Hot Days Cool Salads

 These days are unbearable to live in  let alone cook in. yet there's still a need to make a decent and filling meal. What to do? Turn to salads. they're quick, easy and coolly delicious.

Cathy Lo, a recent addition to The New York Times Food section created an excellent salad guide for today's section. She enlisted fellow food writers, Melissa Clark , David Tanis,Eric Kim , Ali Slagle , Genevieve Ko and Yewande Komolafe to contribute tasty and blissfully cold recipes to combat this hellish time. The twenty  salads are categorized into leafy, sturdy, pasta grain and bean based along with sweet and savory fruit.Any  would be perfect as a main meal or as a side to either grilled or air fried main courses. Those who appreciate a good green salad should look into making Ali Slagle's arugula salad with just a squeeze of lemon and a shave of Parmesan cheese.ERic KIm gives his crunchy greens with carrot ginger dressing. Fresh ginger gives it bite as it's drizzled over Romaine lettuce.A heartier dish is Yewande Komolafe's chicken with herb salad and nuoc cham. Shredded roasted chicken is mixed with shredded cabbage , cucumber and bell pepper and dresed with a sweet savory lime based vinaigrette.If you want a sturdier salad then think a shrimp salad with chopped red onions and a lemony mayo,. You could also make Genevieve Ko's  tofu and green bean salad with peanut dressing. made with hoisin sauce and peanut butter.

Pasta beans and grains add depth and heft to any salad. A blistering day could end with Melissa Clark's  pasta salad that has the classic ingredients of mozzarella and fresh sliced tomatoes. Cucumber and salami ribbons are also added to make it heartier. Want a more Middle Eastern vibe? Then try Dave Tanis rice salad that laced with almonds, pistacchios and currents, The dressing is a mix of tahini and lemon juice and zest.Add classic Middle Eastern herbs like parsley and mint Of course there is three bean salad.  Celery is also added for crunch ad the dressing has the spiky taste of Dijon mustard.  There is also Yewande Komolafe's millet salad along with Erik Kim's  chickpea one, the last enhanced with seaweed and mayo. It's summer and that means a good fruit salad to be served anytime from breakfast to dessert. Ali Slagle's stone fruit Caprese fits into all these . Cut up any stone fruit , from nectarines to cherries and marinate in  a mix of lemon juice, flaky sea  salt and sugar Drizzle olive oil over this when it's time to serve and spike with freshly ground pepper. There's also mango slaw and the classic watermelon and feta mix. You could also try Eric Kim's tropical taste pleaser of bananas, pineapple and mango Just season with lemon and sea salt.

Beat this hellish heat with a good salad. Try any of these recipes for a cool meal, side or even dessert.  It's a nice way to abide these wildly high temps.