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Simple Summer Foods

© Mari Brodersen

Disclaimer: This topic is not a culinary one and I am in no way a kitchen wizard, but I think you will find this article helpful in trying to live simply. The foods mentioned here will be fresh, seasonal, and easy to prepare.

Setting the Scene

Here in the Lower Sonoran Desert city of Phoenix, Arizona, summer reminds us to slow down. People with the means leave for most of the summer months. The rest of us stay here and literally sweat it out. As the asphalt melts, one feels less and less ambitious. Green things, tenderly planted in January, bow their heads and wilt. Only lizards, damselflies, dragonflies, toads, and mosquitoes seem oblivious to the heat.

Thunderheads, topped by "anvil" formations, bring dust storms which are mere heralds for monsoonal downpourings of thunder, lightning, and - yes - even rain. When the sky is blackened with heavy clouds and the air is still, colors stand out in stark simplicity. As the wind blows, even very large trees frantically wave their branches. Often they drop their limbs onto roof tops or into roads, and sometimes the wind uproots healthy, mature trees right along with the saplings. This is a hot wind, gathering dust as it picks up speed. The rain may or may not arrive after the gritty dust has blown away. But it will remain hot and humid.

I think that by now it is obvious why so many of us slow down and spend as much time inside as possible. But kitchens get hot, so I look for ways to minimize my time in the kitchen and to get away with as little cooking as possible.

No Cooking Needed

Iced tea is probably Arizona's State beverage. Having been weaned on it, I think of it as a major food group (just exaggerating). But you have to boil water to make tea, don't you? No. We use solar power for that. Put several teabags into a gallon jar of water, and set it in the sun. I guarantee it will be "brewed" within an hour. Throw the tea bags on the compost heap. Let the jar of tea cool off, pour a little over ice, and there you have it! This works for herbal teas as well.

Another favorite drink in our house is the fruit smoothie, made without dairy products. All you need is a blender and fresh fruit. I usually begin with bananas, orange juice, and berries - but any fruit you like can be used. Before blending it all together, put a few ice cubes in the blender. Blend until the mixture is smooth. Enjoy!

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