It’s (FINALLY) that time of year! It’s time to go on picnics! Hooray! I love summer, I love summer picnics, and I love summer picnic food. Over the last few years, we’ve developed a few fast, easy favorites for the impromptu picnic.
One of our favorite all-star picnic dinners consists of giant sub sandwiches, potato salad, brownies, and watermelon slices.
For the giant subs, I start with full-sized loaves of french bread. If we have time, we make these ourselves. If we’re running short on time, we just pick up a loaf or two from the grocery store.
I slice the loaf horizontally, slather it with mustard and mayo, and layer meat, cheese, tomatoes, spouts, and lettuce. The handy thing about these giant subs is that I can use up whatever I have in the fridge. If I have leftover chicken, then we eat chicken salad subs. If I have loads of tuna in the cupboard, we’ll have tuna salad subs. Leftover meatloaf makes GREAT sandwiches. If I’m feeding a bunch of vegetarians, we have loads of veggies and hummus on the sub.
After the sub is assembled, I wrap it up securely and we’re ready to go. It’s helpful to take along a small cutting board and a sharp knife for slicing the sub.
For a quick picnic, a giant sub and a pan of brownies is usually enough. If I’m feeding a crowd, I try to find a couple of salads to add to the menu. Our top three favorites are Loaded Potato Salad, Broccoli Slaw, and Cucumber-Tomato-Yogurt Salad. All of these need refrigeration in an ice chest unless you plan to eat them immediately.
I’ve also found that I can’t go wrong with slices of watermelon and cantaloupe, bowls of strawberries, baskets of cherries, and bunches of bananas.
On principle, I try to avoid chips and other junk food options for our picnics. Even our picnic drinks are simple and reasonably healthy. Once in awhile I’ll make sweet tea for a picnic, but most of the time, we stick to water or a large bottle of fruit juice.
A few years ago, my sister brainstormed a long list of picnic/summer potluck ideas. Check them out at My Sister’s Kitchen.
Now go hunt up those picnic baskets and plaid blankets and get outside!
Barb Kelley – don’t forget that we’re on Facebook AND Twitter now! “Like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for the very latest in the Kitchen.
Latest Comments