I topped it with a concassé of tomatoes, some red onion and shredded iceberg lettuce. I used some seasonings (chili powder, cumin, etc) along with some canned diced jalapeños in the refried beans for added flavor.

I wish my apartment had ceiling fans. I have floor fans in every room and can hold off running the A/C until late in the evening. Once the A/C cools down the apartment, I find I don't need it during the night. A floor fan works quite well at keeping things cool.

During the San Diego County Fair last month, their utility company, SDG&E, had a display as to what it costs to run different appliances. Fans taks only pennies to run per hour.

The US Department of Energy estimates running a window fan costs about $8 a year. I can live with that.

[ludja]

Cool taboulleh salad with tomatoes, cukes, carrots, red onions, feta cheese, parsley, mint and lemon juice and olive oil. Fill a pita and you're ready to go.

Watermelon for dessert.

edited to add: The taboulleh recipe is not traditional but has evolved from a version in Schlessinger and Willoughby's "Thrill for the Grill". I usually add basil and or mint as well and sometimes radishes or cooked shrimp.

Kairous1, the idea of cool Asian noodle salads sound great...

Edited July 20, 2006 by ludja (log)

[Terrasanct]

My husband and I both work at home, so I sometimes make the main meal at lunchtime and we just snack later on. Or I do the major meal prep early and put it together at dinner time.

I live in a nice 101-year-old house, but when the previous owners renovated they thought it would be a good idea to add a garden window to the kitchen. It looks pretty, but in the summer, the sun comes into the kitchen starting about 4:30 and turns it into a furnace. Makes cooking in the evening unpleasant to impossible. Canning in August is no fun, either.

Edited July 20, 2006 by Terrasanct (log)

[dvs]

oh!! i forgot...

ghetto pops aka:

[Kris]

I've been eating lots of stuffed grape leaves, "summery" fruits like mangos & blueberries & drinking lots of water.

I've also had a craving for raspberry sorbet that I've been indulging.

[mizducky]

Well, I see I'm also not the only one who believes that misery loves company.

I was trying to Google some hard info on the notion I've heard that spicy foods actually help cool the body down in hot weather. Nearest I could find so far is this article from the archives of the New York Times (from Mimi Sheraton way the hell back in 1981). The article also repeats a lot of stuff already posted in this topic.

I'm especially interested in hearing more about foods that actually make you feel cooler, as well as appealing to the appetite on a hot day or helping you avoid encounters with a hot stove or grill. But as far as I'm concerned, everything else is still fair game too.

As for me, I'm beginning to get really really bored with just slapping stuff on the Foreman Grill or making sandwiches. I bought ingredients to make ratatouille, but I missed today's window of morning-cool cooking opportunity. If it cools down acceptably before midnight tonight, I'll try it tonight; otherwise, I'll give it a go tomorrow morning early. Nothing like this weather to make a morning person out of me! Meanwhile, now I'm toying with the idea of going out to eat ... except that would require stepping out in the heat to get to my car.

[nessa]

Mangos. Lots and lots of cold, lucious, creamy, delicious mangos.

That and POM cut with sparkling mineral water. Yogurt. This heat is doing wonders for my figure!

[Teri Everitt]

Forgot to add that when at work no matter what one is eating EAT IT IN THE WALK IN!!

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Edited July 21, 2006 by Teri Everitt (log)

[kathlucky]

Trying to beat the heat in Penn and today in Alabama.

Refreshing Lentil Salad

Cook French lentils overnight in crock-pot (slow cooker). Cool.

Add lots of halved grape/cherry tomatoes, a ton of mint leaves torn, bit of sweet onion to taste. Dress with olive oil and favorite vinegar.

Serve cold on bed of lettuce, with some whole wheat pieta bread.

Best eaten when freshly made.

Since I do not like lentils, I have been trying to invent recipes so I can take advantage of ease of cooking, and low cholesterol, high fiber, high protein, cost effective qualities of the lentil.

Also working on a recipe for barbeque lentils in crock-pot.

If you have no slow cooker, try soaking lentils for an hour or so in cold water then it will cook up faster (less heat in the house).

[mizducky]

Well, I missed my cool-temp cooking window again this morning, but I was so desperate to have something different to eat at home that I cooked anyway. World's fastest ratatouille--just sling everything in a pot and have done with it. Yeah, I was sweating, even dressed in just shorts and a tanktop, but I sort of ignored it. I'm sure certain quarters would have considered this a public health violation, but hey, I'm the only one eating this batch, so whatever.

[Alchemist]

Cold borsht with potato and sour cream. Egg salad sandwhiches.

[alanamoana]

other night: chips with pico de gallo and guacamole

last night: melanzanisalata, tsatsiki, pita chips and wurst-salat

nice to not cook...