Light Summer Meal Ideas Quick and Easy

Food/Cooking

By: gerrielynn 26-Jul-2011

Introduction:

At the end of a long hot summer workday, no one wants to spend a lot of time cooking over a hot stove, yet the family does need to be fed. Keep your kitchen cool and the food budget in line with a few suggestion for dinners that are light, healthy, delicious and quick in the hot summer months.

BLT Sandwiches

Particularly on a day when you've packed in a filling lunch, try for something on the light side in the evening like a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich. If you are lucky enough to have your own tomato plant right out the back door, then grab a couple of ripe ones, get the bacon frying, tear off a few pieces of crispy lettuce and pop the bread in the toaster.

Spread a little mayo on the toast and put your BLT together, place some fresh fruit on your plate, and have your favorite flavor sugar free jello as desert for a wonderfully delicious, light dinner.

Chicken Salad on Lettuce

The summer months especially seem to be the time to hunt up your favorite chicken salad recipe. In the interest of time, boil a few pieces of chicken before going to bed or before leaving for work in the morning, and place the cooked chicken in the refrigerator to be used in the evening for your chicken salad. If you use boiled eggs, boil the eggs while you are cooking the chicken. (Why not cook more chicken and eggs than you will need for this meal, reserving them until you are ready for the meal suggested below in step 3?)

Instead of eating your chicken salad as a sandwich, place a couple of scoops on a bed of lettuce and serve with crackers and a handfull of seedless grapes on the side.

Chef Salad

What better way to end a day of eating a quick breakfast and sandwiches & chips for lunch than with a healthy chef salad for dinner. You'll love the easy prep work for your salad and since you are the chef, so you can fill your salad with all kinds of things that you love!

Try grilled chicken, (or left over chicken cooked any way at all!) perhaps some thinly sliced ham, boiled eggs, jucy summer tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and squash,(from your own garden or from a side-of-the road fruit & vegetable stand) top with either homemade or store bought croutons and sprinkle a bit of cheese at the end.

Providing you've precooked your chicken and eggs, this is a quick, light, yummy and healthy dinner meal.

Summer Crock Pot Soups

Cold soups are of course a great thing to serve in summer months, but a cup or bowl of cold soup does not appeal to everyone. The good news is that hot soups are not only for the colder months, but they are also great for a summer meal, especially given the availability of fresh vegetables.

Spend one weekend evening chopping up some fresh veggies and throw them in the crock pot, along with canned broth, a few spices, and 1/2 cup of rice or barley and you'll have a crock pot full of vegetable soup to go along with your BLT or a chicken salad sandwich.

Tuna In a Pepper Bowl

Make up your favorite tuna salad and place a large scoop in a topped, hallowed out and washed green pepper. Fill the pepper completely and serve with thin slices of various cheeses and crackers on the side.

If green peppers give you heart burn, or you just do not like the taste, try a yellow or orange pepper as they milder and more gentle for those with acid reflux. Or, stay away from peppers altogether and simply place your tuna salad on a bed of lettuce.

Supporting Links

Chicken Salad for large groups

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clewand550 1/20/2012
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Well done on this list of 5.
goodselfme 9/27/2011
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These light meals can be a great help to fix anytime.Thank you for sharing them with me.