The Easiest Summer Dinners
Easy dinner ideas that require little or no cooking
Last night I snapped this quick photo of dinner - tomatoes, basil and mozzarella with olive oil and salt, plus a sliced baguette.
Three of us love this combination. The fourth (my 7 year old) makes her own plate with baguette slices and butter, a few pieces of mozzarella and a leaf or two of basil.
It’s a light but satisfying summer dinner, very easy to make and no actual cooking required.
All the credit for the gorgeous tomatoes and basil goes to my husband. He’s the gardener in the family and tomatoes are the one thing that grows reliably well in our sun-scorched back yard.
If necessary, you can bulk up this meal with a green salad + chickpeas, or a can of white beans mixed with pesto, or sliced salami or a tin of smoked trout from Trader Joe’s.
More Easy Dinner Ideas
During the summer I know there will be a lot of nights when I don’t feel like cooking, but my family feels like eating. On these nights when I want to spend as little time as possible in the kitchen, I rely heavily on basics like pasta and jarred sauce, frozen food from Trader Joe’s, quesadillas, etc…
I’m sure you have your own basic dinners that you rely on as well. Here are a few more ideas to try out on your family:
Sliced watermelon (or fruit salad) plus a big bowl of popcorn: In the summer, this totally counts as dinner. The combination of popcorn and fruit is filling and has a good sweet and salty balance. This dinner pairs perfectly with a Friday night movie.
Egg sandwiches: Toasted English muffin + scrambled egg with melted cheese. If you’re feeling ambitious, add microwaved breakfast sausage (we really like Morning Star veggie sausage links)
Oatmeal buffet: Kelsey from The Girls Next Door podcast recently shared that she makes a big pot of oatmeal for dinner once a week, and sets out yummy toppings.
Chips and Cheese: Otherwise known as nachos, but I want to remove the pressure to serve anything other than chips and melted cheese. Dip the chips into salsa, guacamole or sour cream and that’s dinner!
Deconstructed sandwiches: My kids don’t really like sandwiches, but they will eat sandwich ingredients that are served separately instead of layered between bread. Grab a platter and fill it with rolled up turkey or ham slices, pickles or olives, and cheese. Serve with crackers or chips.
Instant Pot Pho with Ramen Noodles: This is basically Top Ramen for adults, with a fragrant broth that’s easy to make in your Instant Pot.
Salmon Sushi Bowls: The only ingredient that needs cooking is the rice. Then you serve lox or smoked salmon, sliced avocado, cucumber and seaweed snacks on the side. Everyone makes their own “sushi” bowl, dressed with soy sauce or coconut aminos. Find the “recipe” here.
What We Ate Last Week
You know those weeks when you get home from vacation and dinner is really random and unmemorable for a few days while you unpack and do laundry and get your bearings agains?
That was last week. Honestly, I don’t remember what we ate for dinner, but here’s a photo from our vacation in Montana.
Watching & Listening
I always forget that I read a little bit less during the summer. It seems like the perfect time of year to plow through my book list, but leisure time is taken up by other activities and later bedtimes mean less reading time for me.
So instead, here’s a show and a podcast you might like.
Julia is a light and fun TV series on HBO Max based on the life of television chef and cookbook author Julia Child. Sarah Lancashire is one of my favorite English actors and she makes you fall in love with Julia Child immediately. One caveat: they are constantly eating and drinking on this show, so don’t sit down on the couch empty- handed.
The Slowdown is a podcast from American Public Media that delivers one poem a day, read aloud. I started listening to this short podcast in January as part of my New Year’s resolution to bring new things into my life. I fell off the wagon sometime around March, but have started listening again this summer.
For me, this poetry podcast is like a meditation practice, a few minutes during the day when I stop rushing around and simply listen to something lovely. I’m not a “poetry person” (at least not yet) and some days I have to force myself to listen, but my resistance is exactly why I need it. Don’t you think?
That’s it. Have a good rest of the week!
Jenny
P.S. All of my past newsletters with links to recipes can always be found in the archives
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