When it’s as hot as an oven outside, you don’t want to re-create that heat inside.

Readers from Lincolnton to Zebulon responded to our request to share cool cooking tips and recipes for hot summer days.

The most common suggestions: Don’t turn on the oven at the end of the day. If you must, use the oven in the early morning or do a couple hours of cooking on Sunday to set up several days’ worth of meals. Use other appliances that don’t turn the kitchen into a sauna: the microwave, the toaster oven, the sandwich press. Or opt to keep all the heat outside and use the grill.

Gazpacho, that cool Spanish soup that takes advantage of the tomatoes and cucumbers now abundant in the garden and at the farmers market, was the recipe most suggested. We offer a reader’s classic version as well as a tasty twist: a Spicy Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Soup from award-winning chef Andrea Reusing of Lantern in Chapel Hill.

Beyond that, heat-weary cooks often turn to recipes that require only assembly, like our Layered Turkey Sandwich on Page 4D.

Plus, these recipes and tips would produce quick, easy meals after a long, hot day at the beach because, really, the last thing anyone wants to do on vacation is sweat over a hot stove.

As we suffer through August and what likely will be more record-breaking heat, let’s aim for cool and comfortable in the kitchen.

Recipes and tips for cooking on hot nights

Make rice summer rolls, which at most require boiling water in the microwave to soak the rice paper and rice noodles. Tweedy Tattersall of Durham shared this link, www.cookingchanneltv.com/rice-paper-summer-rolls/video/index.html, for a how-to video and recipe from cookbook author Mark Bittman.

Make gazpacho, suggested several readers, including Katie Oleson of Charlotte. Oleson adds jalapeno and basil and tops her gazpacho with sour cream. She says it makes a great meal with a salad or good bread. Or make open-faced or toasted cheese sandwiches in the toaster oven.

Use store-bought rotisserie chicken to make chicken salad. This curried chicken salad recipe is from Diane Engles of North Raleigh: Combine 4 cups diced chicken, 1 cup diced celery, ½ cup chopped pecans and ½ cup raisins with this dressing: ½ cup low-fat mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon each white wine vinegar, soy sauce and minced onion, 1 teaspoon curry powder, 2 teaspoons honey (optional) and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.

Cooking pasta won’t heat up your kitchen much. Mandi McClure of Lincolnton makes an orzo salad, combining 1 cup cooked orzo, kernels from three ears of corn, 1 diced avocado, 2 tablespoons each fresh lime juice, cider vinegar and sugar, ¼ cup olive oil, ¾ teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon salt and 1 pint of halved grape tomatoes. Toss lightly to combine. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.

Cook in the morning when it is still cool. Karen Lee Martinez of Hickory cooks bean salad, potato salad or macaroni salad in the morning and then uses her grill in the evening to cook sausages, burgers or fish. Serve those with sliced cucumbers or tomatoes for easy weeknight meals.

Make use of your grill. Grill enough proteins, such as beef, chicken or fish, to last several meals, like Mary Jo Lassiter of North Raleigh. Take advantage of the side burner to cook vegetables, boil pasta or heat baked beans.

Your toaster oven is your friend. Anne Brill of Cary offered this recipe for crab and deviled ham muffins, which can easily be adapted to the toaster oven: Broil four split English muffins in the toaster oven. Butter muffins, spread with deviled ham from one 4.5-ounce can and top with crab salad made with ¼ cup mayonnaise, ½ cup sour cream, ¼ cup chopped celery and one 7.5-ounce package of crabmeat. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, sprinkle with paprika and serve.

Do most of your cooking on Sunday. Sunny Davis of Zebulon cooks several salads to serve throughout the week, such as pickled shrimp, potato and green bean salad and tuna salad using fresh tuna.

Layered Turkey Sandwiches

Tapenade is an olive spread sold in most grocery stores. Adapted from Everyday Food (July/August 2011).

2 medium cucumbers, cut lengthwise into thin wedges

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Coarse sea salt and ground pepper

1 country-style round bread loaf, 8 inches in diameter

1/3 cup olive tapenade

1/2 pound deli turkey, thinly sliced

1 zucchini, thinly sliced

1 large tomato, thinly sliced

4 ounces provolone, thinly sliced

TOSS cucumbers with vinegar and sugar in large bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

CUT bread loaf in half horizontally and scoop out insides. Spread inside of each half with olive tapenade. Arrange turkey on bottom half of bread. Top with zucchini, marinated cucumbers, tomato and cheese. Place top half of bread on top. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes.

UNWRAP sandwich and cut into four wedges with serrated knife. Serve.

Yield: 4 servings

Spicy BLT Soup

From chef Andrea Reusing of Lantern in Chapel Hill, appeared in Everyday Food (July/August 2011)

2 pounds assorted tomatoes, roughly chopped

Coarse sea salt and ground pepper

1 small cucumber, roughly chopped

2 medium Fresno chiles or jalapenos, stemmed and chopped

1/2 small yellow onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, smashed and peeled

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

1 slice white bread, crust removed, torn into pieces

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Chopped egg and garlic vinaigrette (recipe below)

Croutons, crumbled cooked bacon and sliced lettuce, optional toppings

SPRINKLE tomatoes with 1/4 teaspoon salt; let sit for 10 minutes.

COMBINE tomatoes, cucumber, chiles, onion, garlic, vinegar, bread, oil and sugar in a blender and puree until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing on solids, and then discard solids. Cover soup and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours or up to 3 days.

SEASON to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with a drizzle of vinaigrette and desired toppings.

Chopped Egg and Garlic Vinaigrette

From chef Andrea Reusing of Lantern in Chapel Hill, appeared in Everyday Food (July/August 2011)

2 hard-cooked eggs

1 garlic clove, minced and mashed into a paste

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Coarse sea salt

SEPARATE egg whites and yolks. Chop egg whites and set aside.

MASH yolks in a small bowl. Stir in garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil. Add egg whites. Season with salt. Serve.

Gazpacho

From Katie Oleson of Charlotte, adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten.

1 cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled

2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded

4 plum tomatoes, cored

1 red onion, minced (or less according to taste)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

3 cups (or 1 23-ounce container) low-sodium tomato juice

1/4 cup white wine or red wine vinegar

1/4 cup good-quality olive oil

1/2 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Several tablespoons fresh basil, cut in strips

Sour cream to taste

CHOP the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onion into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is just coarsely chopped.

COMBINE the vegetables in a large bowl and add the garlic, jalapeno, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop. Top with sour cream when serving, if desired.

Chickpea-Couscous Salad with Lemon and Fresh Mint

This recipe makes good use of the microwave to cook the couscous. Any leftover salad can be used as a pita or spring roll filling. From Weeknight Kitchen with Lynne Rossetto Kasper of The Splendid Table radio show.

Juice of one large lemon, or more to taste

½ medium red onion, cut into 1/4 -inch dice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon salt, divided

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

¾ cup whole-wheat couscous

1½ cups warm water

1 small red bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch dice

1 stalk celery, cut into ¼ -inch dice

¼ cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives

¼ cup raisins

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

¼ to 1/3 cup tightly packed fresh mint leaves, torn

COMBINE lemon juice, onion, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.

PLACE couscous, water and remaining salt and pepper in a large microwave-proof glass bowl. Microwave, covered, on high for 2 minutes. Carefully check couscous for tenderness. If needed, give it another 30 seconds to 1 minute cooking time. You will want it slightly firmer than usual because it will finish cooking as it sits.

ADD red pepper, celery, olives and raisins to the large bowl with the onions-dressing mixture. Add couscous, chickpeas and mint. Taste for lemon juice, salt and pepper and adjust as needed. Serve the salad cool or at room temperature.

Yield: 4 servings

For more recipes from readers for hot weather cooking, go to obsbite.blogspot.com.