too hot to cook
plus: hot dogs with vinegared iceberg and potato chips
Monday, July 6, 2026
Good morning!
Did you have a nice holiday weekend? Did you melt a little? Me too. It was a two-shower-a-day, biting my tongue and failing at trying to talk about anything but the heat wave weekend. Fortunately, there were also ribs and fireworks, lots of hanging out with friends, and beach and tennis time too. The weather may have cooled off a bit this morning (I’m soaked, thanks) but my desire to avoid overheating hasn’t wavered. Below, I’m sharing some of my favorite recipes to get us through the hottest days ahead — lots of crisp salads, scoopable ones too, my favorite vegetarian beach sandwich, cold noodles, breakfast popsicles, and the very best thing to pour over ice cream. Plus, I’ve got a new recipe for hot dogs exactly the way I like them and I’m thrilled to have converted several of you over the holiday too.
Plus, three new short recipe demos:
Strawberry Chiffon Shortcake, Perfected [Instagram, TikTok, Recipe]
Slow-and-Low Dry Rub Oven Chicken [Instagram, TikTok, Recipe]
Cheers,
Deb
I’ve written three cookbooks and one audiobook and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Not sure which one to check out first? Take a look at the recipe index and see which collection jumps out at you most.
hot dogs with vinegared iceberg and potato chips
New! Just in time to avoid the worst of the heatwave by cooking inside, a recipe for hot dogs exactly the way I like them: butterflied (perfect for an indoor griddle) and topped with vinegared iceberg (lightly pickled and so perfect here), minced onion, salty crumbled potato chips. Happy cook = happy everyone.
burrata with crushed cherries and pistachios
Show up empty-handed? Not with this no-cook (I’ve even done it without a knife and cutting board) appetizer you can bring and easily assemble anywhere you go this weekend. It vanishes quickly. Thanks to my friend Ang for always inspiring me!
mama canales-garcia's avocado-shrimp salsa
When the heat wave demands nothing but chips and salsa for dinner, who are we to argue?
cucumber crunch salad with tofu
This is the only thing I want to eat when it’s this hot out: a no-cook salad with thick batons of cold tofu + crisp cucumbers + a heavenly dressing that does all the lifting + a finishing layer of crunchy, salty, spicy stuff. I can’t wait to find out if you get as obsessed with it as we are. [Video below!]
nolita-style avocado toast
For the first time in my avocado-buying life, I’ve been able to not miss the approximately 5-minute window in which they’re neither rock hard nor mush. This is how we’re celebrating. I realize the idea of a recipe (a recipe!) for avocado toast is bonkers but this one is truly the best classic version I’ve ever had.
hummus heaped with tomatoes and cucumbers
A small-diced salad heaped on a great swirl of hummus to be scooped with grilled pita wedges is the only thing I want to eat for the rest of the summer. With a few chocolate ice cream sandwich intermissions, for balance and stuff.
chickpea pan bagnat
A hearty, well-seasoned and picnic basket-/cooler-ready sandwich for wherever your day takes you. Inspired by the pan bagnat, which is the sandwich version of a salade niçoise, I swapped the tuna here with a smashed chickpea salad, added layers of crunch, richness, and seasoning and never looked back.
cold rice noodles with peanut-lime chicken
Cold noodles + grilled chicken + crunchy vegetables + two perfect sauces, one loud with chiles, lime and fish sauce and the other cozy with ginger, peanuts and sesame = I could eat this forever.
swirled berry yogurt popsicles
Lightly sweetened Greek yogurt + half-blended fresh berries = popsicles for breakfast are sheer heat wave brilliance.
best hot fudge sauce
This hot fudge sauce takes fewer than 10 minutes to make, keeps seemingly indefinitely in the fridge, is forgiving of almost all human error, and makes all days that include it better than those that do not.
slushy paper plane
A dream of a frozen cocktail that requires no blender, it just magically freezes to the perfect slush texture: thick but pourable with the most delightful crunches of thin ice flakes everywhere. We’re going to win at summer this year, and it starts with this.
cucumber crunch salad with tofu
The Staub x Smitten Kitchen Braiser is a lower-walled enameled cast-iron Dutch oven that works as well as a deep sauté pan as it does a soup pot, roasting pan, or even casserole dish that perfectly fits a pasta bake. It’s the ideal size and usability (dishwasher safe!) for everyday cooking. Not a week has gone by in the 14 years I’ve had mine when I don’t cook in it at least three times, so when it was no longer sold in U.S. stores, I asked Staub — a French cast-iron manufacturer originally from Alsace; you can watch me tour the forge/factory here! — if they would partner with me to bring it back, because I knew you’ll fall in love with the pan too. We launched the Staub x Smitten Kitchen Braiser in spring 2024. The Braiser is now sold exclusively at Williams-Sonoma and available in eight gorgeous new colors! The newest two — a classy off-white (pardon, French Crème) and a soft pink (Pink Peony, which you know I sing to the tune of Pink Peony Club) — launched just last month.
Cranberry (bright red)
Grenadine (deep red)
Sage (light green)
Basil (dark green)
La Mer (dark blue-green)
Sapphire (dark blue)
(New!) French Crème (off-white) ✨
(New!) Pink Peony (soft pink) ✨
The Staub x Smitten Kitchen Braiser Recipe Starter Pack: Oh, you did get a new braiser? I’m so happy for you. Here are a few recipes you can kick off your cooking with!
Braiser: An entire category of recipes on smittenkitchen.com
My “I Dream Of Paris” Menu for the French Crème launch: Dijon Roast Chicken, French Onion Soup for a Crowd, and a Perfect Apple Tarte Tatin
Baked Ziti with Meatballs and Ricotta (Williams-Sonoma, Video)
Apple Butterscotch Crisp (Zwilling, Video)
Braised Chickpeas with Kale and Burrata (Zwilling)
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more that you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most. This isn’t just an Amazon storefront. For each item, I attempt to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
See you next week!
