UPDATE: I added some more recipes before linking this to the 2013 Summer Recipe Round Up and the Hearth & Soul Blog Hop!

This week’s Works-for-Me Wednesday theme is favorite summer recipes, so my post about menstrual cups isn’t my official WfMW contribution this week, but check it out because those sure do work for me!

Here’s my little index of things that are great to make and eat in hot weather:

Buttered toast with tomato and nutritional yeast flakes is my favorite summer breakfast.

Cucumber Salad is a great side dish that doesn’t spoil easily–perfect for picnics.

This versatile recipe turns a random assortment of vegetables into a yummy meal in 20 minutes or less!

Mexican Pizza bakes quickly, or you can even make a half-batch in the toaster oven to avoid heating up the whole kitchen.

Japanese Udon Noodle Soup is quick to make and works with almost any vegetables you happen to have.

Craving that sweet-potato casserole your mother-out-law always makes at Thanksgiving?  Try Pittsburgh Yam Fake!

Make spaghetti sauce with your summer vegetables on a cooler day, and you’ll have sauce for quick meals for weeks.

Salty String Beans taste amazing to sweaty, worn-out people.

Indian Red Lentils with Carrots is a satisfying summer meal that my mother has made in an electric skillet on top of her outdoor air-conditioning unit, when it’s too hot to cook in the kitchen!

Lunchbox Nachos is a meal to eat at work without pre-cooking at home . . . or just to eat at home.  Also, I sometimes make a big batch as a “Mexican bean salad” for a potluck.

Whip up an American Beanwich instead of a cheeseburger.

Spicy Peanut Dressing on tofu, over a salad of farm share vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, carrot, cucumber, and radish, is a refreshing meal after staggering home through the heat and humidity that wallop you after a day in an air-conditioned office.

This is our favorite dip for veggies or chips.

And don’t forget the lemonade!  If you’re really hot and sweaty and tired, try this homemade electrolyte replenisher.