There's a paradox about cooking in the summer. I don't want to heat up the kitchen, so it would be good to grill outside. But it's really hot and standing over the grill cooking makes people miserable. So I think I will cook the chicken indoors after all. Just briefly, on top of the stove, with some vegetables and serve with couscous. Couscous cooks with boiling water, so doesn't add much to the heat in the kitchen. Sometimes, when it was hot, we might walk to the beach and swim. Now we have to drive (sad face). Even worse, the beaches have high bacteria counts so we can't swim anyway. I think maybe we'll drive a little further today to swim.

Too hot to cook: Pasta Salad for supper

Today's main ingredient is corn. We were lucky enough to get some early corn on the cob Thursday and somehow didn't get to cook it until Sunday. It was still delicious, surprisingly. I try to cook it the minute I get home but life interfered with my best-laid plans. I also have some leftover pasta. A recipe called for 12 ounces of pasta, which is dumb. I would rather have 4 oz of leftover cooked pasta than raw, so we cooked it all and reserved some. Fortunately, I have a favorite recipe for Mexican Pasta Salad (thank you once again, Moosewood!). It is even low-fat! It calls for a can of cooked beans--kidney, pinto or black. I usually have a can of beans around, although I did use the black beans a couple weeks ago. When I can, though, I prefer to cook my own, especially if I can do it early while it's not hot out. So, I have some pintos simmering on the stove that will be one and cooled before I need them. There is corn, a yellow pepper, some fresh tomatoes, and scallions--everything I need. I'll chop up some veggies soon and mix the dressing, so it will be nicely marinated before we are ready to eat it tonight. Meanwhile, I am thinking ahead to a quiche I'll make Friday--do I need to buy some Gruyere? We picked up a cantaloupe yesterday, which is really nice with blueberries, coming into peak season now.

What type are you?

Some people like to take on a job and stick with it until it's done. Sometimes that keeps them from ever starting... I prefer to break tasks into manageable bits. I like to cook, but I don't always want to get started. I'm sure you've been there, all of a sudden it's late (5 or 6 or 7) and you're hungry. Maybe other people are hungry too, but they would not ever plan ahead to make sure there is something to eat when they're hungry. Anyway, I usually know what I'll eat when I get up: cereal and milk with fruit, or yogurt and fruit and toast and peanut butter or a bagel with cream cheese. At least one of those options is almost always around. I could make an egg and bacon, but that doesn't usually appeal. Lunch is often leftovers, but there should be bread and cheese and maybe sliced luncheon meat--or a can of tuna if need be. And there are usually some marginally healthy snacks in the pantry if I need something in between times. Dinner is what I mean when I talk about cooking. I love to bake bread or cookies when the weather is oooler and I have the time and energy. But the evening meal (call it supper if you prefer) is the one that takes the most planning and usually preparation. Ideally, I know what that's going to be when I get up in the morning because I've been thinking about it the day before. If not, that's the first order of business, even before getting dressed or eating breakfast. What's the weather forecast look like? How many people will be eating? What's in the fridge? I usually plan around the ingredient that most urgently needs to be eaten. Today it is zucchini, but it is often meat--chicken I bought or thawed the day before, for instance. Today it's hot, so probably not anything that uses the oven, and preferably not a lot of time on the stove. Can it be made ahead, while it's cooler? I decided on a frittata for tonight. I have plenty of eggs and will use up some of the zucchini. I got some chard in my box Thursday and I have a half a green pepper left over from something earlier in the week. Is that pan I like clean? To avoid any last-minute problems and to do the work in small chunks, I check the recipe and make sure I have the ingredients. Maybe I can make it without the marjoram, but if I was out of eggs, I would have to make a different plan. Looking at the list, one of the first things I need is a small minced onion. I can do that. And mince a small clove of garlic and cut up the pepper. I put the olive oil in the pan. Now I've got a good start and I'm committed. I can take a break and do some sitting down "work" or read the paper. Sometime in the next hour or so, I'll be ready to wash and slice the mushrooms and zucchini. I'll get the eggs out so they come to room temperature. And when it's time to eat, I'll have about 10 or 15 minutes of work left to do. Sometimes I make a bigger dish, like lasagna, or rice salad, and then I have it for several meals, in case I'm busy or the weather is not conducive to cooking. Lasagna is one of many options that can be frozen in meal-size portions to keep a little longer. You know the drill, keep track of what you have in the freezer.