Easy Summer Cooking

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I love summer! Here in Queensland we have summer nearly all year round. It does get very hot at times though and on those days I love my airconditioner. I am a pretty lazy cook these days and I look for every shortcut I can find. Although I do enjoy cooking, in the summer I try to make things as quick and easy as I can. Today I am going to share with you my easy summer cooking strategy so that you can also make life easy for yourself.

If I am inviting guests for a meal in the summer, I like to provide something fresh and  tasty but also something thats not going to take me all day. One of my favorite things to do is to make a HUGE salad and roast some meat and serve that up cold. For instance, a couple of roast chickens or a Pork roast or a leg of lamb. That means that the next day you have cold meat for sandwiches or to freeze or you can add a gravy to the sliced cold meat and heat it in the microwave for another easy meal. I enjoy cooking  roasted potatoes and will usually serve them with the cold meal. However if it is really hot I find a potatoe salad works as well. Then I serve up one of my Yummy but very easy to make desserts and the meal is over!

If you are  wanting and even easier summer meal, I love the idea of putting out a big platter with cold meats ( that you can buy sliced), rings of red onion, diced cheese, sliced tomatoes, pickles onions, sliced red peppers, lettuce. Add a basket of warmed fresh bread rolls and  butter. Provide  chutneys and relishes and let everyone make their own rolls. The more creative you can be with this sort of a meal the better it will be.

For dessert you could just serve some fresh fruit and ice cream, what about strawberries and whipped cream? Peaches and whipped cream are great. Just think easy easy easy! Have a wonderful summer.