Here's What Redditors Cook When They Want To Taste Summer

It's undeniably true that certain foods and beverages remind us of certain times of the year — or even special times in our lives. Many studies have shown that memories tied to specific meals and different categories of fare can evoke feelings of comfort and nostalgia, per Time. Baked goods made with warm spices and mugs of hot cocoa, for example, likely bring winter to mind, especially the holiday season. Apple streusel, pumpkin pie, and butternut squash soup are synonymous with fall, Thanksgiving, and harvest. And when summer finally rolls around, the culinary scene seemingly becomes crisper, livelier, juicier, and more colorful. Summer brings to mind thoughts of backyard barbecues, freedom, outdoor adventures, much needed weekend getaways, and cooling off with something refreshing after long days spent in the sun.

The Cooking subreddit recently sparked some fun conversation around the quintessential cuisines that simply taste like summertime. Redditors chimed in with the foods and drinks that are representative of the calendar's warmest months.

When it comes to food, people have a lot to talk about. From family recipes, to guilty pleasures, to dishes that generate pure happiness, there's never a shortage of topics to cover. A new thread on the Cooking subreddit began with the question, "What do you cook when you want food that tastes like summer?" The responses are (not surprisingly) enough to make people want to fire up their grills, restock their fridges with ice cold beers, and dig out their finest salad bowls immediately.

The Redditors' answers include a variety of summertime noshes, including pasta salad, potato salad, corn on the cob, grilled chicken, steak, brats, hot dogs, seasonal fruits such as pineapple and watermelon, and more. Some folks even provided detailed favorites, such as tomato cucumber salad with fresh mint, melon and prosciutto, heirloom tomatoes with bacon and avocado, gazpacho, asparagus galette, cheeseburgers with ketchup and mayo and a side of Lay's plain potato chips, the "Holy Trinity" of fish tacos, Mexican street corn, and fresh squeezed lemonade, and "anything remotely Caprese" — a lovely combination of mozzarella, tomato, basil, and olive oil. All right, now we're hungry. Is it summer yet?