Cold comfort: If you’re hungry and it’s too hot to cook, try these recipes

It is hot, hot, hot — too hot to cook, and yet we get hungry around dinnertime. Here are a few recipes to create a satisfying repast without anything hotter than melting butter in the microwave oven:

CHIPOTLE CHICKEN TACO SALAD

INGREDIENTS

For the dressing:

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2/3 cup light sour cream

1 tablespoon minced chipotle chili, canned in adobo sauce

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

4 teaspoons fresh lime juice

¼ teaspoon salt

For the salad:

4 cups shredded romaine lettuce

2 cups chopped, roasted, skinless, bone¬less chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

½ cup diced peeled avocado

1/3 cup thinly, vertically sliced red onion

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (8 ¾-ounce) can no-salt-added whole-kernel corn, rinsed and drained

PREPARATION

1 To prepare dressing, combine first seven ingredients, stirring well.

2 To prepare salad, combine lettuce and remaining ingredients in a large bowl.

3 Drizzle dressing over salad; toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.

Tip: Add a spoonful of adobo sauce for a spicier salad. Kidney or pinto beans also taste great in this dish.

David Bonom, Cooking Light (2006); reprinted in myrecipes.com

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GINGER CINNAMON LEMONADE

INGREDIENTS

1 thinly sliced lemon

1½ cups sugar

1 tablespoon finely chopped cinnamon sticks (use your coffee grinder)

2 cups fresh lemon juice (about 8 to 9 lemons)

7 cups water

DIRECTIONS

1 Place sliced lemon and 1½ cups sugar in a large mixing bowl or gallon pitcher. Mash together with a coffee mug or wooden spoon.

2 Stir in crystallized ginger and broken cin¬namon stick. Set aside.

3 Juice lemons; add to muddled sugar. Pour in water.

4 Stir and let sit 30 minutes for spiced flavor to develop. Strain into a 2-quart pitcher.

5 Chill until ready to serve.

Spice Islands kitchens

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DECONSTRUCTED CRAB ROLL

INGREDIENTS

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

6 soft hoagie buns

1-1½ pounds crabmeat or lobster, fully cooked

1 lemon

½ cup butter, melted

3 green onions, finely sliced

6 Bibb lettuce leaves

DIRECTIONS

1 Stir together mayonnaise, mustard and smoked paprika.

2 Place lettuce on buns, add seasoned mayonnaise and top with crabmeat.

3 Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top of crab, drizzle with melted butter and top with green onions.

Spice Islands kitchens