What Is Your Favorite Easy Summer Meal?

Real Simple readers share their cool warm-weather recipes.

I buy goat cheese and crusty bread, then set them out on a wooden cutting board with a good rosé and a bunch of cold grapes.
Ivy Manning
Portland, Oregon

My easiest summer meal? A tortilla filled with chopped green and red peppers, cucumbers, and cilantro; a few spoonfuls of roasted-garlic hummus; and crumbled Feta cheese. The vegetables are cool and crunchy, and the hummus adds protein.
Kristin Hoving
Oak Park, Illinois

Smoothies with blueberries, strawberries, low-fat yogurt, and orange juice are the best way to cool off―and get a little energy boost.
Keri Smotrich
Stockton, New Jersey

I keep homemade pesto cubes in the freezer. When I don’t feel like cooking, I boil pasta, then throw in a few cubes. Add a salad of sweet tomatoes and some fresh bread from the farmers’ market and we have a meal.
Margaret O’Neil Nosti
Escondido, California

I mix cooked pasta with toasted pine nuts, olive oil, chopped garlic, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. You can top it with herbs from your garden, and it goes great with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
Michelle Murray
Concord, Ohio

Go Greek. Pick up pitas, Feta, kalamata olives, tomatoes, hummus, and red onions. Make tzatziki out of yogurt, cucumber, and mint. Marinate chunks of chicken, stick them on skewers, and grill until done. Serve on a bed of orzo, and use the pitas to dip into the hummus and the tzatziki.
Laura Castle
Snohomish, Washington

I love Cowboy Caviar, a flavorful and colorful vegetarian dish made with black beans, avocado, cumin, green onions, tomatoes, and corn. Dress it with some garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper.
Julie Dokter
Saint Joseph, Michigan

My family makes banana splits instead of a meal. Scoops of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, bananas, nuts, whipped cream―the works. You can’t help but stay cool with a smile on your face.
Kris Dickey
Shasta Lake, California

Sometimes my husband and I will have milk shakes for dinner. We feel like kids getting away with something naughty!
Kate Mann
Orcutt, California

Try quick and easy Real Simple summer recipes.

What Is Your Favorite Easy Summer Meal?

Real Simple readers share their cool warm-weather recipes.

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