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Enjoying the Corn & Squash of High Summer
Keeping it cool in the kitchen
Paige Vandegrift
July 16, 2025
Feeding yourself well when it’s too hot to cook
I admit it: the heat of July and August makes me kind of grumpy. I love to cook…but the idea of heating up the house by turning on the oven is pretty unappealing. I even try to minimize my use of the stove this time of year. Since I spent my late 20s and early 30s in restaurants working in the eternal summer of the hot line, feeling this way has come as a surprise. It is also a bit of a problem for someone who loves to cook and eat well. Fortunately, one benefit of writing this newsletter is it motivates me to actually prepare meals rather than spend the summer eating fruit and ice cream and drinking icy beverages
If you follow me on social media or are a long time reader of my blog, you are probably aware that many—if not most—of my meals in the summer months are simple and spontaneous vegetable and/or fruit salads that require no (or very little) cooking. Last year my August newsletter was all about learning how to make spontaneous/no-recipe salads (using cantaloupe as a starting point). And my blog is filled with salads featuring variations on the theme of corn and tomatoes. You could do worse than spend your summers eating these kinds of preparations. But of course there are other ways you can think about “beating the heat” as you cook for yourself during the hottest months of the year.
Spontaneous lunch salad of tomato, avocado, corn….
Upcoming (Free!) Class
While I’m on the subject of corn and tomato salads, I wanted to let you now I have another free Zoom class coming up. Like the one I did in April, this class will be hosted by the Lawrence Public Library. The format will be the same too: short (one hour), paced for cook along (if you like), and focused on cooking for a small household.
I will be making a salad that features the abundant corn, tomatoes and zucchini of summer. As with April’s class, I will share loads of variations on the basic recipe. The class includes a nice recipe for an all-purpose vinaigrette too. And since the salad requires some knife work, this class will be a great opportunity to work on your knife skills in a setting where you can ask questions.
Class is from 5 to 6 pm on Tuesday, July 29. I hope you will join me…all you have to do is sign up in advance.
Fire up the Grill
More and more over the past few summers I have been relying on my grill for high heat cooking. For most of my life I used the grill only for the occasional steak or hamburger. But of course you can do so much more with your grill. And while standing over a hot grill on a ninety-plus degree day isn’t exactly my idea of fun, at least when I’m done cooking, I can come back inside to enjoy whatever I have made…and leave the heat outside where it belongs.
