Summer days start in California at 6:30 when the sun is already shining and welcoming the day ahead. Cooking starts lightening up and if we’re being honest, in Fresno, where our figs soak up hot summer days, sometimes the last thing we want to do is turn on the oven — cue chicken with figs. Recipes that are cooling are top of our list and we thought they might be exactly what you’re looking for right now too, in preparation for summer to start in earnest. Here are some of our favorite low-cooking, light meals that don’t skimp on flavor.
Saucy Chicken Lettuce Cups
Lettuce cups might be the ultimate summer finger food. Clean-up is easy. The wrapper of butter lettuce, green lettuce or even cabbage, is cooling and the filling takes minutes to prep and mix together. Plus, you’ll love the East Asian spin on fig BBQ sauced chicken. See more.
Tarragon Chicken Salad with Almonds & Figs
We love the inventive take on chicken salad that becomes more like a spread you can spoon onto crackers, toast or, you guessed it—lettuce wraps. This is the ultimate cooling summer dish that we partnered with Food & Flair to create for us. See more.
Curry Chicken Salad Wraps
Cool chicken salad tucked into flour tortillas, lavash, or pita bread is another way to think about summer lunches. This recipe is great for making ahead of time and filling the bread / wraps right before serving. You’ll love how the curry powder adds a pleasing zestiness to chicken salad. See more.
Greek-Style Chicken Chickpea Salad
If extra protein is high on your list of eating considerations, we think you’ll love this salad that pairs chicken and chickpeas with Mediterranean ingredients—feta, kalamata olives, figs, and fresh mint. Bonus: this recipe uses a rotisserie chicken, so, no cooking necessary! See more.
Chicken Bulgur Salad with Pomegranate & Fig
Bulgur is the whole grain (technically, not whole since it’s cracked) that’s quick-cooking and an unrefined carbohydrate that bulks up summer salad nicely. The flavors here are Middle Eastern with pops of pomegranate, chewy sweet figs, spiced chicken, and toasty nuts. See more.
Chicken Wild Rice Salad
Take the wild rice salads of the 80s and dress it up for today: the dressing includes yogurt, olive oil, and lemon—it brightens up the nuttiness of the wild rice and pecans with shredded chicken and morsels of figs. All it needs as a savory garnish is a sprinkling of sliced scallions. See more.
