Quick and light dinner ideas

What do you have on hand?

Tacos are easy and the beef can be browned in the microwave.
Sandwich
Pasta or Garden salad

Someone recommended the app Supercook to me for when I'm in this position. You tell the app what you have on hand and it gives you ideas. I personally haven't tried it yet.

Growing up without A/C, our hot weather meals were BLTs, tuna-macaroni salad, or sandwiches.

We had grain bowls tonight - package of pre-cooked quinoa and bulgur mix, can of drained black beans, some chopped up red pepper and cucumber, avocado, mango pico, and a drizzle of hatch chile ranch cut half and half with lime juice.

A bowl of cereal. Specifically >> Cheerios. I love cereal for dinner.

ones we've had recently:

egg salad sandwiches and fruit

homemade bread with a couple of cheese and fruit

bratwurst (in air fryer) and fried apples (I made mine on the stovetop which took a while but that was because I couldn't find the cans)

salad - lettuce or a chopped salad bag with some combination of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers plus a protein (cheese, hardboiled eggs, chicken tenders, grilled chicken)

charcuterie with cheeses, crackers, raw veg, fruit, nuts and/or dried fruit, deli meat if we have some, maybe deviled eggs

growing up our summer friday meal was always a tuna pasta salad - cook the pasta, drain and marinate with italian dressing and chill. Add tuna (from a can, drained), diced onions, and mayonnaise and mix well. Unfortunately my girls won't eat canned tuna so it's been a while since I've made it.

I almost always have frozen vegetables and quinoa in steam bags along with plain greek yogurt and cucumber. I’ll pop the veggies and quinoa in the microwave and the most work comes from chopping the cucumber for tzatziki. Lemon juice, garlic, and red wine vinegar mixed with the greek yogurt and cucumber makes a great quick tzatziki sauce. Even better if I manage to make that early enough so the flavors can really form together.

I used to do something very similar - quinoa, black beans, chopped tomato, avocado, cilantro, olive oil, lime juice and cumin.

Super good light lunch.

I keep leftover taco meat and carnitas in individual servings in the freezer. I'll make a burrito-type bowl with rice and whatever else I have on hand. I add some lime juice to my rice. I add in black beans, black olives, chopped tomato, avocado...whatever I have.

I also keep leftover rotisserie chicken in the freezer for a quick wrap with a tortilla.