Picnic Foods

[little ms foodie]

We have a few picnics coming up and I'd love some ideas on things that can be made the day before, kept and eaten cool. Of course pasta salads, cold chicken and cookies are standbys but what about some new fun ideas??

[rooftop1000]

Sadley the only real picnic I remember having was at a James Taylor concert with my mother ...happily I got all the food from work

We had cous cous salad with diced veggies and herbs, sliced grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes with mozz dressed with pesto, grilled slices of french bread, chilled Rose and iced lemon pound cake and raspberry bars.

Carried in one of those really cool picnic backpacks that come with plates glasses linen napkins etc

The nice family next to us had ham sandwiches on hamburger buns, cheerios and gummi bears washed down with juice boxes...they kept peeking at what I would pull out next...

tracey

[monavano]

Oooooh, I love picnics! My husband and I go to concerts at an outdoor venue and I enjoy creating the meal. My favorites include:

Crusty baguette sandwich with thinly sliced med rare flank steak, feta cheese, fresh basil and tomatoes. Dress the bread with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar.

Pasta salad with capellini, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, fresh shredded basil and diced tomatoes. Salt to taste.

Assorted cheeses and fruit.

[chantal]

There's a really great sandwich in the silver palate cookbook. You take a really crusty loaf of bread, e.g. ciabatta, and fill it with roasted peppers, roasted sausages, marinated eggplant, some cheese--provolone I think, and vinaigrette. They say to make it ahead stack heavy stuff (sheet pans) on top of it to smash it together and get all of the flavors to meld together. When I've made it, I just piled everything for my picnic on top of it--wine bottles, other goodies. One of those chewy, lovely, oil runs down your face type sandwiches. Man all of a sudden I got this mean craving for muffaleta. That would make a fine sandwich too.

Another thing I made recently that I thought was great was this wild rice salad by a quebecois cook here in Montreal named Philippe de Vienne. Wild Rice, ground white and pink peppercorns, cardamon, fuji apples, pecans (i used brazil nuts) and a vinaigrette of rice vinegar, oil and maple syrup. Boy was it good. If you want either recipe just give me the heads up and I'll post on recipe gullet.

Edited July 19, 2005 by chantal (log)

[MsMelkor]

My favorite dish to make for a picnic is lentil salad - de puy lentils with red wine vinegar, red onion, and mustard.

[jackal10]

See my recent blog for a surprise loaf. (loaf with the crumb cut out and made into sandwiches before being re-assembled)

[origamicrane]

sushi rolls are brilliant for picnics.

[TPO]

My favorite picnic side dish is tabouli.

[wattacetti]

Cornish pasties, calzone, pain bagnat

[little ms foodie]

fantastic suggestions everyone! let's get picnicing!! Jack I did bookmark that sandwich idea. Wattaceti I need more info on cornish pasties??

Not so much picnicing but we are going camping this weekend and I think I'm going to take my paella pan and try that over the open fire.

[wattacetti]

Wattaceti I need more info on cornish pasties??

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Someone is going to come after me with a pitchfork for writing this, but you can think of a Cornish Pasty as a kind of calzone originating in Cornwall (UK).

Paella over an open fire sounds good; I saw something on a guy in Spain who does this (and with a fistful of saffron to boot).

[Toasted]

fantastic suggestions everyone! let's get picnicing!! Jack I did bookmark that sandwich idea. Wattaceti I need more info on cornish pasties??

Not so much picnicing but we are going camping this weekend and I think I'm going to take my paella pan and try that over the open fire.

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Make some polenta ahead of time and let it chill and stick it in the cooler. Slice it into "fingers" toasted on some skewers over the open fire. Serve it with a marinara sauce or just sprinkle some gorganzola over it and let it melt. This is one of my favorite camp fire treats and kids like it too!

[DTBarton]

I love a room temperature roasted vegetable salad. Cut whatever veggies you want in little cubes (eggplant, zuchinni, onion, carrot, parsnip, celery, cherry tomatoes, chili and/or sweet peppers). Put in a plastic bag and shake to coat with a little olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Roast in a 400 degree oven on a foiled, Pammed cookie sheet to desired doneness. I like to put everything in at the same time, the harder veggies retain a nice crunch, the softer get brown and, well, soft.

Take out, put in a bowl, add a rinsed can of black beans if you like. Dress with whatever vineagrette you like, a little fresh chopped basil is nice. Take bowl to picnic, serve at room temp.

[reesek]

i love picnics!

i third (or fourth) the weighted sandwich idea. i usually go with a roasted red pepper, goat cheese arugula, balsamic combo with crunchy salt. some salami in there wouldn't suck either.

i live with a potato salad fiend. i make all kinds, but for warm weather, i like to cook potatoes (sometimes roasted, sometimes boiled) and add some capers, tarragon and parsley, some diced celery and dress while it's still warm with sherry vinegar, whole grain mustard and olive oil.

olives!

skewers of marinated cherry tomatoes, basil and mozz would be good too.

if i want something to stay cool for a while, i'll freeze some grapes and rest or nestle the cool thing in the grapes. mmm, white sangria.

if it's a picnic where i can keep things reasonably cold - it's lobster salad or lobster rolls all the way. with champagne.

for camping - we made mussels a couple of years ago in cannon beach over an open fire - steamed as usual, but they took on some smoke and were just wonderful.

[Toasted]

I love a room temperature roasted vegetable salad.  Cut whatever veggies you want in little cubes (eggplant, zuchinni, onion, carrot, parsnip, celery, cherry tomatoes, chili and/or sweet peppers).  Put in a plastic bag and shake to coat with a little olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Roast in a 400 degree oven on a foiled, Pammed cookie sheet to desired doneness.  I like to put everything in at the same time, the harder veggies retain a nice crunch, the softer get brown and, well, soft.

Take out, put in a bowl, add a rinsed can of black beans if you like.  Dress with whatever vineagrette you like, a little fresh chopped basil is nice.  Take bowl to picnic, serve at room temp.

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Wow! Great idea. I'm roasting some onion, zuchinni, parsnip and portabello mushrooms right now, also some fresh garlic. The house smells so good! Now I know the neighbors down the street have a garden so I'm on my way to hit them up for fresh basil, ok, yup, I have a can of black beans. Tonight's dinner should be great. I'm going to add the left over saffron rice that I made triple batches of and stuck in the freezer and some ginger/orange tofo that I started marinating yesterday. I think I'll grill it and add it to the rice.

[DTBarton]

I love a room temperature roasted vegetable salad.  Cut whatever veggies you want in little cubes (eggplant, zuchinni, onion, carrot, parsnip, celery, cherry tomatoes, chili and/or sweet peppers).  Put in a plastic bag and shake to coat with a little olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Roast in a 400 degree oven on a foiled, Pammed cookie sheet to desired doneness.  I like to put everything in at the same time, the harder veggies retain a nice crunch, the softer get brown and, well, soft.

Take out, put in a bowl, add a rinsed can of black beans if you like.  Dress with whatever vineagrette you like, a little fresh chopped basil is nice.  Take bowl to picnic, serve at room temp.

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Wow! Great idea. I'm roasting some onion, zuchinni, parsnip and portabello mushrooms right now, also some fresh garlic. The house smells so good! Now I know the neighbors down the street have a garden so I'm on my way to hit them up for fresh basil, ok, yup, I have a can of black beans. Tonight's dinner should be great. I'm going to add the left over saffron rice that I made triple batches of and stuck in the freezer and some ginger/orange tofo that I started marinating yesterday. I think I'll grill it and add it to the rice.

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You make' a me so happy!

[racheld]

Another thing I made recently that I thought was great was this wild rice salad by a quebecois cook here in Montreal named Philippe de Vienne.  Wild Rice, ground white and pink peppercorns, cardamon, fuji apples, pecans (i used brazil nuts) and a vinaigrette of rice vinegar, oil and maple syrup.  Boy was it good.  If you want either recipe just give me the heads up and I'll post on recipe gullet.

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Yes, please...it's outdoor concert time, and we go to a couple every Summer. We pack one of my old RedMan picnic baskets with a special sandwich or two, a bag of finger salad (tiniest crudite you can find---plus the smallest leaves of Romaine hearts, all nestled in damp paper towels in a ziplok INSIDE a larger one with ice, which also holds a small container of ranch or vinaigrette), another heartier salad (yours would be perfect), a lovely damp-leaf-wrapped cheese, crackers, Rainier cherries, and Hubby's famous cookies. Big thermos of sweet iced tea, pretty napkins and plates and silver.

[chantal]

Yes, please...it's outdoor concert time, and we go to a couple every Summer. We pack one of my old RedMan picnic baskets with a special sandwich or two, a bag of finger salad (tiniest crudite you can find---plus the smallest leaves of Romaine hearts, all nestled in damp paper towels in a ziplok INSIDE a larger one with ice, which also holds a small container of ranch or vinaigrette), another heartier salad (yours would be perfect), a lovely damp-leaf-wrapped cheese, crackers, Rainier cherries, and Hubby's famous cookies. Big thermos of sweet iced tea, pretty napkins and plates and silver.

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[M. Lucia]

I've been looking for picnic ideas too, so this thread is great.

One thing I do for sandwiches is pack all the ingredients in sep. baggies. That way the bread doesn't get soggy and everyone can assemble theirs to their liking.

It may sound fussy but it's actually easier because you don't have to put together a bunch of sandwiches and fun for everyone else.

Fattoush and panzanella are good options, different kinds of slaws, and generally anything that is finger food.

I recently made a beet/beetgreen/edamame salad from F&W that was great and am considering taking it to a friends cook out.

Crab and vegetable summer rolls (the kind with rice paper wrappers) are very portable. Pack them with damp paper towels and serve with a peanut dipping sauce.

There was a great idea in the Washington Post recently:

poundcake sandwiches

They used chocolate poundcake and sandwiched the slices with cream cheese frosting in the middle. This is great because I find cupcakes and cookies (even bar cookies) usually get smushed or crumbled. The poundcake sandwiches pack flat and you don't have to worry about messing up the icing. They're delicious, too.

[racheld]

Chantal:

Thank you!!! It sounds scrumptious. The only thing I have to go pick up is some pink peppercorns. I keep the preserved ones, but not the dry.

This is gonna taste wonderful out under the Summer stars, listening to Mozart.

[achevres]

My favorite is the traditional Spanish potato omelette ("tortilla espanola"), which is good hot or cold and best at good at room temperature. A dish where the sum is so much greater than the parts. This recipe is similar to the one I use (except I never heard of the sour cream garnish ) . You will need at least 1 teaspoon salt.

Spanish Omelette

Another good room-temperature dish is marinated eggplant.

[racheld]

We had the Wild Rice, Apple, etc., salad last night, served room temp and topped with Mirin/Tamari marinated grilled shrimp. It was just scrumptious!!! Hubby munched and Hmmmmed with pleasure, and asked "Is this little crisp stuff APPLE in here? It's SOOO GOOD!!"

Daughter was out for dinner, but there's a little Gladbox of rice and shrimp in the fridge for her lunch. She loves it when I try the eG recipes.

All our dinner was room temp or cool, and I even roasted the beets upstairs in the big old Black Angus portable, then marinated them for a couple of hours in a red wine vinegar/sugar/seasalt concoction which rendered them a passable example of my dear Mammaw's famous Beet Pickles (minus the cloves, of course). Cool ending to a VERY hot day; postscript was Heath Bar Eskimo Pies for dessert.

Thanks for the yummy addition to our picnic repertoire---we'll take it to a concert evening soon.

[Rebecca263]

Tonight I'm meeting a date for a picnic. I've made chopped chicken liver(with lots of onion,fat and egg), corned beef(fatty and sliced thinly), olive oil and rosemary roasted sliced potatoes, cold olive oil roasted ear of corn, sliced home grown tomatoes, my home seasoned cracked green olives (Syrian style), thinly sliced apples and cucumber rounds, pita, wasabi, mustard, 2 deviled eggs, and fresh peaches, mangoes and strawberries with bittersweet chocolate squares for dessert.

Yum yum, I don't want to share! If I had time I would have added some brown rice salad or couscous...darn it. I slept too late!

[little ms foodie]

ok, not a picnic but the camping paella did happen and it was yummy!

There are so many great ideas here, our first picnic is next weekend!

[Kevin Weeks]

I need more info on cornish pasties??

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I've been meaning to post this on my blog for awhile: http://seriouslygood.kdweeks.com/2005/07/cornish-pastie.html