No cooking in the `90s-it could be a rallying cry for those who flock to the freezer for their meals, picking up buns for breakfast, fudge brownies for dessert and everything else in between. But this time, it`s not.
Instead, it`s the no-cook diet, a clever way to beat the summer heat when the mercury soars.
Make no mistake, you`re not about to read about a reducing plan, nor a five-days-to-a-beautitul-body system. This is strictly a ploy to keep the kitchen agreeably cool this summer.
Though it hasn`t been documented by any official study, just about anyone will tell you that there is a definite inverse correlation between the temperature and the interest level in cooking. Heat and cooking don`t always go together. Sometimes they just downright clash. Even the most steadfast cooks feel an inkling of rebellion at the thought of walking into the kitchen and turning on the stove when the temperature hovers around the 95-degree mark.
One scorchingly hot day hardly presents a problem. Appetites are dulled by the heat and sun and there are plenty of short-term alternatives to cooking. Trouble is, Chicago often is marked by excesses when it comes to weather, cold or hot. And it`s those seemingly interminable stretches of heat that cause the real cooking conundrum.
Just how does one cook without cooking?
Of course, no-cook cooking is a kind of oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. Cooking most often is thought of as the process of adding heat to food, whether it be by the grill, the microwave oven or the stove. But meals can be prepared, assembled, put together, all without the seasonally annoying addition of heat.
The no-cook diet isn`t a primer in the consumption of raw foods, nor a treatise on the glories of sushi or steak tartare. Instead, it is a clever look at ways to sidestep the stove and still have some great tasting fresh meals that are prepared at home.
The ground rules (which are arbitrary to some extent): No cooking by mechanical forces. The stove won`t be turned on, not even to boil water for iced tea. Pretend it doesn`t work. The microwave oven won`t be called into action. For these purposes, you may as well store crackers and cookies in it. The barbecue grill won`t be started up. And we won`t be pulling out our copy of ”Manifold Destiny,” last summer`s guide to cooking under the hood of a car-we just can`t see the point of driving to Paducah to cook a couple of fish fillets.
As for marketing, there`ll be no cheating here either. The carry-out counter and salad bar at the grocery store make it pretty easy for the most intrepid anti-cook cooks to avoid the kitchen altogether. We won`t succumb to that call, however. Whatever the supermarket can make can be made better at home, though fully cooked smoked meats such as ham, salami and prosciutto are fair game. So too are smoked salmon (or any smoked fish for that matter) as well as cooked shrimp. Deli roast beef and turkey breast aren`t allowed. Store-bought potato salads and pasta salads are strictly out of bounds. But bottled condiments are well within reason. After all, who makes their own ketchup, even in the cooler days of autumn? And canned goods are used with no more or less frequency than usual.
So what`s cooking`? Nothing! What`s for dinner? Plenty!
Cold soups always have been one of the cooling elixirs of summer. Vichyssoise, the granddaddy of chilled soups, won`t work since it is based on a puree of cooked leeks and potatoes. But there is no reason why some avocados can`t be pureed along with a hot pepper or two, some fresh cilantro, a dash of cumin and cayenne pepper. Add chicken broth to thin out the soup and top it with a dollop of sour cream. Voila! A no-cook dinner.
Gazpacho is another well-known antidote to the ravages of summer swelter. This chunky cold soup of Spanish origins is made from a seasonally appealing mix of crunchy cucumbers, sweet bell peppers and celery set afloat in a sea of ripe tomatoes. It`s as cool and refreshing as a dish can be. Other added perks: It`s low-fat, low-calorie and lasts for the better part of a week in the refrigerator.
Fruit soups. They straddle the line between soup and dessert and frankly, they taste pretty good at either end of the meal. A pureed mango or papaya, mixed with orange juice are two ideas for tropical coolers. For an unexpected tang, try soaking a few black peppercorns in vodka for several days then grinding the pepper into the soup.
The sprightly tang of buttermilk makes it a great base for fruit soups. More indulgent types turn to sour cream for an ineluctably rich rendition. The nectar-like sweetness of sauternes wine goes well with peaches or apricots. Fresh mint is a nice counterpoint to just about any fruit soup.
No-cook main courses are dominated by salads, near-perfect summer meals which are light and refreshing. Myriad salads fit the no-cook requirements. Other than the occasional addition of a hard-cooked egg or real bacon bits, most green salads never have required a stove. But for the most part, they aren`t considered as substantive main courses either. Those looking to make a meal of a green salad certainly can add a few select, no-cook ingredients. Additional fresh vegetables add bulk as well as texture and interest. All manner of cheese, from cubes of Cheddar to creamy crumbles of goat cheese boost the nutritional status. Bits of ham or smoked meat go well and achieve the same goal.
As for other no-cook salads, there is a world of them. Cole slaw certainly can be made sans the stove. Tabouli, a zesty Middle Eastern number that mixes cracked wheat with parsley and tomatoes can be brought to the table sans cooking. Millet, a crunchy little pellet-like grain can be soaked overnight instead of cooked to render it soft enough to use in salads. Marinated vegetables make use of the seasonal harvest in a nice way.
Panzanella is a quintessentially summer salad which calls for cubes of bread tossed with a melange of vegetables, some tuna fish and a vinaigrette dressing.
Unfortunately, pasta and rice are strictly nix-nix on the no-cook diet
(unless you still have the child-like fondness for crunching raw noodles). Those who find that their cravings for carbohydrates don`t ebb in the summer will have to look elsewhere for their fix. Where? Well, there`s always couscous. This tiny, grain-like pasta is usually cooked by pouring boiling water over it. Very hot tap water and a brief soak achieves the same goal.
And what about desserts? Ice cream comes to mind first, homemade for the purists, store-bought for the rest of the world. There will be no homemade chocolate sauces to gild it, no caramel to drip over them. But wait! Pureed fruit sauces are a dazzling option. Raspberries, blackberries and strawberries are especially good. They can be sweetened with confectioners` sugar as needed and enlivened with a discreet dash of liqueur if one is so inclined.
Those same fruits plus a generous dash of sugar can be made into fresh fruit ices. While many frozen fruit desserts are made with a simple syrup of sugar and water boiled together, superfine sugar and a food processor serve just as well.
Anyone who is desperate for chocolate and adamant about no cooking need not go unappeased. A mighty good sauce can be made without melting the chocolate on the stove. Chop the chocolate extra-fine, put it in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Then just put that bowl out in the noonday sun.Almost instant chocolate sauce. Finish it off by adding some cream, a dash of vanilla and pour it over ice cream.
Not cooking but eating well-at home-is a laudable goal for summer and one easily attained via the no-cook diet. While it won`t necessarily cause any excess pounds to disappear, it will make summer easier to swallow.
