This post contains affiliate links and we make a small commission for purchases made using these links.
You know that moment when you open your front door and the heat hits you like a hot blow dryer to the face? Well, that’s summer in Arizona. Every year, without fail, I forget what 112° and rising really feels like—until I step outside and immediately want to apologize to my skin. It’s so bad. Jay and I are constantly joking and saying things like “why do people live here?”.
Cooking? Not happening.
Turning on the oven? Not even once.
Standing over a stove? Absolutely not, and frankly, rude of you to suggest it.
So when it’s too hot to cook—and I mean really too hot, the kind where you carry around a chilled water bottle like it’s your emotional support animal—I make this:
Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
It’s cold. It’s creamy. It takes five minutes. No heat required, unless you count the microwave you used to warm up your coffee three hours ago and then forgot about (a daily occurrence over here).
The best part? You can use whatever chicken you’ve got—rotisserie, canned, leftovers from three days ago that you’ve sniffed once and deemed fine. I toss it with Greek yogurt, a little mayo, celery, red onion (because, yum), maybe some SPG and dill if I’m feeling fancy, and that’s it. Done.
It’s one of those meals that feels like summer—light, easy, not trying too hard. I usually eat it with crackers or on toast. Occasionally straight from the bowl while standing at the kitchen counter in my “indoor shorts.” No shame.
Get the full recipe over on Kristine in Between
Other Things I “Make” When Cooking Isn’t an Option
- A snack plate with cheese, fruit, something salty and crunchy, something pickled (have you tried pickled eggs?).
- Tuna salad on cucumbers. Or just on a spoon (my personal fave).
- Store-bought potato salad with a rotisserie chicken and the lie that I “threw something together.”
- A smoothie so thick it passes for a meal. Bonus points if it’s pink.
There’s something kind of freeing about letting go of the idea that dinner has to be hot, or complicated, or even cooked (heh). Especially when the weather is screaming, “Ma’am, go sit down.”
So that’s what I do. I make cold food. I sit down. I eat slowly. Sometimes I put my feet in a bowl of cold water while I do it.
That’s dinner in Arizona. 😁