Most RVers find themselves avoiding cooking during the summer months, but since one of the advantages of traveling by RV is the opportunity to prepare home cooked meals this temptation should not necessarily be indulged. Most RVers will find that they regret their own refusal to prepare meals in the recreational vehicle almost immediately. Instead of avoiding the preparation of meals in the recreational vehicle to avoid heating it up, RVers should veer towards the RVer’s summer favorite: salads.

One summer salad popular amongst the RVing crowd is the following:

Tortellini Salad

Ingredients:

1 bag baby spinach

1 bag tortellini, cooked and chilled

2 Cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

½ medium red onion, thinly sliced

5 to 10 cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced

Handful of crushed bacon (or bacon bits)

1 Cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 Cup hardboiled egg, sliced

Sliced strawberries

Mandarin oranges

Craisins

Directions: Toss all the ingredients and use your favorite Poppy seed dressing.

The average RVer will find that they don’t mind certain types of meal preparation; it’s just the long, drawn out baking, frying and sautéing that make them feel the heat of the outdoors sneaking into the recreational vehicle. With a good summer salad it’s possible to keep things cool, light and fresh while offering a meal substantial enough to leave travelers full until the next meal break.

The ability to incorporate healthy eating habits while traveling draws many to the RVing lifestyle. Healthy eating habits adopted on the road shouldn’t be put on hold just because the temperature jumps up a few degrees. Instead of buckling to the temptation to set aside your healthy eating habits for the summer and go back to the high fat, high calorie diet that many see as “normal” for road trips, adopt a few easy recipes that will keep you and your RV cool this summer. Many of them will be salads.

Everyone has a favorite salad and RVers aren’t any different. They might even be a little bit more appreciative of the characteristics of the typical salad that make it easy and “cool.” RVers who would like to share their favorite salad or just make general recipe suggestions that will keep everyone full without heating up the RV are encouraged to share them with Pedata through comments here on the blog or on the company Facebook page.