Cold Main Dishes

In the heart of summer when it's scorching hot, the last thing you want to do is sit down to a warm meal. Help is at hand. This Recipe Revue is devoted to cool moves—cold main dishes that are easy to make and refreshing to eat.

Salad Days

New potatoes, fennel, Parmesan and salmon on a bed of tender endive lettuce sums up Fennel Salad with Salmon, a delicious way to beat the heat. Citrus Shrimp with Toasted Couscous Salad is plain zesty—lemon, lime, and mint meet sweet shrimp and nutty, toasted couscous. To learn more about couscous, a great source of fiber, check out our Glorious Grains Guide.

You'll be cool as a cucumber when you serve Poached Salmon with Cucumber Dill Sauce. The creamy dill sauce complements the salmon.

Rounding out the fish dishes is a new, low-fat turn on an old classic, Grilled Tuna Nicoise Salad. It's a medley of green beans, spinach, tomatoes and olives mixed with tuna and tossed with roasted shallot vinaigrette.

The squeamish can leave the anchovies out of our Chicken Caesar. Lemon, black pepper and Parmesan are flavor enough in this yummy salad. Last but not least, there's Lentil Salad with Mango Chutney. Homemade chutney, red onion, and green and red peppers pep up the lentils, which are a protein, vitamin and mineral powerhouse (see Nutrition Smarts on Lentils).

Sandwich Bar

Bring the spa to your house with Rancho La Puerta Chef Bill Wavrin's Asian Tofu Sandwich with Grilled Vegetables. Tofu steeps in an Asian marinade then it's grilled until golden brown along with yellow squash, scallions, peppers, and onions. Next all the ingredients are piled high on herb garlic scented bread. It's out of this world!

Everyone will love the Grilled Portobello Sandwich. Goat cheese is the secret ingredient in this celebration of the meaty mushroom. All your favorite summer vegetables—from radishes to cucumbers to tomatoes—plus plenty of herbs make Bob Kinkead's Summer "Salad" Soup. It's a sure winner on a hot day.

Recipe Revue

Bob Kinkead's Summer "Salad" Soup
Chicken Caesar Salad
Citrus Shrimp with Toasted Couscous Salad
Fennel Salad with Salmon
Grilled Portobello Sandwich
Grilled Tuna Nicoise Salad
Lentil Salad with Mango Chutney
Poached Salmon with Cucumber Dill Sauce