The summer in NYC has been one muggy heat wave after another for the past few months. After a mild winter and spring, it seems we almost deserve the sweltering heat. But when just walking to another room in the house or apartment makes you break a sweat, turning on the oven to cook a dinner meal can seem simply unbearable.

Rather than order take out or rely on servings of ice cream for dinner (tempting, we know), try some of these great sandwiches and salad recipes from our What's Cookin' database. Healthy, filling, seasonal and without a single extra degree of heat from the stove or oven. Sounds pretty good to us!

How do you keep cool during the summer months? Have any no-cook tricks we should know about? Let us know in the comments below!

Photo courtesy of 3liz4 via Flickr/cc