Hot Weather Favorites and a S'More Pudding

If you are looking for something that helps beat the heat, here's some recommendations from blog posts past:

Pictured is my raw (as in uncooked) mint and zucchini soup -- very cooling to eat and it won't heat up the kitchen.

This is a great time of year to make those light, rice paper wrapped Vietnamese spring rolls (sometimes called summer rolls or salad rolls). You can see my variation with lots of tips here.

Last summer I found this cold peanut noodle dish very appealing. And my version is lower in fat and calories than some.

If you don't mind a little grilling, try these miso-marinated vegetable kebabs.

I recently posted this BBQ Chicken and Vegetable Salad with BBQ Vinaigrette.

Need something cool for dessert? Try one of my sorbets, listed here. There's even directions for making some of them without an ice cream maker.

And what's summer without s'mores? I made a s'more pie awhile back -- here's the directions.
I know it's summertime and the oven is often off, so try this easy s'more pudding variation I came up with recently.

S'More Pudding

Graham cracker crumbs
Good quality chocolate pudding, homemade or bought (I used Trader Joe's Belgian chocolate pudding)
Jar of marshmallow fluff (also called marshmallow creme)

In a parfait glass or other tall glass (for individual servings) or a trifle or other clear glass bowl, sprinkle in a layer of graham cracker crumbs, top with a layer of chocolate pudding, then a layer of fluff, repeat as needed or desired, ending with a layer of fluff on top. If desired, use a kitchen gas torch (the kind you use for creme brulee) to lightly brown the top of the pudding(s).