what to have for dinner on hot days

today in melb it is going to be 38, and i don't really like cooking on these kinds of days, any ideas on what i can have for dinner?

We usually have pasta salad. Our microwave cooks pasta to perfection. Then I'll just chop tomato, ham, red capsicum, grate cheese, add corn kernels, maybe pesto or mayo. Mix it all up and it's soo easy and quick. Even if you boil the pasta on the stove now before the heat sets in, you can cool it in the fridge until you need it tonight.

i love frying up some chicken strips for just 3 mins, then having salad wraps :)

Oooh I like that idea too Danni. My family love chicken!

If you cut them thin, then they take such little time to cook! I just cook them in a bit of oil, and vegeta (which is like stock flavouring).

We either have burrito wraps or just pita bread, fill it with lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes, chicken, mayo and tomato sauce :)

tacos are great in the heat - self serve ;)

Salad is a big hit here on hot days. Anything I can be bothered making. Or I get DH to BBQ the meat and make a salad. Today we're having mince patties that I will make soon and put in the fridge redy for him to cook when he gets home from work and will make a salad later.
Sometimes I cook chicken before it gets too hot and have that cold with salad.
Toasted sandwhiches.
Cold meats from the deli and salad.

I thought about this yesterday....we had a roast last night, so i did extra vegies, and i'll put the left over veg and meat (cut into chuncks) with maybe some onion and pea/corn into a dish, whisk up some eggs with a bit of milk and S&P, chuck it in the dish with the meat and veg, sprinkle with cheese and chuck it in the oven for bit. I'll do that this morning (oh..um...just looking at the time...maybe early this arvo) and just throw it in the microwave to heat it up when DH gets home from work....easy.

And i guess you can make it with anything from the fridge, and even eat it cold and serve either cold or hot with a green salad..

Ohh u girls all have such great ideas. I hate cooking anything on hot days & usually end up just eating a peice of fruit.
I think i'm definatly going to use Rachel's idea & make a pasta salad tonigt:D

Pleased to be able to help, Amy. :)

Buy a roast chicken & chips & whip up a salad!! hee hee

I love chicken wraps but I marinate my sliced small pieces of chicken in tandoori then fry it with some spring onion chucked in at the last minute..
Then on table have diced cucumber, tomato, grated cheese, carrot, some sour cream, lettuce & whatever else & you just add what you want!!! MMMM Now I am hungry again!

we are having chicken schnitzel and salads here, with a nice big cob loaf of bread

a huge hit for DH and I on hot nights are BRTs - Bacon, rocket and Tomato in foccacia (or any roll really) with a wasabi mayo and some relish.

I normally oven roast the tomatoes with garlic and rosemary and then let them cool down - we love the bacon extra crispy so we cook it on a rack in the oven. sometimes we go a poached egg as well.

eating with your fingers when it is hot is essential I think!

I am so in love with rocket at the moment.

Buy a chicken from Woollies (or Red Rooster if you're worried about the fat content) and just shred it up and serve with what we call a plate salad (cucumber, asparagus, pineapple slices, beetroot, cubed cheese, corn, hard boiled egg, tomato and lettuce). You cant beat it on a hot day, no coking whatsoever and it is good for you!

Hmmm, I think I've just decided what I'm having for dinner .....

Hot chook and salad from the hot chook shop for me!

Although last night I got DH to BBQ lamb steaks and we had lamb and salad and bread.

Other times on a hot day we might just do a sausage sizzle......bread, sausages and sauce and onions and some salad...

We usually have either tuna or ham with salad, or get a roast chook from woolies and have it with salad or make some sandwiches.

I have been getting the slow cooker out a bit this summer. Even though we are cooking a hot meal in it, it means the house isn't so hot from cooking with the oven or frypan etc..

Nic

We do wraps with roast chicken from the shop.

OR Taco salads...

1 tortilla warmed
1 layer refried beans heated up
1 layer shredded chicken (roast chook)
1 large layer lettuce
1 blob guacomole
1 blob plain yogurt
Some diced tomatos
grated cheese & salsa to top

*Easy Guacomole recipe*
1 ripe avocado
squeeze of lemon or lime juice (we prefer lime, but whatever you have)
small sprinkle salt
pepper
1 tbsp of salsa

Mash together with a fork. Top with sprinkle of coriander (or cilantro if you are in Mexico ;))

my fav thing to have on a hot day is a fresh green salad with all types of lettice, then add snow peas, chargrilled capsicum, cherry tomatoes, parmasin cheese and what ever else you like in a salad then adding some fried holumi cheese with some of that paul newmas balsamic vinigarette dressing it is sooo yummy I would have to say this is my most fav thing to eat I enjoy it so much

Rachel i made your pasta the other night to have with salad and it was so yummy everyone had some. I'm going to make some more soon for tonight to have with salad again.

If you have a BBQ:

onion
red/green capsicum
mushrooms

slice all.
marinate with ABC sweet soya.
Barbecue.

Or you could just do in a fry pan.

Goes great with meat and sooo easy!