Creativity in the Kitchen: Recipes for Summer
The summer heat tends to push us out of the kitchen and lacking inspiration. Your kitchen creativity doesn't have to slack when the temps rise. Choosing foods that are hydrating, seasonal, and don’t warm up the house during preparations are possible and delicious. Let's look beyond salads for new and creative summer recipes and nutrition tips!
Important Education Takeaways
Choose meals requiring little to no cooking, or that can be done outside. Summer is also a wonderful time to turn on the outdoor grill and enjoy meals together on the grass or patio.
A fresh chopped salad can be a great no-heat option to add to your menus. Batch cook a protein that is tasty served cold — chicken, tofu, etc. — and add to the salad mix. You’re cooking once and filling several meals for the week.
Browse our recipe collection for wonderful salads, salad dressings, and meals for the grill. A versatile no-cook salad that can be used in many ways is the Black Bean and Corn Salad.
Put heat-free appliances to use! Blenders and food processors can help avoid adding extra heat to the kitchen.
Enjoy refreshing smoothies, dips, cold soups, or nutritious bowls filled with fresh ingredients.
Summer is perfect for fresh, seasonal produce. These foods are often more nutrient-rich and hydrating.
Enjoy fruits and vegetables with high water content such as cucumber, tomatoes, watermelon, berries, and leafy greens.
Learn more on the topic of organic versus conventional produce in our Ask the RD blog.
Batch cook to save time and keep your kitchen cool. Prepare larger quantities to minimize daily cooking.
Check out our June 2024 highlights offering ideas on batch cooking.
Remember to hydrate regularly as temps rise. Stay hydrated with infused water by adding fruits, veggies, or herbs to your water for a refreshing, flavorful drink.
Helpful flavor combinations can be found in our Ask the RD blog.
Recipes
Recipe of the month: Summer Corn and Zucchini Turkey Burgers
As always, this recipe is the showcase of our live taught, virtual cooking class. Our chef and registered dietitian bring the recipe to life as they walk you through food prep, swaps to meet dietary or taste preferences, plus tips and tools to support you being your own healthy chef at home.
Bonus recipe: Grilled Shrimp with Mango Salsa
From Jamie’s kitchen to yours, our monthly bonus recipes are published on our website and social media the 4th Wednesday of each month. We invite you to browse our recipe collection and come back often to find more flavorful and heart-healthy recipes.
We invite you to join us for the live taught, virtual nutrition classes each month to gather more information on our nutrition topics. This is also an opportunity to ask topic-related questions of our experts as well as connect socially with attendees for idea sharing. As a registered participant for our In the Kitchen program, you receive a few reminders ahead of each scheduled monthly classes, but here’s an easy to remember schedule: Nutrition Education (30-minutes, 2nd Wednesday, 12pm), Cooking Class (up to 60-minutes, 3rd Monday, 12pm).
Contributing authors: Kayla Guillory, MS, RD, CDCES, diabetes educator, Providence Community Teaching Kitchen; Jamie Libera, RD, LD, CCTD, registered dietitian, Providence.