Who can be bothered to cook in this heat? Slaving away in a hot kitchen is nobody’s idea of fun. But you don’t have to live off ready meals and takeaways, as there are plenty of easy dishes to make that involve no cooking. I’ve picked some out for you to try when you just don’t want to cook!
Take some leftover cooked chicken, or purchased from the supermarket, chop up a few veggies, stir in some hummus and Greek yoghurt, crumble some feta and voila. Almost no effort, and no cooking involved (not this time, anyway).
Mmmmm … goat’s cheese and rocket. What a gorgeous combination! Wraps make a pleasant change from sliced bread for a sandwich, and there is absolutely NO cooking involved with these wraps. Or indeed, very little effort.
Okay, so it might not be an authentic pizza, but this recipe uses flatbreads, and avoids cooking of any kind. Use whatever veggies you have handy, and make an easy but tasty snack.
All this needs is some chopping, and then to be left for an hour. How easy is that? You could also vary the vegetables and herbs; try mushrooms or celery.
You need a food processor for this, but since no actual heat source is involved, I don’t count that as cooking. The dip is a gorgeous color, thanks to the red peppers, and cumin adds a nice hint of spice. This dip would go really well with crusty bread.
Couscous is great for no-cook dishes, as you can just leave it to soak in hot water. Mint is the perfect partner, as anyone who’s eaten in a Middle Eastern restaurant will know. One change I would recommend is that you don’t use hot tap water as the recipe states, as it can be unhealthy for consumption.
Ceviche is a South American dish of raw fish ‘cooked’ in citrus juice. It needs to marinade for a few hours, so prepare in advance, but there is no actual cooking required. If you don’t like the idea of eating raw fish, just think of it as sushi!
This is a fabulously calorific no-cook cake (well, just a little melting involved). Personally I don’t like glace cherries or raisins, so I’d leave them out, but you don’t have to! Also known as Refrigerator Cake, since you leave it there to set.
So, why not have a go at these, or some of the many other no-cook recipes? There’s no need to stand the heat, you can make minimal effort in the kitchen and still eat well!
Top Photo Credit: Jon_Oz