Warm weather foods
 

So, where I live it's been really hot lately (temperatures right now are around 94 degrees during the day). In an attempt to cool off people will eat ice cream and popsicles and drink cold beverages and the like, but what about meals? I understand in szechuan cooking and some other regional cuisines, people believe that eating hot foods in hot weather cools you off, but I'm a wuss so I like stuff that's actually cold.

I made some cold noodles the other day, which turned out to be fairly tasty as well as nice and cool. Unfortunately, when thinking of other cold foods I can prepare, I came up blank. I don't relish the thought of eating noodles every day, either, so I need some more ideas.

What kind of cold foods do you prepare (if at all) for consumption on these hot summer days?

Cold sandwiches can go a long way. I load mine up with a lot of cold vegetables, mayo, and mustard. Cold salads work well too. There's also a Spanish soup called gazpacho that some people that I know eat during the summer, but I never could stomach the stuff.

Frozen blueberries usually cool me down rather quickly. I just wash a container or two and throw the berries into a plastic bag before throwing them into the freezer. When I take the bag out, the mound of blueberries cools down my hand as I'm holding it, and, of course, eating the actual thing helps as well.

Never too bothered about whether I prepare hot or cold food for eating during warm weather, I seem to have a nice warm cup of milk tea for most occasions. I remember this time in HK Disneyland for lunch I had Kung Po chicken. I think in some of the meals generally there was a lot of chilli or something. It was really warm that day and my throat was burning inside I thought I was in trouble. Phew! It just got hot in there!

As for cold food I would probably prepare a bowl of cereal with cold milk. If you're talking about a meal, maybe raw salmon would do with salad. I can't really think of anything particular.

I generally avoid soups and hot drinks during the summer months. I also notice that I tend to only eat cereal in the summer and never during winter.

A cold watermelon goes a long way to refreshing you from inside to out. It's pretty much a given that in the summer months we have at least 2-3 watermelons in my fridge ready for consumption.

I came in here to post the exact same thing, Ence. Watermelon is pretty damn awesome for chilling out. I can down a quarter of a fairly nice sized one easy. :)

I can name snacks, like watermelon, fruits, popsicles, ice cream, cold drinks, etc. But meals is more difficult. I like warm meals over cold, as usual, and I don't think it really changes due to weather for me. I just eat whatever. I try to avoid soups since warm soups will make me sweat in the summer. Maybe some BBQ to start the summer off.

One word, gaspacho.

I make alot of simple cold fruit and vegetable soups to refreash myself from the heat.

Cold fruit is good, as well as cold drinks of any kind (my favorites are milk, water, and beer), and ice cream. We had cold soba for dinner with cold tofu the other night, and it was great, especially since it's been 110+ here this week.

I avoid soup and coffee/tea during this time of year, but other than that I tend to eat just about anything. The heat doesn't effect my appetite.

i tend to just get a drink of mostly ice. ice water~ eating the ice cubes cools you down real fast.
i also tend to cook less and less and drink more and more during the summer. watermelons are always a good mix too (especially teh seedless)

I love melon over the hot summer days. Honey dew, cantelope, watermelon, it's all good. Fruits in general are really nice to cool down. Ice cream is also nice once in a while.

Watermelon is one of my favorites during the summer months besides the already stated cold drinks (water, gatorade, soda, etc.), ice cream and popsicles.

You really just need to wear colder clothes....

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3...clothesha6.jpg

There's not only gazpacho soup, but lots of others you can make that are supposed to be eaten cold, like cucumber soup I think. If you're not too finicky about what you eat, try cooking something hours before your meal and then leave it to cool. Not particularly appealing but it works. Even mild curries can seem refreshing that way. Another way is to have quite a large salad with something hot, so you can contrast the two. Or, for example, if you were having a bbq then you could have chilled coleslaw with your burger, or the relish of your choice.

so i know i could easily prb google these....but can anyone post a recipe for this gaspacho <sp ? and cucumber soup ?

many thanks


ps I HATE WATERMELON...vile humongous fruit :aargh:

Try cold pasta or rice salades... That always tastes good in summer!