No-Cook

This is a good palate-cooler to serve with curries and other spicy dishes. Use a creamy-textured yogurt.

Here’s a nice change of pace from “white” coleslaw. It adds a refreshing note to spicy meals and adds vibrant color to the plate.

It goes without saying that this is best made with fresh, just-off-the-vine tomatoes!

As close to “classic” coleslaw as any of the slaws here, this is especially good with sandwich meals and veggie burgers. See the super-easy menu below. It’s a quick and nourishing meal you can make even if dinnertime finds you exhausted.

This slaw is a delightful companion to spicy dishes, veggie burgers, and bean dishes. It’s festive enough to serve with more elaborate meals and at holiday celebrations.

Cabbage and corn kernels are a salad marriage made in heaven.

Here’s a great way to take advantage of late summer’s sublime tomatoes. Use the ripest tomatoes possible.

Here’s another nearly-instant cold soup. While cucumbers may not be the most nutritious of vegetables, they are undoubtedly one of the most refreshing. On a very hot day, if you want to be as cool as one, serve this lilting cucumber soup.

Fresh herbal overtones lift the flavor of this instant soup. White beans make a creamy base for soups, dips, and sauces.

This features a base of canned beans and is best served at room temperature.

This orange, peach, cranberry, and lime drink makes the ultimate “fruit cocktail.”

You can’t argue with tradition, but you can update it. The cocktail sauce is also great with cold poached shrimp.

The thing about hors d’oeuvres is that they should not only taste good, but they should look really cool, too. These do just that. You need espresso cups, sake cups, or fancy shot glasses for these. These “pea shooters” are great to make ahead and put together at the last minute. Drinking an hors d’oeuvre is the cool way to go!

These spring rolls are so fresh tasting that they’re addictive. The beet turns the noodles a pretty pink—way cool. Wear gloves when you cut up the beet so your hands don’t turn purple—not a festive look.

Everyone will be blown away by how simple these are. They will be the runaway hit of the night. The moisture and sweetness of the grape inside the cheese is a flavor burst.