Ina Garten’s Hot Weather-friendly Israeli Vegetable Salad Recipe Doesn’t Require You To Turn the Oven On

With many parts of the country entrenched in brutal heat waves, Ina Garten has decided to share some of her favorite “too hot to cook” recipes. These simple-yet-delicious meals don’t require you to use the stovetop or oven and the Israeli Vegetable Salad recipe Garten shared may just become one of your go-to meals even when the heat wave is over.

“TOO HOT TO COOK WEEK!! Israeli Vegetable Salad,” Garten captioned her July 28 post. “A big puddle of creamy lemony hummus with a crunchy tomato and cucumber salad piled on top. It’s so satisfying and you don’t even have to turn on the oven!”

This beginner-friendly recipe first instructs you on how to make the hummus. It’s a simple mix of chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, Sriracha, olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin, all blitzed together in the food processor. Garten notes that if your hummus mixture is turning out too thick, you can simply spoon in a few tablespoons of warm water to up the creamy factor.

Then, it’s time to move onto the salad portion of this dish. Garten includes chopped cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, and red onion, all drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil and seasoned with a bit of salt and black pepper. But you could really add whatever veggies you like best to the mix — grilled cauliflower, corn, beans, and even olives would be tasty!

To serve, spoon and spread the hummus onto a large platter and top it with your seasoned veggies. Garten sprinkled her salad with some chopped mint and salt and then served at room temperature with slices of pita bread.

It may be too hot to do most things, but it’s definitely not too hot to eat this delicious dish. Check out the full recipe over on the Barefoot Contessa website.