Weekly Spotlight: Meals to Eat to Beat the Heat!

It’s that time of the year when the summer gets HOT. That’s why we’ve put together this guide so you can find delicious meals that can help you beat the heat. From pasta salads to using cucumbers in dishes, even having no-bake options is a perfect way to help you stay cool. Enjoy these meals throughout the week and you can even pair them with your favorite plant-based proteins to create a full meal.

We also highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App  — with over 20,000 delicious recipes, it is the largest meatless, vegan, plant-based, and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help you get healthy! And don’t forget to check out our Weekly Meal Plan Archives! 

This week, we’re bringing delicious, fully vegan, and plant-based ways to enjoy while beating the heat of the summer!

Pasta Salad and Cold Noodle Dishes

Source: Pasta Salad With Chili Lemon Sauce

These meals are perfect when you’re looking for a refreshing noodle dish, but don’t want to eat them hot. It’s also a great way to use up extra noodles. You can get creative with how you eat these dishes, and with so many options, definitely start with what you like and build from there.

• Easy Vegetable Pasta Salad by Maria Koutsogiannis
• Greek Pasta Salad with Tofu Feta by Megan Calipari
• Pasta Salad With Chili Lemon Sauce by Michele Elizabeth
• Somen Noodles With Nori Dressing by Lan Pham Wilson
• Sichuan Sesame Shirataki Noodles and Cucumber Salad by Maggie Jones
• Edamame Peanut Noodle Salad by Colorful Kitchen
• Green Onion Peanut Noodle Lettuce Wraps by Cameron Keller

Cucumbers

Source: Cucumber Salad

Cucumbers are an excellent vegetable to snack on when it’s hot. You can add your favorite spicy seasonings or even try out an herby mix for a quick and refreshing snack. These recipes all use cucumber in creative ways to create refreshing snacks, and the best thing is you don’t have to cook them! There are some exceptions, like this Vietnamese Cucumber Salad with Cilantro and Roasted Peanuts by Nadine Horn and Jörg Mayer where you can whip up the roasted peanuts ahead of time.

• Spicy Cucumber Salad with Creamy Peanut Dressing by Denise Perrault
• Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad by Tara Weir
• Cucumber Tomato Salad by Kristina Humphreys
• Watermelon Feta Salad with Cucumber by Heidrun Kubart
• Vietnamese Cucumber Salad with Cilantro and Roasted Peanuts by Nadine Horn and Jörg Mayer
• Cucumber Salad by Jackie Sheehan
• Refreshing Cucumber Bruschetta Pasta Salad by Respectful Living
• Classic Mint Cucumber Tabbouleh Salad by Kristina Jug & Mitja Bezenšek
• Cucumber Melon Gazpacho by Julie Zimmer
• 15-Minute Harissa Eggplant Kebabs With Cucumber Mint Relish by 15 Minute Vegan: Fast, Modern Vegan Cooking

No Bake Snacks and Desserts

Source: 5-Ingredient No-Bake Peanut Butter Corn Flake Cookies

These no-bake snacks and desserts are excellent to whip up on a hot day. A lot of these use peanut butter to create a delicious no-bake snack, but you can find a variety of no-bake desserts and snacks in these roundups! The rest of this list includes more involved desserts that are great to bring to parties or have for dessert in your house for the week! Try out these Salted Caramel Tarts by Harriet Porterfield and No Bake Coconut Passionfruit Bars by Angelina Papanikolaou for a tasty treat!

• No Bake Walnut Brownies by Zuzana Fajkusova and Nikki Lefler
• No Bake Cookie Energy Balls by Hayley Canning
• No-Bake Nanaimo Bars by Zuzana Fajkusova and Nikki Lefler
• No-Bake Peanut Butter Flapjacks by Hayley Canning
• 5-Ingredient No-Bake Peanut Butter Corn Flake Cookies by Faith VanderMolen
• Salted Caramel Tarts by Harriet Porterfield
• No Bake Coconut Passionfruit Bars by Angelina Papanikolaou

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store, to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take initiative by standing up against fast fashion Pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that raise awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade repeatedly.
• Support Independent Media: Being publicly funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing high-quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!
• Sign a Petition: Your voice matters! Help turn petitions into victories by signing the latest list of must-sign petitions to help people, animals, and the planet.
• Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest news and essential stories involving animals, the environment, sustainable living, food, health, and human interest topics by subscribing to our newsletter!
• Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, Donate if you can, grow your food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!