Our Summer Edition of 31 Recipes to Make in January is for our readers enjoying their sultry summer in the southern hemisphere. Recipes include fresh light meals for everything from cold summer soups and dips from scratch to refreshing salads, fun DIY tacos, homemade burgers, and healthy noodle bowls. We’ll be sharing the Winter Edition next.
Until we share our Winter Edition of 31 Recipes to Cook in January for our northern hemisphere readers, if you’re searching for recipes for warming soups, stews, pastas, curries and braises, browse our 31 Winter Recipes to Cook in August, which we published last year for our southern hemisphere readers, and sign up for our emails, bookmark our site, or drop by later today.
This summer edition of our 31 recipes to make in January for readers in the sunny southern hemisphere features recipes for everything from a Russian chilled summer soup made with kefir and a mango gazpacho from Mallorca to Mexican grilled chicken tacos and a Lao shredded chicken salad, and so much more.
If you don’t find summer eating inspiration, below, see our collection of 31 summer recipes to make in August, which we shared during the northern hemisphere summer last year, which has 31 completely different summer recipes.
But before I tell you about our top 31 summer recipes to make in January, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-supported.
If you’ve cooked our recipes and enjoyed them, please consider supporting Grantourismo by supporting our epic Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon, which you can do for as little as the price of a coffee. Or you could buy us a coffee and we’ll use our coffee money to buy cooking ingredients for recipe testing.
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Alternatively you could support us by buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever, or by buying something from our Grantourismo store such as gifts for food lovers or fun reusable cloth face masks designed with Terence’s images. Now let me tell you all about our best 31 Recipes to Make in January, the Summer Edition.
31 Recipes to Make in January – The Summer Edition
Here’s our Summer Edition of 31 Recipes to Make in January.
Radish Cucumber Salad Recipe with Salty Feta, Peppery Rucola and Fresh Herbs
This radish cucumber salad recipe with salty feta, peppery rucola and fresh herbs tops our list of 31 recipes to make in January. It makes a healthy salad that’s packed with so much flavour and texture, it needs only a simple dressing of extra virgin olive oil and wine vinegar. The radish, cucumber and green beans provide plenty of crunch, the green peas give sweetness, the crumbly feta lends saltiness and creaminess, while the rucola adds peppery notes, and the herbs fragrance and fresh flavours. It makes for a satisfying meal on its own, as well as a fantastic side salad to a roast chicken, crispy grilled salmon or a great steak.
Radish Cucumber Salad Recipe with Salty Feta, Peppery Rucola and Fresh Herbs
Russian Okroshka Soup Recipe
My Russian okroshka soup is made with kefir and it’s one of our best cold soup recipes. Seasonal vegetables such as cucumber and radish can be substituted with whatever’s available that is crisp and crunchy. With a base of fermented kefir it’s one of the healthiest soups you’ll make, not to mention one of the easiest, coming together in half an hour. If you can’t source kefir, try a combination of yoghurt and sour cream. Fresh fragrant dill is essential. Scallions and mint make this soup for me. Serve with some savoury pirozhki (hand pies) or my petite stuffed cabbage rolls.
Best Russian Okroshka Soup Recipe for the Cold Summer Soup You Can Slurp Any Time of Year
Taramosalata Recipe for a Greek Style Tarama Dip
This homemade taramosalata recipe is another of our top 31 recipes to make in January. This easy recipe will make you a Greek style tarama dip made with red caviar or fish roe that is so quick and easy to make that you’ll never buy a supermarket dip again. We’ve used an affordable red lumpfish roe but you could use a more expensive red caviar or red salmon roe, or cod roe for the creamy colour of the more traditional Greek meze dish. If you enjoy this, try our recipes for a homemade smoked salmon dip, olive tapenade and French onion dip made from scratch.
Taramosalata Recipe for a Greek Style Tarama Dip Made with Red Caviar or Fish Roe
Shredded Chicken Salad Recipe with Cucumber, Carrot, Daikon
Our shredded chicken salad recipe with cucumber, carrot, daikon, and sesame chilli oil makes a deliciously light salad that’s perfect for a casual summer lunch or dinner. Like so many of our original dishes, this shredded chicken salad recipe was the result of an experiment with leftovers. We had a little Sichuan sesame sauce, loads of grated carrot and daikon, and shredded poached chicken breasts in the fridge. I threw it all in a bowl, added chilli oil to what was left of the sesame sauce, drizzled that over the lot, dished it up, and sprinkled on some sesame seeds. Voila!
Shredded Chicken Salad Recipe with Cucumber, Carrot, Daikon, and Sesame Chilli Oil
Coleslaw Recipe with Purple Cabbage, Crunchy Carrot, Pink Shallots
My super-easy coleslaw recipe is made with purple cabbage and pickled pink shallots and has more colour, texture and tang than the average coleslaw thanks to the crunchy cabbage and zingy pickles. This colourful coleslaw is a feast for the eyes and is as delicious as it looks. A fantastic side to fried chicken, burgers and barbecue meats, it’s another of our top 31 recipes to make in January. When it comes to shredding the cabbage, I use a sharp knife to finely slice it, however, a mandoline is better if you have one. You’ll want a really creamy mayo such as Hellmann’s creamy mayonnaise or Kewpie mayonnaise.
Best Coleslaw Recipe with Purple Cabbage, Crunchy Carrot and Pickled Pink Shallots
Mexican Grilled Chicken Tacos Recipe
This easy Mexican grilled chicken tacos recipe for tacos de pollo asado makes corn tortillas filled with incredibly delicious chicken that’s moist and flavourful thanks to a marinade of chipotle and spices such as cumin and paprika. Delightfully smoky courtesy of the griddle pan, you can also cook the chicken on a barbecue or grill. Some long tongs will come in handy, even if you’re not grilling over an open fire or coals, things can still get hot.
Mexican Grilled Chicken Tacos Recipe for Tacos de Pollo Asado for an Easy Mid-Week Meal
Lao Shredded Chicken Salad Recipe for Yum Gai Tom
Our Lao shredded chicken salad recipe with fragrant herbs, fish sauce and lime juice makes yum gai tom. Based on a recipe by the late Phia Sing, head chef of the Royal Palace in Luang Prabang, from the book Traditional Recipes of Laos, it’s another of our best 31 recipes to make in January. The salad is made with crunchy cucumbers, fresh coriander, dill and mint, and poached chicken breast, although you could use rotisserie chicken leftovers.
Lao Shredded Chicken Salad Recipe with Fragrant Herbs, Fish Sauce and Lime for Yum Gai Tom
Mexican Chilaquiles with Shredded Chicken Recipe
This easy Mexican chilaquiles recipe with fried eggs, shredded chicken and green salsa makes chilaquiles verdes. A pre-Hispanic Aztec dish, chilaquiles has long been a popular Mexican breakfast dish, but it can really be eaten at any time of day and it makes for a fantastic light yet filling lunch or dinner. To make your shredded chicken for chilaquiles, you could easily use leftover rotisserie chicken.
Mexican Chilaquiles Recipe with Fried Eggs, Shredded Chicken and Green Salsa for Chilaquiles Verdes
Cambodian Green Mango Salad and Smoked Fish Recipe
My green mango salad with smoked fish recipe makes Cambodia’s nhoam svay trei chhae, an aromatic salad full of texture and flavour, thanks to the raw fruit and vegetables, crispy smoked fish, dried shrimp, crunchy peanuts, and a classic Cambodian dressing of fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, birds eye chillies, and palm sugar. One of my favourite Southeast Asian salads, with cousins in neighbouring countries, this fragrant salad is a little sour, spicy and funky. It’s that combination of textures and tastes that really makes this salad so terrific, and another of our top 31 recipes to make in January.
Green Mango Salad and Smoked Fish Recipe for Cambodia’s Nhoam Svay Trei Chhae
Vietnamese Chicken Salad Recipe
This classic Vietnamese chicken salad recipe will make you a fantastic summer salad. It’s fresh, fragrant, textured, and flavourful, not only courtesy of the ingredients, but that quintessential Southeast Asian salad dressing of fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic, and chilli. We make it with pulled poached chicken but you can use leftover rotisserie chicken. In summer, you could eat it just as it is, as a one-bowl meal or with other salads, and maybe slices of crusty baguette.
Vietnamese Chicken Salad Recipe with Crunchy Cabbage and Crispy Fried Shallots
Mango Gazpacho Recipe for Gazpacho de Mango
Our mango gazpacho recipe, called gazpacho de mango in Spain where it originates, is one of our best cold soup recipes and another of our best 31 recipes to make in January. It comes from a family of chilled soups that are typically consumed on sizzling summer days. While gazpacho de mango is found mostly in Catalunya and on Mallorca, this cold summer soup may have originated in Spain’s mango growing region in Andalusia, home also to the classic tomato-based gazpacho Andaluz.
Mango Gazpacho Recipe for Gazpacho de Mango, A Chilled Soup for Summer
Mexican Chicken Tinga Taco Recipe
Our easy Mexican chicken tinga taco recipe makes warm soft flour tortillas with delicious Mexican chicken tinga – or tinga de pollo – grilled corn charred on a griddle pan, zingy pickled purple shallots and pickled purple cabbage, sprinkled with crumbly Mexican cotija and aromatic coriander. Serve with lime quarters, coriander, and hot sauces.
Mexican Chicken Tinga Taco Recipe with Grilled Corn, Pickled Shallots and Purple Cabbage
Thai Style Cobb Salad Recipe for Khao Yam Bangkok
This Thai style cobb salad recipe makes a fusion of the classic American Cobb salad and the wonderful Southern Thai salad khao yam. It’s one of our best summer salad recipes and and it’s another of our top 31 recipes to make in January. It’s inspired by one of our favourite Thai food recipes, a delicious salad by Thai chef Ian Kittichai, which he calls Khao Yam Bangkok and translates to Bangkok Cobb Salad in his Issaya Siamese Club restaurant cookbook.
Thai Style Cobb Salad Recipe Inspired by Khao Yam Bangkok by Chef Ian Kittichai
Shan Vermicelli Salad Recipe
My Shan vermicelli salad recipe with sesame, coriander and peanuts makes a deliciously light vegetarian noodle salad from Shan State in northeastern Myanmar. Typically eaten as a contrasting accompaniment to rich oily curries, such as this Burmese Indian-style chicken curry, it can also be eaten as a satisfying single-bowl meal and that’s what I plan to do on Sunday for lunch. Peanuts, crispy fried shallots and crispy fried garlic add texture and crunch to this salad, and an additional squeeze of lime adds zing.
Shan Vermicelli Salad Recipe with Coriander, Sesame and Peanuts from Shan State
Bang Bang Chicken Salad Recipe
Our bang bang chicken salad recipe is based on one of our all-time favourite Chinese dishes, the classic Sichuan bang bang chicken typically served as one of an array of starters at Sichuanese restaurants. It was while testing poached chicken breast recipes that the idea of transforming the delightfully tongue-tingling, spice-laden bang bang chicken into a lighter yet still filling salad came to us, and it was on repeat for lunch and dinner throughout our summer here in Cambodia, and it’s another of our top 31 recipes to make in January.
Bang Bang Chicken Salad Recipe for a Fresh Light Take on the Spicy Sichuan Speciality
Cambodian Cucumber Salad Recipe
This Cambodian cucumber salad recipe for nhoam trasak makes a fantastic filling salad that you can eat year-round. Traditionally shared here in Cambodia, where, like most salads, it’s eaten family-style with rice and an array of other dishes, you can easily serve this as a satisfying single-bowl meal for lunch or dinner. Cambodian salads are the best, which explains why we’ve got so many Cambodian salad recipes here – everything from a classic banana flower chicken salad to the pork and jicama salad.
Cambodian Cucumber Salad Recipe for Nhoam Trasak, a Fantastic Year Round Salad
Japanese Style Cabbage and Cucumber Salad Recipe
Another of our top 31 recipes to make in January, this Japanese style cabbage and cucumber salad recipe is made with quintessential Japanese ingredients such as sesame seeds and roasted seaweed, which give it a fantastic texture, while the dressing of rice vinegar, Japanese soy sauce, sesame oil, and grated ginger give it a delightful tartness. It’s the perfect side to Japanese comfort food dishes, such as Japanese fried chicken, pork tonkatsu and katsu burgers, all of which are good summer eating.
Japanese Style Cabbage and Cucumber Salad Recipe with Sesame Seeds
Cambodian Pork Larb Recipe
This Cambodian pork larb recipe for laab sach chrouk makes a lightly spiced minced pork salad that’s dusted with toasted rice powder, and eaten with fresh fragrant herbs, crispy vegetables and steamed rice. While it has more famous spicier cousins in Thailand and Laos, Cambodia’s larb is a delicious dish that will appeal to those who prefer more gentle levels of spice.
Pork Larb Recipe for Cambodian Laab Sach Chrouk – A Fragrant Pork Mince Salad
Shredded Chicken Tacos Recipe with Avocado and Vegan Chilli
Our shredded chicken tacos recipe with smashed avocado, vegan chilli and Mexican pickled onions and pickled cabbage makes a fantastic filling lunch or light dinner. A cinch to make and quick to assemble, it’s another of our top 31 recipes to make in January. Plan ahead and prepare the chilli in advance and it means no cooking – aside from warming up the tortillas in a pan. Pop a fried egg on top and you’ve got a breakfast taco.
Shredded Chicken Tacos Recipe with Avocado, Vegan Chilli and Mexican Pickles
Classic Banana Flower Salad Recipe
This recipe for a banana flower salad – also called a banana blossom salad – makes the Cambodian banana flower salad called gnoam trayong chek in Khmer, another one of our best poached chicken breast recipes and one of our best summer salad recipes. It’s super-easy, you just need to work fast so your banana flower doesn’t brown. It’s a fragrant and crunchy salad that is all about the texture and aromas.
Classic Banana Flower Salad Recipe for Cambodia’s Gnoam Trayong Chek
Vietnamese Meatballs and Rice Noodles Recipe
Our Vietnamese meatballs and rice noodles recipe will make you a delicious Vietnamese rice noodle bowl and it’s another of our top 31 recipes to make in January. Mouthwatering tender meatballs are doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, and served with a carrot-daikon quick pickle, crunchy cucumber, and fragrant herbs. This dish is inspired by bún chả, a traditional Hanoi specialty, but it’s not an authentic Vietnamese bún chả Hanoi recipe. Sometimes we don’t have time to get the grill going and coals smouldering.
Vietnamese Meatballs and Rice Noodles Recipe with Tangy Sweet Sauce and Fresh Herbs
Cambodian Green Papaya Salad Recipe
This Cambodian green papaya salad recipe makes nhoam lahong or bok lahong, a fresh, aromatic, crunchy papaya salad that is a little funky, a little spicy, a little sour, a little salty, and a little sweet. In other words, it’s a well-balanced salad, and this is arguably what sets it apart from its bolder cousins in Laos (where pounded salads are called Tum Som), Thailand (Som Tam), and Vietnam (Gỏi Đủ Đủ), which are, respectively, a lot funkier, more fiery, and more fragrant. It’s not only scrummy, it’s also a cinch to prepare.
Cambodian Green Papaya Salad Recipe – How to Make Cambodia’s Bok Lahong
Easy Thai Corn Salad Recipe
Our Thai corn salad recipe makes a simple tossed corn salad that’s inspired by the popular som tam style salad that’s pounded in a mortar and pestle. While we do love a good classic Thai som tam, it can often be very wet. This salad works best as a tossed salad and it’s easily another of our top 31 recipes to make in January. For those nice char marks and smoky aroma, we do the corn cobs on a griddle pan or a stovetop Korean BBQ grill pan if we’re cooking inside or grill it over a traditional clay brazier if we’re cooking out.
Thai Corn Salad Recipe for a Filling Summer Lunch or a Perfect Side for Thai Style Fried Chicken
Salmon Tray Bake Recipe with Crisp Vegetables
My easy salmon tray bake recipe makes crispy skinned salmon fillets baked so that the skin crackles but the flesh remains moist, with roasted vegetables that are just-done so that they’re still fresh and crunchy. Sprinkled with spring onions and fresh fragrant dill and served with lemon slices, it makes the lightest of roasts that is perfect for midsummer evenings. We’re happy to have the salmon fillets and vegetables drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil, but a bowl of homemade tartare sauce on the table adds a nice touch if you’re feeding a group.
Easy Salmon Tray Bake Recipe for Crispy Skinned Salmon with Spring Vegetables
Spanish Potato Salad Recipe for Ensaladilla Rusa
This Spanish potato salad recipe makes ensaladilla Rusa or ensalada Rusa, one of the most popular Spanish tapas bar snacks and one of my favourite potato salad recipes. Ensalada means salad in Spanish and it’s an appetiser size called raciones, while ensaladilla means little salad and is a smaller tapas snack size. ‘Rusa’ means Russian, as this salad is the Spanish version of the Russian Olivier salad. In Spain, this creamy potato salad is typically served with crunchy mini breadsticks called picos.
Spanish Potato Salad Recipe for the Popular Spanish Tapas Dish Ensaladilla Rusa
Beef Kofta Recipe for Grilled Ground Meat Kebabs
Our beef kofta recipe makes traditional Lebanese kafta – grilled, spiced, ground meat kebabs that are made throughout the Middle East. Cooked at home, served at restaurants, and barbecued in parks at family gatherings on weekends and holidays, these Arabic minced meat kebabs are one of the most beloved dishes in a region that loves its grilled meats. This is another of our top 31 recipes to make in January.
Beef Kofta Recipe for Lebanese Kafta – Grilled Spiced Ground Meat Kebabs
Fattoush Salad Recipe for a Lebanese Village Salad
This classic fattoush salad recipe makes a traditional Lebanese village salad of ripe tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, zingy radishes, and fresh fragrant herbs. Fattoush is tossed in a delightful salad dressing distinguished by the beloved Middle Eastern ingredients of pomegranate seeds and ground sumac, and is textured with crispy pita chips. It’s fantastic served with hummus, baba ghanoush, beef kofta and kebabs.
Fattoush Salad Recipe for a Traditional Lebanese Village Salad
Chicken Schnitzel Burger Recipe with Creamy Pickle Mayo
Terence’s chicken schnitzel burger recipe will make you our crunchy chicken schnitzel with panko breadcrumbs, parmesan and lemon zest, spread with creamy pickle mayo and topped with bacon, cabbage and tomato between soft burger buns. Served with spicy potato wedges (and we have a homemade sweet chilli sauce to go with those), it is home-cooked fast food at its finest, and it’s another of our top 31 recipes to make in January. We also love it with this warm potato salad with anchovies, capers, chives and celery leaves, which can also be served cold.
Chicken Schnitzel Burger Recipe with Creamy Pickle Mayo and Bacon, Cabbage and Tomato
Japanese Potato Salad Recipe with Cucumber, Corn and Ham
Our Japanese potato salad recipe makes a quintessential Japanese potato salad of partly-mashed diced potatoes, finely sliced cucumbers and carrots, corn kernels, boiled eggs, ham, and Japanese mayonnaise, and it’s one of our best potato salad recipes. If you’ve travelled in Japan you may have come across it on the menus at Japanese izakayas (drinking taverns), discovered it in that bento box you bought on the bullet train, or enjoyed it as a side served with tonkatsu. It’s also one of the most versatile potato salad recipes you will make, although a Japanese mayonnaise, such as Kewpie mayonnaise, along with Japanese rice vinegar are essential.
This Japanese Potato Salad Recipe is One of the Most Versatile Potato Salad Recipes You Will Make
Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich Recipe with Belles Hot Chicken
Terence’s spicy fried chicken sandwich recipe makes a classic fried chicken sandwich or fried chicken burger if you prefer, made with Australian chef Morgy McGlone’s famously fiery Belles Hot Chicken, crunchy lettuce, melty American cheese, and tangy mayonnaise. If you’re a fan of the Aussie chef’s take on Nashville-style Southern fried chicken, you’ll love this spicy fried chicken burger, which is easily another of our top 31 recipes to make in January.
Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich Recipe with Southern Fried Chicken and Tangy Mayonnaise
Best Shoestring Fries Recipe
Our shoestring fries recipe will make you crispy matchstick fries which we like to serve just as we would our hand-cut fries or potato wedges, as a companion to fried chicken or beer-battered fried fish (they’re fantastic dipped into our easy homemade tartare sauce), meat pies and sausage rolls, or sandwiches and burgers. I also serve shoestring fries with my traditional beef Stroganoff (or any of my best Stroganoff recipes, actually), along with a classic garden salad, as shoestring fries were the original side to that centuries-old dish served in the grand palaces of St Petersburg.
Best Shoestring Fries Recipe for the Perfect Side for Burgers and Beef Stroganoff
Char Siu Pork Burger Recipe with Asian Slaw and Sriracha Mayo
Terence’s char siu pork burger recipe with Asian slaw is like the best bacon burger you’ve ever tried with an Asian twist. Using skinless pork belly strips marinated in the classic Chinese char siu sauce, it’s a flavour-packed burger with a little kick from the Sriracha mayonnaise and a refreshing Asian-style slaw in every bite. If, like us, your idea of fast food is healthy home-cooked fast food and you’re a fan of homemade burgers (we have more on that link), then you’re going to like this recipe a lot.
Char Siu Pork Burger Recipe with Asian Slaw, Crunchy Cucumber and Sriracha Mayo
Please do let us know if you make any of our 31 summer recipes to make in January, as we’d love to know how they turn out for you.
