9 ideas for a light summer dinner with quick recipes

In summer, when it can be uncomfortably hot in the evenings, low-fat and healthy dishes are particularly tasty and easy to digest. In addition, recipes that are prepared quickly are particularly advantageous and popular because then you don't have to stand in front of the hot stove forever, which makes us sweat even more. So a light summer meal is a welcome thing, which is why we have put together some recipes for delicious summer dishes for you. Use plenty of healthy vegetables that are finally in season to prepare a light summer dinner and provide your body with lots of vitamins to better cope with the exhausting heat. And afterwards there is still enough space for a delicious summer dessert!

Light summer dinner – Casarecce with beans and eggplant

• 225 g casarecce (or any other pasta)
• 225g green beans
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 eggplant, diced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• 60 ml dry white wine
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 170 g Burrata
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 1/2 TL Pfeffer

If you want to prepare a light summer dinner that cooks quickly, pasta is ideal as a side dish because it is ready in a short time. First, boil the pasta in salted water. 3 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the green beans, cook until the end and drain the pasta with beans in a colander. However, you save around 250 ml of the cooking water.

While the pasta and beans are cooking, you can also start the next step and heat oil in a pan. Sauté the eggplant for 4 to 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and after a minute add half of the tomatoes. After 2 to 3 minutes, pour the wine into the pan and cook for a few more minutes before adding the casarecce with the beans. Now gradually add a little cooking water until you reach the desired consistency for summer food. Finally, stir in the remaining tomatoes, salt and vinegar and divide the dish into 4 portions, which you then garnish in equal amounts with the burrata, thyme and pepper. Your light summer dinner is now ready.

Summer dishes with pasta salad with tuna

• 450g pasta
• 1 glass of tuna
• 300 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 5 to 8 basil leaves, cut into thin strips
• olive oil
• Parmesan, Grana Padano or Pecorino Ramano
• Salt

Pasta salads are deliciousand at the same time an easy meal for hot days. Cook the pasta in salted water for about a minute less than directed on the package. In the meantime, prepare the tomatoes and basil and cut the tuna into pieces. Save the oil from the tuna. Allow the finished pasta to drain in a colander and cool slightly. Then put them on a serving plate or in a bowl and drizzle some of the tuna oil on top. Stir in the tomatoes and basil. Now season with salt. If the salad is still too dry, you can add a little tuna or olive oil. Grate cheese over the salad and you're ready to enjoy a light summer dinner.

Easy summer recipes – tacos with chicken and vegetables

• 340 g chicken breast, chopped into small pieces
• 1 red onion, diced
• 115 g corn or 2 ears of corn
• 120 g Zucchini
• 100 g Green Sauce
• 2 TL rapeseed oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 TL Pfeffer
• 3 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
• 4 tortillas, as fat-free as possible
• 85g Monterey Jack cheese, grated

For a light summer dinner with tacos forMexican flairMix the oil with the cumin and salt and season the chicken with it. Heat a pan with a little oil and fry the chicken breast for about 3 minutes. Add the onion, corn and zucchini and fry for about 2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Next, stir in the salsa and 2 tablespoons of cilantro. Cook everything until the liquid has almost completely evaporated. Distribute the meat-vegetable mix and the cheese equally among the four tortillas and season with the remaining coriander.

Udon with peanut butter and garlic dressing

• 225g dried udon noodles
• 225g grilled and shredded chicken
• 75g peanut butter
• 60 ml soy sauce
• 60 ml unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 EL Honig
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 15g celery stalks and leaves
• 75 g mung bean sprouts
• 1 small winter radish, cut into sticks
• 60 ml vegetable oil (e.g. sesame oil)
• Kosher salt
• 2 tsp white and black sesame seeds
• optional Chiliöl

Mix the peanut butter in a small bowl with the honey, soy sauce, vinegar and garlic. Gradually add the selected vegetable oil until you get the consistency of dressing. Cook the pasta in salted water as directed on the package, drain the finished pasta in a colander, rinse with cold water and drain again. Now mix the pasta with the chicken and the remaining ingredients, stir in the dressing and season with salt. Finally, sprinkle the sesame seeds over the dish and enjoy a light summer dinner.

Mussels with tomatoes and chickpeas in a delicious beer sauce

• 6 THE BUTTER
• 2 large spring onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 250 ml beer
• 300 g Cherry tomatoes
• 1 small can of chickpeas (approx. 440 g)
• 2 tbsp sambal oelek or more
• 24 clams, cleaned
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 4 thick slices of bread
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 30 g coriander leaves, chopped

Mussels combined with vegetables are delicious, quick to make and easy to digest. That's why they're a perfect light summer dinner. Heat a skillet on a grill over medium-high heat and melt 4 tablespoons butter. Fry the spring onions and garlic in it for 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for another minute. Then add the tomatoes and beer, which are cooked until only half of the beer is left. This should take about 4 minutes. Then add the chickpeas and sambal oelek, followed by the mussels. The mussels should cook in the pan until they open, which usually takes between 5 and 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, if there is space on the grill, you can prepare the bread as a side dish (but then don't forget to stir the mussels regularly). Drizzle oil on the bread slices and season with salt. Grill the slices on both sides until golden brown. You should expect approximately 2 minutes per page. Remove the pan from the heat and remove any mussels that do not open. Stir in the lime juice and remaining butter. Serve the bread on plates and the mussel dish on top. If you want, you can add a few more lime slices for squeezing juice and serve this idea with them.

Quinoa salad for a light summer dinner

• 70 g raw pistachios
• 225 g green beans or wax beans
• 115g sugar beans
• 2 small or 1 large head of broccoli, chopped
• 100 g pea sprouts
• 170 g cooked quinoa (approx. 55 g raw)
• Kosher salt
• 30 g fresh herbs of your choice (e.g. parsley, dill, leek, basil and tarragon), roughly chopped
• 1/3 coffee cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 TL Dijonsenf
• Pfeffer

You can also prepare a light meal for the summer with a quinoa salad. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees, line a baking tray with baking paper and bake the pistachios for 8 to 10 minutes. Halfway through, stir once. In the meantime, bring salted water to the boil in a saucepan and cook the sugar beans and green beans until tender, about 2 minutes. Using suitable utensils, remove the vegetables from the water and place them in ice water where they allow them to cool for 3 minutes. The vegetables must then be drained and patted dry with a kitchen towel and then cut into small pieces. Next, prepare the dressing to make this recipe for onecarefree summer dishcan refine in summer.

Now chop the herbs with the vinegar, oil, mustard and 2 tablespoons of pistachios in a blender and process the products into a dressing. If the liquid is too thick, you can add a little water. Finally season with pepper and salt. Add the vegetables, the remaining pistachios and thecooked quinoainto a bowl and carefully stir in the dressing. If necessary, you can season the finished salad with pepper and salt as a light summer dinner.

Recipes for the summer – Grilled shrimp with chili, garlic and pepper

• 450 g Schrimps
• 1 red chili, deseeded
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 EL Pfeffer
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Kosher salt
• Metal or bamboo shish kebab skewers (soak bamboo in water for half an hour)

In a large bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of oil with the garlic, chili, pepper and lime juice. Add the shrimp and mix everything together well. Salt and stir again. Then distribute the shrimp on kebab skewers. Then grill these for a total of 5 minutes on both sides. The cooking time can also vary depending on how hot the grill is. You can serve the finished shrimp with a salad for a light summer dinner.

Spaghetti with zucchini and garlic

• 3 Zucchini
• Spaghetti
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• olive oil
• grated parmesan
• pepper and salt

Zucchinis and spaghettiare a great combination for a light summer dinner. Grate the zucchinis into strips with a grater and wring out the water from them with your hands. Cook the spaghetti in salted water. In the meantime, heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the chopped garlic for a few minutes. Then add the zucchini, stir everything together well and season with pepper and salt. Drain the spaghetti and add it to the pan. If necessary, season with salt. Serve with grated Parmesan sprinkled over the summer dish. This quick and delicious summer meal recipe is sure to please the whole family.

Vegetables on puff pastry as a summer recipe

• 170 g cream cheese
• 45g grated Parmesan
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• grated lemon peel of one lemon
• 1 pinch each of salt and pepper
• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• 1 coarsely broken egg
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 100g fresh or frozen peas
• 180 g small broccoli florets
• 50 g pea sprouts
• 2 radishes, sliced
• 2 spring onions, chopped finely
• 60g feta, crumbled
• 6 slices of prosciutto
• 5-6 basil leaves
• Leaves of some thyme branches

First preheat the oven to 200 degrees if you are making these for oneeasily digestible evening mealwant to prepare in the summer time. Mix together the cream cheese, Parmesan, lemon juice and zest, and salt and pepper and set aside. Unroll the puff pastry, line a baking tray with baking paper and place the puff pastry on top. Mark with a knife a distance of about 2.5 cm from the edge of the puff pastry and pierce the center of the resulting rectangle several times with a fork to obtain holes. Now spread the cream cheese over the dough, leaving the marked edge free. Brush the edge with the beaten egg. Bake the puff pastry for 15 to 20 minutes until it turns golden brown. If it rises too much during this time, you can pierce it at that point so that the air can escape.

In the meantime, heat oil in a pan and fry the garlic, peas and broccoli with pepper and salt for 3 minutes. As soon as the broccoli and peas have softened a little, you can remove the pan from the heat. Then take the finished puff pastry and place it on a serving plate. Top it first with the broccoli and pea mixture and then with the pea sprouts, radishes, onions and feta. Tear the prosciutto and spread it over the dish along with the basil leaves and thyme. You can also make a balsamic vinegar syrup and add it to a light summer dinner like this one.