Summer couscous

This light yet satisfyingly filling dish really shines on swelteringly hot summer days where the mere thought of eating is exhausting, but makes a refreshing and healthy lunch all year round. It can be prepared in large quantities with negligible effort and feels at home in tupperware, which makes it an ideal bring-along dish for a grill party.

Source improved upon various public sources Difficulty trivial Time 30 min for preparation; benefits from an hour or two of soaking in the fridge Serves 2, but can easily be scaled to fill a large salad bowl

It’s never too hot for a bowl of summer couscous!

Fresh mint tea and lemonade

Fresh mint is a great cooking resource; expect to see it again in a few more recipes. You can buy packaged bunches of fresh mint sprigs or potted mint plants in supermarkets. The plants can survive a suprising amount of neglect (unlike, say, basil), thus they’re compatible with nerd kitchen. Of course, once you’ve discovered fresh mint for yourself, you’ll likely consume your plant to stumps before it has a chance to wilt.

The most straightforward use is to give a handful of mint sprigs a quick wash and then steep them in piping hot water. Sweeten to taste (honey is traditional, but artificial sweetener works just fine too). Voilà: fresh mint tea. Try it; it’s quite different from the dried mint that comes in bags.

Fresh mint tea as I like it best: With added black tea and just a bit of sweetening (artificial sweetener works fine).