There's one month of the year when the kitchen seems to work against us, and it's August. But right now the market is at its peak, prices are at their lowest — and the vegetables barely need us to do anything to them.
What's actually in season
In late July and August, the market is full of exactly the kind of produce that suits the heat — tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant and peppers. And for fruit, it's watermelon, melon and nectarine season.
It's not just about flavor. Seasonal vegetables are cheaper because there are plenty of them, and fresher because they don't have as far to travel from the field. The very same tomato will cost twice as much in January and taste half as good.
To me, that's the whole secret of summer cooking: let fresh, seasonal, local ingredients do the work — and do as little to them as possible.
Four ways to cook without heating up the house
- One pan on the stove. Zucchini or eggplant cut into big chunks, olive oil and salt, cooked until golden. Ten minutes, no oven.
- Grill or plancha outdoors. The heat stays outside, and the vegetables get just what they need.
- No cooking at all. Chopped salads, tahini, yogurt, lemon. A gazpacho made with ripe tomatoes is a meal in itself.
- Cook early in the morning. If you do need the oven, turn it on at 7 am — and you'll have food for the whole day by the time the heat sets in.
The trick that saves most of the work
In summer, I cook once and eat three times. One morning at the stove sets you up for the whole week:
- A tray or pan of roasted vegetables — toss them into salads, stuff them into pita, serve them alongside fish or stir them into pasta.
- A pot of legumes — chickpeas or lentils. Cold from the fridge, it's a salad; hot, it's a stew.
- One good sauce — tahini, yogurt with garlic and lemon, or pesto. It's what brings everything together into a meal.
It's the same principle I follow when I cook for clients: rather than ten different dishes, a few good basics that can be combined differently every time.
A word about the heat
In the Israeli summer, food spoils much faster — and it's the part that's easiest to forget:
- Don't leave cooked food out for more than an hour when it's hot. Get it into the fridge within the hour, not at the end of the evening.
- Let it cool before you cover it. A steaming pot that goes into the fridge with the lid on warms up everything around it.
- Split it into small containers. Food cools faster, and you only take out what you're going to eat.
- Heading to a picnic or the beach? Pack a cooler with ice, and don't bring home anything that's been sitting in the heat.
The bottom line
August isn't the month to work hard in the kitchen. It's the month to shop well, keep things simple, and cook once a week instead of every night.
The vegetables are at their best anyway — our job is mainly not to mess them up.
This article is for general information only and is not nutritional or medical advice.