It is wicked hot today. Sweltering. Stifling. Please-can’t-I-live-in-a-swimming-pool hot. I have parked in front of a fan for the duration because somehow hot air that moves is better than hot air that doesn’t. Phew.
Thankfully we had warning of this heatwave, and I’ve been preparing so I wouldn’t have to cook when the house already feels like an oven.
I’ve been filling the fridge with herbal teas, and the freezer with homemade popsicles. The chilled cherry cranberry soup I made earlier makes beautiful popsicles when frozen. Creamy, tart, and not too sweet.
But we cannot live on popsicles alone, so I made a bunch of veggie dishes that could be chilled and eaten cold as we sit melting in front of the fan.
Breakfasts start with smoothies followed by cold boiled eggs and sauteed asparagus, silverbeet, and tomatoes from the garden.
Lunches are an assortment of chilled veggies – boiled carrots with dill, steamed broccoli with lemon pepper, capsicums and yellow cherry tomatoes – with sharp cheddar and sliced apples.
By the time dinner rolls around, we’re so hot we can’t hardly think of eating, so chilled soup really hits the spot. We started with gazpacho, beautifully savory with tomato, cucumber, red capsicum, celery, and dill. I also like creamy carrot soup with ginger or curry or dill.
Tonight we’re having chilled roasted beet soup with horseradish cream. I love root veggie soups made with roasted veggies – turnips, parsnips, Swedes, rutabagas, etc. They’re nourishing, comforting, and, when cold, a great way to get lots of vitamins and minerals in your body when you really don’t want to eat much.
For the beet soup I roasted a big pan of beets my friend Tracy gave me, and a lot of garlic until the beetroot was tender and the garlic soft and caramelized. It smelled amazing.
Pureed with chicken stock and dill it became thick and marvelously rich, especially when topped with cold Greek yogurt mixed with grated horseradish. Just the thing to nourish us in the midst of a heatwave.
What do you like to eat on a blazing hot day? xo
Oh Krista, it is so hot here today too! Stay cool… thanks for sharing the photos of your beautiful cool food xx
I was reading that, @@liz_posmyk:disqus Hoping for relief for both of us. XO
I love cold chicken and mixed salads (not making them but if they are already made and in the fridge) and freshly squeezed orange juice with iceblocks.
lol – not making them sounds good to me too, Jan. 🙂 It’s so nice to have made food in the fridge, isn’t it? Cold fresh squeezed orange juice sounds exquisite on a blazing hot day. 🙂
yum. yum. yum! it’s hot here too today – but night quite what you’re describing. hang in there!
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We’re doing our best, paradis. 🙂 So very thankful for fans. 🙂
I’m with you about chilled soups, they seem to cool your whole body. Lovely photos of some delicious looking meals.
They are beautifully cooling, Karen. I love them. 🙂
You folks need to come to the coast. Nice breeze off the water and no air conditioning required. But I have no farm, no goats, no chickens, no garden, no fruit trees and the list goes on. Your cool food is better. 🙂
Ohhh, the weather sounds absolutely heavenly, Maureen. 🙂 I am so thankful for our farm, but on these days, I wouldn’t mind running away to the coast for a while. 🙂
Looks like you were well prepared with lovely vegies, I am addicted to carrots and just plain old salad
Carrots are pure bliss on these hot days, My Kitchen Stories. 🙂 They go so well with nearly every meal, don’t they?
Yum!! Stop it, I’m hungry again already;)
So terribly sorry to tempt you, Ken 🙂
What a delicious array of food.
It was rather scrumptious, Linda. 🙂
The popsicle looks fantastic and it’s definitely what you need when the temperature soars. I love the look of your boiled egg lunch and it must be so satisfying to know those eggs have come from your own property. We’ve had some scorching days in Sydney; Friday was 42C and on Thursday it will be 38C – I’d better make some popsicles xx
These soaring temps are shockers, aren’t they, Charlie? Popsicles really are the best option. 🙂