3 Picnic Ideas to Welcome the Sunny Weather

After more than 4 months of grey skies, why not enjoy the sun to its maximum by picnicking? Here are some picnic recipes for you to try!

I’m Asian, so a picnic means taking food such as buffalo wings, fried rice or noodles, pickled vegetables, and white-bread sandwiches! Yup, that is picnic Malaysian style!

But, worry not. I’m not providing you recipes of these picnic dishes. Instead, I’d like to introduce the following, which worked out great as picnic food when I went on a road trip to the French and Italian Rivieras.

#1 Tabbouleh With Smoked Salmon

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This is definitely not French, but in fact a Lebanese salad with bulgur as a main ingredient, which was adopted into European dishes.

Today, you can easily pick up a Tabbouleh kit in most French supermarkets. All you need is a large bowl to pour the contents in, and the Tabbouleh is ready to eat in 15 minutes.

Here’s my healthier version of Tabbouleh that uses quinoa, instead of bulgur or couscous. Try preparing it at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavours to mix well into the ingredients.

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 250g quinoa + ingredients recommended on your quinoa packet on how to cook it
  • 12-16 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
  • half a cucumber, cubed
  • 1 shallot, very finely chopped
  • 12-15 stalks of fresh parsley, chopped
  • 6 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 4-8 tranches of smoked salmon of your choice
  • 3 tbsp of lemon juice
  • pinch of salt (to taste)

Steps:

  • Cook the quinoa according to the cooking instructions on your quinoa packet. Once cooked, if the instructions do not include adding a small cube of butter, you might want to stir one cube into the warm quinoa before letting it cool.
  • In a salad bowl, add in the olive oil, lemon juice, finely chopped shallots, crushed garlic, and stir them together to mix them well. You might want to add 1 or 2 pinches of salt into the mix.
  • Then, add in the halved cherry tomatoes, cubed cucumber, chopped parsley and cooled quinoa, and mix.
  • Chill the salad for around 30 minutes.
  • Before serving, lay out the tranches of smoked salmon on top of the salad for a nice presentation. This way, it’s easier to serve an equal amount of smoked salmon to your guests.

#2 Tapenade-infused Salad

Tapenade is a Provençal sauce that I discovered during my recent trip to the South of France. Usually, it is made of olives, capers, olive oil and anchovies.

The first recipe is inspired by a starter dish that I tried in a town called Gréox-les-Bains. The salad was lovely and refreshing, a nice pick-me-up even when the weather was quite grey.

Since the salad includes grilled aubergines, and I don’t have a grill, I used ready grilled aubergines stored in olive oil that I got from the chilled section in the supermarket. I hope you enjoy my version of this salad!

Recipe 1:

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 250g baby spinach
  • 4 tbsp of tapenade
  • 4-6 pieces of readily grilled aubergines, chopped
  • 2 handfuls of croutons (readily-made or homemade)
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 2 tbsp of lemon juice

Steps:

  • In a salad bowl, add baby spinach, grilled aubergines, tapenade, crushed garlic and lemon juice, and toss well.
  • To avoid losing their crunchiness, serve the croutons separately.

Recipe 2:

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 150g of rocket salad leaves
  • 150g of emmental cheese, cubed
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
  • 2 tbsp of tapenade
  • 3 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed

Steps:

  • In a salad bowl, add the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, tapenade and stir it into a sauce.
  • Add the rocket salad leaves, emmental cheese and toss well.
  • Lastly, add the sliced hard-boiled egg and toss gently to ensure the sliced egg remains intact (without the yolk separating from the white).

Ta-da! Two easy-peasy tapenade-infused salads to try!

#3 Mediterranean quiche

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I once had some leftover tomato purée, anchovies and olives in my fridge that I had to clear out before leaving on vacation. So, I made a quiche with them. What I like about this quiche is that the filling is not too eggy if you know what I mean. If you don’t, give this a shot, then you can compare the filling to a normal quiche and find out!

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

  • quiche pastry
  • 5 tbsp of tomato purée
  • 8-10 anchovies
  • 1 big onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 2 not-too-ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 tbsp of “herbes de Provence”
  • 10-12 Greek olives, de-stoned
  • Emmental cheese, grated (the quantity depends on how cheesy you like your quiche)
  • 3 medium eggs, beaten
  • 2 tbsp of crème fraîche

Steps:

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C
  • In a frying pan, fry the chopped onions and chopped garlic with the olive oil.
  • Once the aroma starts rising, add the anchovies and break them up while frying.
  • Then, add the Greek olives, “herbes de Provence” chopped tomatoes and tomato purée, and stir well before turning off the heat.
  • In a bowl, add the beaten eggs and crème fraîche together and beat well.
  • In a quiche/pie dish, lay out the quiche pastry and press the bottom and sides firmly into the dish.
  • Pour in the ingredients from the frying pan onto the pastry. Spread them out to cover the pastry bottom.
  • Pour the egg and crème fraîche mix on top.
  • Sprinkle the grated cheese on top before popping this into the oven.
  • Bake for 40-50 minutes.
  • Once baked, let it cool to room temperature before serving.

There you go: dishes for your picnic or a sunny balcony meal! Have a nice meal in the sun!

Cover photo: tumblr.com

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About the author

Michelle WY

An adventurous foodie lost in one of the gastronomic capitals of the world and loving every moment of it! I like to cook too, making my adventures in France very fun and enjoyable as I eat, taste then try or innovate recipes to share with you! My motto: Diet starts Tomorrow!

2 Comments

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  • My husband and I love to go on late afternoon hikes ending with dinner, wine and a sunset and you just inspired me to kick up my game from sandwiches or cheese and crackers to some pretty amazing cuisine. Another great article – thanks for sharing!

  • Thank you Nancy for your comments. You might want to check out the article on Mediterranean Wraps. I find that wraps are a great alternative to sandwiches, and at the same time, convenient to bring with you on hikes, instead of carrying containers containing salad, which can be bulky and not hike-friendly. :)