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Summer tip: Prepare your evening meal the night before
Friday July 4 2008 By Lori Gysel & Gerry Kenter Too hot to cook?  So, what are you going to have for dinner then?  Well, how about a big salad tonight— toss on a couple of cooked eggs if you don’t have any other protein around.  
But, once dinner is over and it’s a bit cooler out, let’s try to get a few things ready for the next day or two so that you can come home and relax on the deck with a nice cool drink, knowing that dinner is ready to go.  Sound good?  Ok, let’s go.
Grilled vegetables— slice up some eggplant, zucchini, any colour of peppers, snap the ends off some asparagus, wash some mushrooms, scrub some baby new potatoes.  Toss everything generously in olive oil and coarse salt. Grill on a hot barbecue until well browned. Leave out to cool at room temp, then package up in containers.  These will last for several days in the fridge and help to make a great cold supper.
Make a salad.  Mix drained, rinsed beans and chick peas with diced tomatoes (don’t use all the liquid). In a small non-stick pan, cook up some minced onions, peppers, frozen corn and garlic. Toss into your salad.  Chop some fresh chives and parsley (oregano too if you have it). Chopped pickled peppers and some chopped olives are great too. Mix everything with a bit of Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. If it needs more flavour, add some dried oregano, basil, or Italian seasoning (or all of the above). Mix. Refrigerate. This will last in fridge for about a week. Makes a great lunch— also makes a super main course cold supper.
Make a homemade salad dressing.  Miso (soybean) paste, rice vinegar, canola oil, soy sauce and sesame oil is my favourite combo.  But make your own favourite — but make a BIG jar of it and pop in the fridge. One night this week, instead of salad, serve a big plate of sliced, well-ripened tomatoes with homemade dressing and fresh herbs!
Clean some lettuce and roll the damp lettuce in paper towels.  Place in fridge.  No excuse not to eat salad now— its all ready to go!
Take some meat out of the freezer and put in a Ziploc bag with your favourite store-bought marinade.  Seal it up and lay it in fridge (make sure it’s on bottom shelf, just in case there are any leaks). Next night, cook meat up but don’t eat. Next night meat is ready to eat cold.
Make some hard-boiled eggs.  Make a potato salad.  So many things you can whip up pretty quickly once you are already in the kitchen doing other things— and they can all be a part of a nice cold supper.
Have fun and keep cooking!
Lori and Gerry can be reached at whatscookin@independentfreepress.com

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