No stove, oven required recipes

I am a true heat lover when it comes to the weather, but even for me these past few weeks have been almost too much. That said, I will take 100 degrees over cold weather any day. Here are some recipes that require no oven or stove to make, and as an added bonus, this first one is served chilled.

Classic Andalusian Gazpacho 1 (2-inch-long) piece baguette, crust discarded 2 garlic cloves 2 tsp salt 2 tbsp sherry vinegar 1 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp ground cumin (optional) 2 1/2 lbs ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered 1/2 cup mild extra-virgin olive oil Garnish: finely chopped red and green bell peppers Soak bread in 1/2 cup water 1 minute, then squeeze dry, discarding soaking water.

Mash garlic to a paste with salt using a mortar and pestle (or mince and mash with a large knife). Blend garlic paste, bread, 2 tablespoons vinegar, sugar, cumin, and half of tomatoes in a food processor until tomatoes are very finely chopped. Add remaining tomatoes with motor running and, when very finely chopped, gradually add oil in a slow stream, blending until as smooth as possible, about 1 minute.

Force soup through a sieve into a bowl, pressing firmly on solids. Discard solids.

Transfer to a glass container and chill, covered, until cold, about 3 hours. Season with salt and vinegar before serving. -kwc This one uses already cooked and frozen shrimp, which I normally don’t like because I think frozen already cooked shrimp are usually rubbery. Mom picked up some at Brookshire’s the other day and we used them and they were actually very good, to my surprise.

Easy Seafood Salad 1 medium orange] 1 medium lemon 1 medium lime 1/2 pound peeled and deveined cooked shrimp, coarsely chopped 1/2 pound refrigerated fresh or imitation crabmeat, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons f inely chopped sweet onion 2 tablespoons f inely chopped sweet red pepper Shredded lettuce Assorted crackers Finely grate zest from orange. Cut orange crosswise in half; squeeze juice from orange. Transfer zest and juice to a large bowl. Repeat with lemon and lime. Add shrimp, crab, onion and pepper; toss to coat. Serve on lettuce with crackers. -kwc This one may require the microwave depending on the freshness of your pita bread. Get a rotisserie chicken for the breast meat.

Chicken Cucumber Pitas 2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast 1 large cucumber, quartered, seeded and diced 1 cup Kalamata olives, sliced 1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped 1 small sweet bell pepper, chopped 1/2 cup cubed cheddar cheese 1/4 cup chopped red onion For the dressing 1/2 cup ranch salad dressing 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 tbsp Italian salad dressing 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon pepper 12 pita pocket halves In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the ranch dressing, mayonnaise, Italian dressing, garlic powder and pepper; pour over chicken mixture and toss to coat. Fill each pita half with a scant 1/2 cup chicken mixture.