inspiration needed for cooking in warmer weather - not bangers & burgers

[bacon]

I know its early in the season but thinking about meal planning in the summer and always struggle as the BBQ idea is obssesive in the hot's of July & August.

Its pretty easy in the winter with slow cook cheap cuts but do you usually continue with this type of cooking in the summer too?

Realisically, no way can we afford to buy prime cuts for swift meals with salads, I still need to keep our weekly bill around the £120 mark (include a bit of vino)

I usually continue with the meals and take no heed of the temperature, we still have roast sunday lunches, lasagnes, pies etc.

There's such an obsession with having to have a BBQ but its pricey and not pratical with children to feed too. Yes BBQ's for weekends with friends and familiies but theres only one night you can have sausages and burgers plus I find you always eat far too much at a BBQ's and we're desperate to cut down.

What do you plan for the warmer nights? That dont contain sliced fillet steaks salads and endless chicken breasts.

Salads without meat most days.
Hard boiled eggs, tuna give you protein and are cheap.
Pasta salads, rice salads, bean salads. There's so much variety.

Indian food great when it's hot.

Spanish tortilla (potato omelette) another summer favourite in this house

Stir fry.

Fish? Salmon either hot or cold, with salad. We also often BBQ Pork Belly which is an inexpensive cut and makes a change from bangers and burgers.

Halloumi and feta cheeses in salads are your friends here. Cheap and delish. You can grill halloumi on a bbq, it's AMAZING.

Make the salad more calorific and filling with puy lentils (also cheap) which are deliciously peppery, or quinoa which is sweet and moreish but lightly more expensive (someone told me is pronounced keen-wa, that threw me).

Risottos made with peas and mint are incredibly filling and summery. And, again, cheap as all you need is peas, mint, risotto rice, salt, pepper, oil and chicken or veg stock and some white wine and cheese, if wanted. It's even better if you've had a roast chicken earlier in the week as you can strip the carcasse and put all the tasty but un-aesthetically pleasing bits in the risottos as well.