Cold Foods Day

Note that this is not an official holiday. Today is really Sewing Machine Day and Vinyl Records Day. Neither of which I have much experience with.

So the title really refers to the fact that I managed to make it through the day without using my stove, oven, or microwave. It was over 80 today and the house was warm. Yeah, I know, 85 is not necessarily a heat wave in some parts but here that counts as a hot summer day and sometimes a record.
The possibilities are endless for cold summer meals, but here are some ideas.

Beet Salad
1/2 bunch Red leaf lettuce
1/2 a roasted red pepper
4 small steamed beets
1/4 cup feta

Toss with balsamic vinaigrette.
(Yes, this requires having precooked beets and pre-roasted peppers. The peppers were courtesy of my husband's last grilled meal and the beets courtesy of Trader Joe's.)

Smoked Salmon Spread
8 ounces cream cheese
8 ounces sour cream
8 ounces smoked salmon
Dash Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Juice from half a lemon
Dash salt
Dash black pepper

Mix and chill for about an hour. Serve with baguette (or that fabulous La Brea Bakery whole grain bread from Costco). This recipe was on the package of smoked salmon from Costco.

Caprese Salad
2 Tomatoes
2 ounces mozzarella
6-8 basil leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
Dash salt & pepper

Chop and toss together in a bowl. Or just slice the tomatoes & mozz and layer with basil on a plate. This is the salad I crave in the middle of January!

Fruit Salad
1 nectarine
1 peach
1 pint strawberries
1 pint blueberries
Juice of half a lime
About 1 tablespoon honey
5 chopped mint leaves

Toss together in a bowl. Right now the farmers at the Issaquah and Renton farmers markets are selling amazingly sweet nectarines!

I hope you are enjoying your summer. It has turned into a particularly fabulous one here with warm sunny days that make me forget the rain. I have two living basil plants (they usually die on me in a few weeks) and we are actually eating tomatoes from the backyard (also not my usual experience here).