STUFF TO EAT WHEN IT'S TOO FRICKIN' HOT TO COOK, PART 3

Finally, there is really no cooking here.  You can pull out any leftovers from those other two salads, add these sammies and dip, take a quick look around the mess that your guests left in your house last weekend, and ditch it all for a picnic in the park. Maybe I'll see you there, avoiding eye contact over our beers.

Vegetarian Muffuletta

Serves 4
1 loaf of Italian bread (or something else firm and crusty)
8 oz. roasted red peppers, cut into strips
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
1 cup pitted Castelvetrano olives (or your favorite pitted green olive)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 pickled pepperoncini peppers, stems and seeds removed, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil, plus extra for roasting the carrots and cauliflower
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus an extra splash to season the cauliflower
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 shallot, minced
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into thin rounds
1 small head cauliflower, chopped into small bite-sized pieces
Small handful of basil leaves
1/4 pound aged provolone, thinly sliced (leave this out for a vegan sandwich)
Handful of arugula

Add the capers, olives, garlic, pepperoncini peppers, and the 1/2 cup of olive oil to a food processor, and pulse until the ingredients are roughly chopped. Transfer the pulsed ingredients to a large mixing bowl, and add the red wine vinegar, dried oregano, celery seeds, chili flakes, and shallot. Fold all the ingredients together. Some excess oil is OK—it will soak into the bread and make the sandwich delicious. Taste the olive mixture. It should taste strongly acidic, salty, and spicy. Adjust the flavor with more salt or red wine vinegar as necessary. Set the mixture aside.

Slice the bread in half with a serrated knife. If the bread seems too tall, dig out some of the middle of the bread (you can save this to make croutons or thicken soup later). Spread the olive mixture onto both halves of the bread, allowing some of the extra oil to soak into the bread. Starting with the bottom piece of bread, lay down the carrots, followed by the cauliflower. Tear the basil leaves with your hands and place them on top of the cauliflower. Next, add the provolone, followed by the roasted red peppers. Place a handful of arugula onto the top piece of bread. If there is excess oil leftover from your olive mixture, drizzle some of this over the arugula. Close the sandwich and nom nom nom. 

Feta Pistachio Dip

Serves 6 to 8

1 cup shelled pistachios
1 clove garlic
1 bunch of dill
1 teaspoon dried mint or a few sprigs of fresh mint
4 ounces feta
1/2 cup Greek yogurt

black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Get a selection of raw seasonal vegetables for dipping.

Buzz the garlic and pistachio together in a food processor into a rough crumble. Add the dill and mint and pulse until well chopped and amalgamated, add the feta cheese, and pulse. Add the yogurt and pepper and pulse. Drizzle the olive oil in and pulse one more time. Taste for salt; because of the feta, it shouldn’t need any. This dip will hold easily for a day or two in the fridge and should rest for at least 4 hours to let the flavors meld. I actually like it better at room temp for dipping, though. 

A picnic-ready lentil salad with cheese

It is officially too hot to cook again, but sometimes I get hungry for something other than box wine.  Perhaps you struggle with this, too. Behold, the summer 2017 version of STUFF TO EAT WHEN IT'S TOO FRICKIN' HOT TO COOK, PART 1 (sorry if that seemed like I was shouting):

Lentil Salad with Herbs, Peppers, and Cheese
(adapted from Deborah Madison's Lentil Salad with Mint, Roasted Peppers, and Feta Cheese)

Serves 4 to 6

1 ½ cups small French lentils (Puy or beluga)

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced into 1/8-inch squares

½ small onion, finely diced

1 bay leaf

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

½ teaspoon salt

1 (8 oz.) jar roasted red bell peppers , cut into ½ inch pieces

2 teaspoons chopped mint

3 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs: parsley, marjoram, cilantro, thyme, basil

Black pepper

Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar to taste

8 ounces feta cheese

Olive oil, for garnish

Rinse the lentils, cover them generously with water, and bring them to a boil with the carrot, onion, bay leaf, garlic, and salt. Simmer them until they are cooked, about 20 to 25 minutes. They should be tender, just a little firm, and still hold their shape. Drain the lentils and set aside.

Prepare the vinaigrette (see below) and fold it into the warm lentils. Add the mint, herbs, and peppers. Taste, and season with freshly ground black pepper and additional salt, if needed. Taste again just before serving and add a little more vinegar to brighten the flavors. Crumble the feta and gently stir it into the lentils.

Garnish with a drizzle some olive oil over the surface.

Lemon Vinaigrette

1 large lemon

¼ teaspoon paprika

Pinch cayenne pepper

1clove garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons olive oil

Remove two wide strips of peel from the lemon with a vegetable peeler, and slice them into narrow slivers (alternately, grate finely with a microplane). Put 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice in a bowl with the lemon peel, paprika, cayenne, garlic, and salt. Whisk in 6 tablespoons of the olive oil and taste. Adjust for tartness, adding more lemon juice or oil, whichever is needed.

Alright, so there's actually a little cooking involved, but you can make a big pot of lentils with it's cool in the house and refrigerate this salad for days, carry it with you to work and play, and add variety with accompanying breads, leftover pastas, etc. So, I think it's a worthy investment. 

Traveling meals

As a freelance musician, I spend a lot of time traveling when I should be sitting at the dining room table with a healthy meal. I have attempted to eat cold leftover spaghetti while driving through a snow storm (super, duper bad idea), I have been mid-swig of coffee while getting rear-ended by a teenage boy who can't drive and sneeze at the same time (still have the stain on my ceiling), and I have certainly succumbed many times to the gut bombs that are fast joints and, worse yet, gas station "delis".  I've decided that, upholstery and clothing stains not withstanding, packing my own food is best because a) classical music doesn't pay well and b) I often feel like I'm truly about to die for at least eight hours after eating a Whopper Jr. Oh, c) something about being healthy. But really, it's a) and b).

Normal people can also get friendlier with packing meals for the same reasons. Whether you want to stop eating out of vending machines at work, wish to avoid the outrageous prices for tasteless food at the airport, or are just looking for some new ideas for picnics (my favorite part of hiking), it's really easy to pack something delicious to reward you for putting on grown-up clothes and leaving the house. And this stuff will all keep unrefrigerated for a respectable amount of time.

WRAPS
The insipid "healthy choice" of the 90s really is a great idea for travel. I never liked them much, maybe because the only wheat wraps I could find at the store tasted like cardboard. But now I use sheets of nori (you know that stuff you bought when you were going to get all fancy and make sushi, then you realized making sushi sucks? That stuff.), rice paper wrappers (the stuff you make spring rolls out of), or big leaves of collards, Swiss chard, or whatever else is growing in the garden.  I actually love them.

I'll start by sharing this adorable video of a very capable but unenthusiastic young Brit making a wrap (Sweet Jesus, that's a lot of butter).

You don't even have to close the ends if your nori or greens won't cooperate. In fact, here's a nice little blog post on using nori. The only trick with rice paper is soaking it briefly--follow package directions. Now,  let's use some more interesting ingredients.

Spreads: Tuscan white bean dip, walnut-feta spread, and North African party dip all work great as a tasty glue in your wrap. So does guacamole, for that matter.  NOT BUTTER.

Grains: Use something sticky, like short-grain white or brown rice. Stir a little bit of vinegar into it if you want a flavor evocative of sushi.

Protein: Chopped hard boiled egg, mashed up beans (in place of a spread, above), cheese of any kind, or any leftover cooked meat will do. Try to stay away from those deli meats, though--they're nasty, and I care about you.

Vegetables: I try to avoid veggies with high water content if the wrap is going to sit around for obvious reasons, but otherwise, anything works.  Cut into spears for maximum efficiency when eating. 

Some favorite combinations: 

rice paper-sushi rice-finely chopped boiled egg, carrot sticks,gojuchang; 

collared green leaf-Tuscan white bean dip, chopped black olives, sun dried tomatoes, walnuts; 

nori-guacamole, brown rice, black beans, red onion, spinach

GRAIN and PASTA SALADS
A leafy salad with a couple of cherry tomatoes is not going to get you through much of the day, so you need to get a little heavier. These are awkward to eat while driving, but I have always gotten them through airport security, and it's perfect for picnics.

Grains: farro, barley, bulgar, quinoa, short-grain rices (long grain gets too dry)

Pastas: any shape works great, but go for something whole wheat, multi grain, or otherwise fortified for extra nutritional oomph.

Veggies: consider roasting a big pan of mixed veg to toss into salads or eat as sides throughout the week.  They'll really keep things form getting boring. Then when you mix in some fresh chopped vegetables, you've got a lot more variety in textures and flavors going on.

Fresh Herbs: Seriously.  If you have any growing in your window or garden (or the neighbor's garden, which you harvest at 2am--I'm not here to judge), chop and stir some of that stuff in here. It's going to be delicious.

Dressing: Any salad dressing you have already made (here are some ideas if you're stuck) will be great here, too. Don't make it complicated.

Some favorites: 
Farro with Vinegar-Glazed Sweet Potato and Apples
Barley Bowl with Miso Dressing
Tomato and Garbanzo Salad
Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad
Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad
Mediterranean Lentil Salad

Ideas for simple summer getaways

I love the carefree, yet slightly homey feeling of a weekend spent in a small rental where I can hike, swim, explore a nearby city, and bring home local market delicacies to make simple meals for myself. Even driving down the road to a place you already like for a day trip can be a real treat when you don't have to rush yourself to cram all your activities into one day.  For instance, I live about 1:30 from Rocky Mountain National Park. We most often go for the day, leaving right after an early breakfast, fill the day with a long hike, and drive home for dinner.  But once in a while, we treat ourselves to a cheap hotel room in town with hot tubs on the premises (because: mountains) and then we can hike both days, enjoy the town at night, and just generally move at a more leisurely pace.  It's pretty cheap, and because we're not flying, we can toss all kinds of contraband in the car (beer, flamethrowers, large bottles of shampoo--the sky's the limit).  You could try:

A nearby city. See the art galleries you never quite make the time for, stroll along the antique district that's a little too far past your usual destinations,shop at a local specialized market, and actually have breakfast in that cool cafe you can never seem to get to before they close when you're driving from home. Fun cities to consider, if you don't have one nearby: Seattle, Denver, Portland, L.A., Boise (seriously!), Omaha, Nashville, Minneapolis, Madison, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Washington D.C. Best housing options: AirBnB, hostels. 

The beach. Do I need to say this? It's freakin' summer! What's better than rolling out of bed, spending the whole day at the beach broken up by snacks of fresh oysters and ice cream (not together), and then grilling dinner on your balcony while you watch the sun set?  Restaurants are not usually known for being fantastic in touristy beach towns, but amazing, cheap seafood is usually available at even the crappiest grocery store, so a kitchen really comes in handy in these settings. Areas to consider: Gulf Shores (Florabama), northern Michigan/northern Wisconsin, coasts of Oregon and Maine, Pismo Beach, San Diego. Best housing options: vacation rentals, state park cabins. 

A state or national park.  You can hike, fish, boat, or just lay around in the poison ivy all weekend.  These remote areas are also not known for their great eateries, nor are the groceries usually very cheap, so if you're driving, pack a cooler with groceries from home and some beer and get your money's worth out of that cabin kitchen! Parks to consider: Arches, Custer and Mt. Rushmore, Rocky Mountain, The Sinks...everyone has a park within a couple hours of home--go use it! Best housing options: vacation rentals, state park cabins. 

And while you're at it, if you're planning on cooking at all in your AirBnB/cabin/etc. kitchen, I love Food 52's oh-so-true list of things you need to bring with you.  Because rental kitchens are very poorly equipped, no lie. But I would make a couple of swaps:

• Definitely pack your cutting board.  That is not an option, and you always have room.
• Under "spices you use most", don't forget plain old salt and pepper.  There may not be any. 
• A cast iron pan? Puh-leeze. Bring a deep-ish, large aluminum frying pan (oven-proof is even better) that can boil some pasta or rice and also be used to cook what goes on top. I mean, that could be cast iron, but that shit is soooo heavy.
• If you think you're going to bake, a pie plate will work for quiches, pies, cobblers, casseroles, and more.
• Make that vinegar rice vinegar (seasoned or not), and it'll go with everything.
• A cork screw is not an option. It is a necessity.