Too Hot to Cook? Make the Best Simple Salad

On Saturday, I fixed a simple salad with the beautiful produce we gathered at our local farmers’ market. Served with chunks of a good baguette and a glass of rosé, it’s my favorite meal when it’s too hot to cook.

The tomatoes were looking especially luscious so we bought a few varieties. I turned the cherry tomatoes into what we call Sunny’s Salad, in honor of my son’s Thai mother-in-law, who made it years ago for a family potluck.

A very good cook, Sunny had replicated the salad from a favorite Japanese restaurant in Thailand. As you will see from the ingredients, it has a definite Thai influence.

As with any salad, there are so many ways you can riff off the recipe by changing up the ingredients. Be sure to keep the sweet cherry tomatoes, though, because they are a nice counterpoint to the creamy, tangy dressing.

Good all year round, this simple salad could be served as a light main dish in late summer through early fall when it’s too hot to cook and tomatoes are still in season.

Sunny’s Salad

Salad Dressing

• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice
• About 2 teaspoons fish sauce, or more
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 stalks lemongrass, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 to 3 Thai bird chiles, chopped (see note)

Salad Ingredients

• 1 head iceberg lettuce, torn (about 8 cups lettuce) or equivalent romaine lettuce
• 1/2 English cucumber, sliced, or other crisp cucumber
• 1/4 cup mint leaves
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 can (about 7 ounces) solid tuna in olive oil, drained

To make the dressing: In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients; whisk smooth.

In a large bowl, combine all the salad ingredients, except the tuna. Add dressing and toss to combine. Add tuna and toss gently. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Recipe Notes:

• To prepare lemongrass, peel away fibrous layers. Use only the white part, about the bottom 4 inches.
• The recipe called for 4 to 5 chiles; start with 1 and taste before adding more. For an even milder flavor, seed the chiles before chopping.
• Use good-quality fish sauce or the dressing can taste or smell fishy. Sunny used 2 tablespoons of fish sauce so taste your dressing and add a little more if you want a stronger flavor.
• This salad doesn’t keep well. For our potluck, Sunny brought all the ingredients and made the salad on the spot.

When it’s too Hot to Play

When it’s too hot to cook, it’s too hot to play. Send kids outdoors to a shady spot with pitchers of water and cooking utensils to make their own pretend salads, while splashing water on themselves to cool off. Here’s a list of things to provide.

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