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in many western cultures many courtships begin with breaking bread together. In CA gourmet picnics rarely go out of style and usually includes rustic bread, quality cheese, and wine. In the South, the quintessential picnic is fried chicken, potato salad, and sweet iced tea.
I have enjoyed both types many times, but now that I'm a vegetarian for some time now, and spring is here, I need some suggestions on what would make an elegant, easy, and scrumptious picnic.
Have to have some hummus! And variety of gourmet olives. Some olive oil to drizzle on a slice of bread. Avocado. Strawberries! Chocolate! Yum now I'm getting hungry so better quit LOL
A couple of cold salads are good as main dishes. I like to add nuts or seeds to my salads to make them more filling. My current favorites are broccoli slaw with cranberries and sunflower seeds, quinoa with pine nuts and golden raisins, and lentils with chopped walnuts and green onions.
Another thing you could take on a Vegetarian/Vegan picnic is a homemade 3 (or 4 or 5) bean salad or broccoli slaw with a citrus dressing. Additionally, a good Tapenade to have with some Crusty French Bread never goes amiss
Don't forget dessert! Making Vegan friendly cakes and cookies are simple, and there are plenty of vegan baking books out there
No reason potato salad and other picnic favorites can't be made vegetarian or vegan. I have plenty of potato salad recopies both creamy and with vinaigrette dressings.
Tofu Salad sandwiches made with Veganase brand mayo are good too. Other ideas Tofurkey club sandwiches, vegan coleslaw, pickles, pasta salad.
No bake strawberry pie and lemonade or iced tea make for a sweet ending!
to sheena, thank you for the retro visual! very cool.
Here was the picnic menu: I went by Raleys bakery to pick up a small round of perfect sourdough. Also brought a thing of hummus, and a container of fresh chopped tomatoes. We didn't get into the extras because the bread was soft and fresh and simple.
I prepared a linguini with chardonay sauce and roasted red bell peppers and put it into a quart container. I took the freshly grated parmesan and walnuts in different containers to easily add. Just before we ate, I poured in the walnuts and the parmesan cheese. We actually took turns and ate directly from the larger container which made it more intimate. We just tore off the bread as we went along.
We had little plastic cups to drink the chardonay in. They weren't anything fancy, but it was so much fun. We talked and watched the water and talked more. He brought a thermos of coffee and some ginger snaps, which we had after we played frisbee and took some silly photos.
I cannot think of a better way to end a fantastic picnic. I brought a bowl of broken dark chocolate, fresh cherries, and tossed in some more walnuts. But didn't get it out because I thought the cookies and coffee were perfect
Black bean burgers or veggie dogs. Both can be made yourself. Salads, non gmo or organic corn chips with organic salsa. You could also make your own from tomato, onion, avocado, and spices. They have vegan marshmallows now and you could get non dairy dark chocolate with a high quality amaranth cracker for smores. I like portabella mushroom caps as a burger (marinate with salt/pepper/garlic in tin foil) with mustard & onions on homemade sourdough bread.
Tortillas chips, salsa made with corn and black beans. Chopped salad with cilantro, lime vinagrette, quesadillas made with roasted veggies, fresh fruit, and ice cold beer with lime.
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