Beat the Heat: Hilarious Yet Delicious Summer Salad Recipes You'll Actually Want to Make

Summer is here, and your oven is officially on vacation. It's too hot to cook anything that requires standing over a stove while sweating into your dinner. Enter the summer salad — the hero we all deserve when temperatures are doing their best impression of the surface of the sun. These two crowd-pleasers are so easy and so good, even your most kitchen-challenged friend will look like a culinary genius. Let's dig in.

The Classic Cold Summer Salad That Will Make Your Taste Buds Do a Happy Dance

This is the salad that shows up to the party, steals all the attention, and leaves everyone asking for the recipe. It's cold, it's crisp, and it requires absolutely zero effort fromoven. Think of it as the cool kid salad world — effortlessly chill, just like you're pretending to be on a hot summer day.

• 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh oregano for garnish

1. Wash your vegetables theyowe you money — thoroughly and with great enthusiasm.
2. Chop the romaine into bite-sized pieces and toss them into a large bowl. A bowl big enough that you could theoretically wear it as a hat. Not that you should
3. Add the cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion. Marvel at how colorful and fancy it already looks.
4. Scatter the olives and feta on top. Try not to eat half feta before it makes TryWhisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper a small bowl to make your dressing.
5. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss everything together gently, you're folding precious gold notGarnish with fresh oregano, refrigerate for 10 minutes, and serve ice cold Applause is optional but expected.

Strawberry, Corn, and Avocado Summer Salad — Yes, It's as Amazing as It Sounds

Whoever first looked at a straw an ear of corn, and an avocado and thought "yes, these three belong together" deserves a Nobel Prize. This salad is sweet, creamy, crunchy, and refreshing all at once — basically Avengers of summer ingredients. It looks like a food blogger spent three hours on, but secret is it took you about fifteen minutes, tops.

• 2 cups fresh arugula or mixed greens
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
fresh or grilled corn kernels
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Salt, pepper, and fresh basil to taste

1. Start by slicing your strawberries. Eat one for quality control And maybe another You're the chef have privilegesIf using fresh corn, cut kernels off the cob. If using grilled corn, high five yourself because's the extra-credit version adds incredible flavorSlice the avocado carefully. This is the stressful part of any recipe involving avocado. Take a breath've got this.
2. Spread the greens out on a large serving plate or in a bowl — stage is set.
3. Arrange the strawberries, corn, avocado slices, and red onion on top. Make look pretty Instagram watching Or at least your family group chat is.Crumble the goat cheese over everything you're a fancy seasoning from a great heightisk together the lime juice, olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper to make a bright, zingy dressing.Drizzle the dressing over the salad right before serving, top with torn basil, and prepare to accept every single compliment that comes your way.