You don’t have to heat up the kitchen to eat well this summer
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Keep your kitchen cool while creating meals everyone will enjoy. It’s time to step back from bubbling soup and hearty casseroles.
“During the summertime, look at things that don’t involve cooking like poke bowls or sushi,” said Philip Smith, registered dietitian with Oswego Health.
Smith is also a fan of wraps and skewers, as they can feel lighter than things like casseroles. Brimming with fresh, in-season vegetables, Smith likes to pair them with lime or cucumber dressing, which is “super light” and refreshing.
Look for meals served cold such as tuna salad, chef’s salad or gazpacho alongside crusty bread (use a bread maker or store-bought bread); charcuterie with plenty of produce; or deli-style subs with plenty of lettuce and other veggies.
How you cook can be as important as what you cook — or even if the food is hot at all.
“Do things outside for cooking, like grilling,” Smith said. “Getting the cooking outside is a better way to cook to keep the heat out of your house.”
In addition to the grill and bread maker, appliances such as the toaster oven, microwave and air frying can spare you from firing up the oven and filling the kitchen with heat.
Jack Riffle, former executive director of the Farmers Market Federation of New York in Syracuse, recommends kohlrabi in lieu of potatoes in an air fryer.
“With a little preparation, you can turn those into French fries,” Riffle said.
The cruciferous vegetable can be purple or green and is rich in vitamin C, potassium, fiber and antioxidants.
Learning new ways to prepare foods can help make meals more flavorful and appealing in the summertime heat. Shoppers at a farmers market can learn how to prepare less familiar produce and products. Riffle said that many times, livestock farmers have told him that people buy their meat and complain about it later, even though the customers prepare it in a way that’s not appropriate for that cut.
“Fewer and fewer people are spending time in the kitchen,” Riffle said. “The ancestral or generational knowledge of food preparation is not being passed down. Farmers markets are the last bastion that’s working hard to share the joys of cooking and offering a variety of items you can’t even find at the grocery store.”
He added that farmers enjoy sharing how to use their goods. Some farmers market vendors share recipes as well. Many market managers create a vendor list with the intention to provide customers with a one-stop-shop experience so they can put together entire meals and cross off many items from their grocery shopping list.
“Farmers market vendors offer a unique opportunity, unlike a grocery store,” Riffle said. “At the cash register of a grocery store, there might be high school or college aged students who have no experience and would have to call a manager about a particular vegetable. At a farmers market, the vendor can speak to how it’s grown and how to enjoy it. It’s a missed opportunity just shopping and not conversing with the vendors.”