July - the height of summer
Hot weather hacks and 31 salad ideas
7/16/20263 min read
July. The height of summer. And what a summer we've been having.
Yes, it has been rather hot!
I see summer as a season for slowing down, enjoying life and savouring the moment, but such heat actually gives you a very valid reason to slow down a bit – sometimes to stop completely! When we've had temperatures in the mid-30s°C, I have literally done nothing. I've set up camp in a shady corner of the garden with a good book and a pint glass of iced water with a few sprigs of mint.
It's definitely the time to do anything physical as early as possible in the morning. It's getting light at around 4.30am! In an ideal world, I'd be up doing things then and enjoying a siesta from 12–4pm! However, most real lives don't allow for that, but it is worth thinking about whether you can get up a bit earlier and schedule your workout, housework or gardening for when it's cooler.
Then there are the long evenings. Those are definitely for savouring. I might save some light gardening jobs for the evening – deadheading mainly. By all means schedule your workout, but I wouldn't want to be pushing myself too hard. I'd rather savour the quiet, the colours of the twilight and the scents of the garden with a glass of chilled rosé or a nightcap of homemade liqueur over ice (I've got last year's cherry brandy, sloe gin and damson gin to enjoy).
There is a wonderful book about creating a garden that comes into its own at twilight: The Twilight Gardener. It's by a seasonal hero of mine, Lia Leendertz, author of the iconic Almanac series.
It's times like these that I like to implement my hot-weather hacks. Here are some of them:
First thing, while it's still cool, open doors and windows to encourage cool air to circulate.
Draw curtains and blinds to keep out the sun. If it's going to get really hot, it can be a good idea to close the windows later in the morning to stop the hot air coming in.
Keep a Tupperware container full of ice topped up for easy grabbing. Refill it, along with the ice trays, every evening.
Keep a selection of cold drinks in the fridge: flavoured sparkling water, homemade iced teas, chilled herbal teas or coffee, or at the very least a jug of cold water.
Keep your regular water bottle in the freezer, without the top on. (Keep the top in the fridge). Makes for a nice cool receptacle for your water.
Always have freezer blocks in the freezer, ready for anything.
Keep an eye on your houseplants, as they'll need more water and the occasional spritz.
I like to be spritzed too, and keep a facial mist in the fridge.
My regular evening routine is to change into 'lounge gear' as soon as I get home from work, cleansing my face and taking out my contact lenses, and in this weather it makes perfect sense to add a cooling shower too.
A cool foot soak before bed is wonderfully relaxing.
I play my summer playlist to create a chilled vibe. I've created a classical playlist for each season, and my summer one contains music that evokes a hazy golden French afternoon (Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune), the peace of an English summer meadow (Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending) and much more. I find Bach's keyboard music wonderfully 'cooling'; perhaps it's the clean precision of it and its calm atmosphere despite all the intricacy (I'm thinking of the Suites and Partitas rather than the Preludes and Fugues – the fugues break me out in a sweat! 😂). I also love flute music in the summer. Perhaps it's because it is so airy and soaring, never more so than in Mozart's glorious Flute and Harp Concerto.
How do you decide how seasonal a piece of music is? It's just a feeling! Completely subjective, of course, but if you're interested, here's a link to my playlist.
Summer isn't just something I listen to; it's something I eat as well! So from cooling music, let's move on to cooling food. You want to avoid switching on the oven if you can, so I've gathered together 31 salads that I regularly turn to. Some are classics, others are favourite combinations of my own, but they all make perfectly satisfying lunches or light suppers. Just add some good bread if you fancy it.
1. Caprese
2. Salade Niçoise
3. Jambon or Jamón and melon
4. Watermelon with feta
5. Mizeria (Polish cucumber salad)
6. Panzanella
7. Greek salad
8. Tabbouleh
9. Roast peppers with peach or nectarine
10. Caesar salad
11. Salade de chèvre chaud
12. Broad beans, peas, goat's cheese and mint
13. Trampó (Mallorcan tomato salad)
14. Green beans, bacon and tarragon
15. Runner beans with flaked almonds
16. Artichokes vinaigrette
17. Sweetcorn, roast aubergine and tomatoes
18. Beetroot, lentils, goat's cheese and mint
19. Raw sliced courgette with garlic, lemon and basil
20. Caponata
21. Grilled courgettes with mozzarella, lemon and basil
22. New potatoes, flaked trout and watercress
23. Chickpea salad
24. Mackerel, watercress, butter beans and dill
25. Leeks vinaigrette
26. Peach, burrata, nasturtium leaves and flowers
27. Samphire, scallops and tomatoes
28. Roast fennel, red onion, tomatoes and black olives
29. Ratatouille
30. Spinach, bacon and avocado
31. Cooked beetroot, cherries, goat's cheese and mint
Do make the most of these bright days and sultry evening!
2
