If you can't take the heat....

don't get out of the kitchen!

With a high today of 90 here, I'm starting to try to get my mind back in the game of summer cooking. For me, I usually don't cook anything until dinner anyway. However, in Colorado the day usually reaches it's high temperature around 5:00pm, which means I do not want to be standing around the stove around that time!

What do you do for summer evening meals? I start pulling out all my favorite appliances for starters. We use the grill, the rice cooker, the crock pot, and the bread machine more. I'd say I usually use the crock pot several times a month. If you don't have one yet, or a rice cooker, I highly recommend them both. I've had my low end Target slow cooker that I got as a wedding gift 9 years ago and it still works great. Same with rice cookers. I know the more expensive ones have some great features, but don't let that prevent you from picking one up. I had one I got for $20 at Walmart that lasted me years, until I decided to upgrade to the $40 one at Target that doubles as a steamer for veggies.

We also make so many salads - whether they are veggie or whole wheat pasta salads (I boil the noodles in the AM when it's cooler) you can set them out with fruit, veggies, dips, crackers and you've got an easy light meal. Hummus, with Whole Wheat Pitas, and veggies is a stand-by in our house. Keep some Dark Chocolate or a yummy sorbet in the freezer and you've got an easy dessert. One of our favorite summer desserts is also to grill some fruit, like pineapple, and then simply serve it over some amazing vanilla ice cream.

I try to watch good deals on fish and shrimp, and when I see something good I throw it in a freezer bag with some marinade so it's ready for spontaneous BBQ.

We tried something new over the weekend, that I can tell is going to be a new favorite of mine. I've been flipping through the book The Food You Crave and came across an unusual Panini recipe that we threw on the grill. YUM! Whether you are tired of your standbye grilling recipes, trying to cut out carbs, or want something super delicious but still healthy, try this for a change! I had to return the book to the library so I don't have the formal recipe, but this is so easy, you don't need one.

Portabella Mushroom, Sun-Dried Tomato and Gorgonzola Paninis

You'll need:

Olive Oil

Portabella Mushrooms (one mushroom = 1 sandwich)

Sun Dried tomatoes (not in oil, dried)

Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Put the sundried tomatoes in boiling water to re-hydrate them. Wash the mushrooms, and slice the stem off in a way to make the side of the mushroom flat. Then slice the mushroom cap in half - this is the outside of your sandwich. Fill the sandwich with 1 tablespoon crumbled gorgonzola cheese, and 1 tablespoon of the diced sun dried tomatoes. Brush olive oil on the outsides of the mushrooms. You can put this in a panini press, in a pan on the stove, or as we did, on the grill! If your mouth is watering, it should be...this is one of those recipes that does in fact taste as good as you're imaging it does!

Also check out the Food section of todays Denver Post for more non-cooking recipes that will keep your kitchen cool. I love their reasons why not to cook: it's cooler, it's greener, it's cheaper, and it's faster. My other reason - less clean up!

Happy Summer Cooking!