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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to say there is more to hot weather food than salads?

133 replies

Beon · 21/05/2026 10:27

It’s going to be hot next few days.
Just to let you know that there are more foods to eat than just salad and BBQs. Do people in hot countries eat salads and BBQs all the time? No they don’t.

Also you don’t need lettuce to have a salad.

Some nice bread, cooked meats, smoked salmon, jars of pickled veg, cheese, those ready made Spanish omelettes etc.

OP posts:
sashh · 21/05/2026 16:34

I make a courgette and coriander soup. Hot in winter, chilled in summer.

Loads of picnic foods work well too. Quiche, sausage rolls, cooked meats, bread, couscous.

I feel hungry now.

PastaAllaNorma · 21/05/2026 16:32

Tableforjoan · 21/05/2026 15:04

Oh I don’t know my dh made some garlic onions for his hot dog last week and well you could smell him coming.

Our entire house was definitely marked save from vampires 🧛 from his breath alone.

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In our house that's known as an elegant sufficiency 😉

My dad said our toddler was the first baby he'd ever known that had garlic breath.

Boomer55 · 21/05/2026 16:21

Beon · 21/05/2026 10:27

It’s going to be hot next few days.
Just to let you know that there are more foods to eat than just salad and BBQs. Do people in hot countries eat salads and BBQs all the time? No they don’t.

Also you don’t need lettuce to have a salad.

Some nice bread, cooked meats, smoked salmon, jars of pickled veg, cheese, those ready made Spanish omelettes etc.

I can’t eat hot food in hot weather. Salads all the way.

RampantIvy · 21/05/2026 16:17

Inspired by this thread, I currently have some bulgur wheat soaking to make some tabbouleh. I have a huge bag of parsley in the fridge and loads of fresh mint in the garden.

Not a lettuce leaf in sight for tonight's meal.

KindPanda · 21/05/2026 16:13

OP, what you have described in your very condescending post about what constitutes a salad is in fact a charcuterie board, not a salad. The irony!

Waitingfordoggo · 21/05/2026 15:49

TheBloomingDahlia · 21/05/2026 11:46

I was actually going to start a thread asking for salad ideas 🙈. Mine are lettuce, cucumber, tomato and I don’t want to eat them no matter what the weather is! But all the salads I see on SM seem to include loads of dairy or special ingredients you can’t buy at Asda. Lettuce again for me I guess

Do you eat pulses? I like to mix up some chickpeas with sweetcorn, raw red onion, halved baby tomatoes, cashews and coriander. Then I make a dressing from sesame oil, soy sauce, honey and lime juice to drizzle over it. (Actually more of a flood than a drizzle).

Also a big fan of cous cous with some herbs or spices and some roasted veg (red onion, pepper, carrot, toms). I like to eat my cous cous with about half a tub a generous helping of houmous.

All of these ingredients are available in regular supermarkets.

Yerroblemom1923 · 21/05/2026 15:46

Can't beat a "massive salad" in a heatwave!

TheChiffchaff · 21/05/2026 15:46

My pet hate is the idea that food is weather related. My late DM used to complain feebly that she couldn't eat a thing when it was hot..
Plenty of things make me lose my appetite but heat isn't one of them . Best thing about holidays is the lovely food ( which isn't just salad).

Yerroblemom1923 · 21/05/2026 15:41

WhistPie · 21/05/2026 10:30

Ready-made omelette? Dear god, what has this site become?

The remains of last Sunday's roast chicken, cold, should suffice.

Remains of last Sunday's roast?! It's Thursday! That chicken is over 3 days old! You will poison people!

canuckup · 21/05/2026 15:33

SafeAndStranded · 21/05/2026 10:58

We get so few hot days in this country that theres no way I'm coming in from the garden and fucking about with a frittata.

😂

Catarinabella · 21/05/2026 15:30

Homemade Gazpacho with sourdough bread, fruit kebabs

CaptainBeefheartspal · 21/05/2026 15:30

Mithral · 21/05/2026 10:55

My house for a start. Most restaurants? Are you posting from 1979? Although even then you would have had a boiled egg and some bright pink ham.

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🤣

godmum56 · 21/05/2026 15:28

not sure why you care about what other people eat?

AngelicInnocent · 21/05/2026 15:15

We have many different options for the summer to be fair. Tonight is chicken burritos with coleslaw. Tomorrow is pesto chicken flatbreads with onion rings and a Mediterranean salad. Saturday will be whatever takeaway I order after too much lazing in the sun with a glass or 2 of wine and friends to chat with.

PistachioTiramisu · 21/05/2026 15:05

We eat exactly the same foods as we do in the winter/spring/autumn - neither of us like salads or cold food.

Tableforjoan · 21/05/2026 15:04

PastaAllaNorma · 21/05/2026 14:43

I'm not sure "too much garlic" is a thing, Dad

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Oh I don’t know my dh made some garlic onions for his hot dog last week and well you could smell him coming.

Our entire house was definitely marked save from vampires 🧛 from his breath alone.

babasaclover · 21/05/2026 14:47

Air fryer is your friend for not slaving over a stove or bbq

malificent7 · 21/05/2026 14:44

Lidl spanish ommelette is very tasty and authentic actually!

PastaAllaNorma · 21/05/2026 14:43

InterestedDad37 · 21/05/2026 12:28

Thank you. It's one of my "quick summer standby" meals. I tend to use too much garlic 🧄

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I'm not sure "too much garlic" is a thing, Dad

AngelicInnocent · 21/05/2026 14:41

TheBloomingDahlia · 21/05/2026 11:46

I was actually going to start a thread asking for salad ideas 🙈. Mine are lettuce, cucumber, tomato and I don’t want to eat them no matter what the weather is! But all the salads I see on SM seem to include loads of dairy or special ingredients you can’t buy at Asda. Lettuce again for me I guess

Peach, walnuts and feta mixed into your standard boring salad make a world of difference.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 21/05/2026 14:41

I had salmon, rice, black sesame, tomato, cucumber, celery and a hardboiled egg earlier.

Seemed like a meal to me, just as the one I had yesterday with lemon chilli prawns was.

EmmaB1309 · 21/05/2026 14:36

Thank you Oh Knowledgeable One.
Did anyone say they needed your advice thinking of something other than salad and BBQ?

Waitingfordoggo · 21/05/2026 14:16

I prefer to make my own Spanish omelette thanks.

But I can barely be arsed to cook at the best of times, let alone in heatwaves. I’m very happy to live on salads in hot weather. For me salad is not iceberg lettuce + cucumber. There will be many different leaves, tomatoes, avocados, beetroot, onions, peppers, some grains, lots of protein. Something with big flavour like cornichons or pickled ginger. Some seeds sprinkled on top. Mmmmmm. I love salad.

PastaAllaNorma · 21/05/2026 14:10

Daftypants · 21/05/2026 11:50

In hot weather I serve lots of different salads , nicoise for example where I need to boil a few new potatoes + steam green beans , boil eggs .
Tuna and bean salad is lovely too .
Sometimes I sear tuna steaks to make it fancier rather than use canned tuna ( I’m happy enough with canned tuna though )
I will make omelettes, frittata, simple pasta dishes on the hob such as Pasta alla Norma .
Also make stir fries and fajitas ..anything quick that’s not going to generate heat ( back of our house where kitchen is faces south )
Also donburi ( rice bowls ) are a staple here as we have a rice cooker and I add cooked salmon or chicken, radish , avocado, cucumber etc plus top with furikake

Edited

You called?

WhistPie · 21/05/2026 14:10

mondaytosunday · 21/05/2026 11:03

@WhistPieshe means tortillas and that’s how they sell them in Spain too. It’s not like an English omelette!
Yes OP there’s tons of hot weather food. I personally like gazpacho soup, tortillas and bread and Adele toon of cured meats. I love salad though so have these a lot year round. I suppose I wouldn’t be having a roast but last night o dud have shepherds pie which I guess would be considered cold weather food. Stir fries are good as loads of veg. Yesterday I ate out and had deep fried stuffed marrow flowers! And you can’t beat a good old sandwich!

Yes, I know that, but making one is pretty basic cooking