There are times when you don’t want to cook, and there are times when you can’t bear to cook — that extra tablespoon of desperation keeps you from walking into the kitchen and turning on the stove. I feel that most acutely at the height of the summer, when it’s just too hot to do much of anything.
So: Don’t cook! We have 24 no-cook recipes for you, including silken tofu with spicy soy dressing, a charcuterie board and the chopped salad below. And if you do decide to cook, keep it minimal. The recipes below are fast, summery and require little in the way of effort. (No matter what you do, mix yourself a tinto de verano. I’ll make mine with Sprite.)
Tell me what you’re eating at dearemily@nytimes.com. And from now until Aug. 15, text a fruit or vegetable emoji to 361-COOK-NYT (361-266-5698) and get free recipes from us for your summer produce.
1. Chopped Salad With Jalapeño-Ranch Dressing
It’s a salad, it’s a meal, it’s a party: Alexa Weibel’s recipe is everything you would want it to be, and possibly even more. Add chicken, shrimp or tofu if you’d like, though I’m asking you nicely not to skip the crumbled tortilla chip topping.
2. Grilled Salmon
Salmon is the perfect fish for the grill: It’s not especially fragile and it won’t dry out as it cooks. Steven Raichlen’s recipe is as straightforward as it is delicious with that dollop of mustard sauce. (Don’t have a grill? Use the broiler.)
3. Grilled Chicken With Charred-Scallion Chimichurri
Kay Chun makes this entire meal on the grill. You first grill chicken breast, romaine lettuce and scallions all together. The singed scallions are then chopped and added to chimichurri sauce, which you serve with the chicken and romaine. (I’d add some grilled bread, too.) This is making me hungry.
4. Soy-Butter Corn Ramen
Sweet corn pairs brilliantly with noodles of all kinds, as evidenced in this new dish from Hetty Lui McKinnon. Hetty uses only five ingredients to make this particular magic: instant dried ramen noodles, corn, butter, soy sauce and scallions.
