Chicken recipes for picnics

Roast chicken salad
drumsticks or crispy wings?

Most chicken recipes for picnics will involve cooking the chicken at home, cooling quickly and transporting to the picnic in a cool-box. Therefore you must make sure that the chicken is sufficiently cooked, with no pink meat, before you cool it.

However, if the chicken is going to be eaten in less than an hour, it’s possible to cook it thoroughly and then transport it in a double-wrapped foil parcel. This is a particularly good way to eat a whole roast chicken on a picnic.

It’s particularly appetising if it's been stuffed with a bunch of aromatic herbs and lemon quarters before roasting. Then all those lovely aromas are released when you open the foil at the picnic table.

Served with a simple salad, this is a yummy chicken recipe for a picnic, the only disadvantage being, because it's wrapped in foil, the skin does not stay crispy.

Chicken wings are a great starter or snack and there are lots of ways you can flavour wings to create chicken recipes for picnics.

They are particularly easy to eat without cutlery – just remember to take wipes for sticky fingers and something to take the bones home in.

They appeal to adults and children alike, although the younger ones might prefer plainer varieties without too much chilli or garlic. In fact, if you buy good meaty organic wings, they don’t need to be cooked with anything more than a brush of olive oil and little salt and pepper. Then the real flavour of chicken bursts through the crispy skin. Delicious!

Spicy Chicken Wings

Using a sharp kitchen knife, make a cut in the skin of each wing and slide a sliver of garlic under the skin. Brush the wings with olive oil and sprinkle with a mixture of chilli powder, paprika and some dried herbs such as oregano. Lastly, season with salt and ground black pepper.

Put on a shallow baking tray and roast in a hot oven (210 C) for at least 15 minutes, until they are cooked through and have a blackened, crispy skin. Allow to cool before packing in a box with some lime or lemon wedges to squeeze over before serving.

This is a nice summer chicken recipe for picnics. I have so much lavender in my garden, I have to put it to use as often as possible!

Make some deep cuts in 4 chicken breasts and then marinade them for half an hour (or longer) in the fridge in this mixture:

• 6 fresh lavender flowers, stripped from stems
• finely grated zest of a large orange
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh marjoram
• a pinch of salt

Grill the chicken for 15 minutes, turning once, or until cooked through. Slice it and let it cool before packing.

Serve with a green salad and decorate with halved tomatoes and lavender sprigs.

Chicken Kebabs

Marinade 450 g of chicken breast overnight (or at least 3 hours) in the fridge, in:

• 60 ml of lemon juice
• 125 ml of olive oil
• 3 cloves of crushed garlic
• salt and pepper

(Tip: use a plastic bag to marinade in as the liquid can get to all the pieces and you can turn the whole bag over easily from time to time – start off with the bag sitting in a bowl and then when everything is in, tie the bag securely.)

Use metal or wooden (soaked in water first for 15 minutes) skewers or sticks (if you have a rosemary bush in your garden, you can use branches of this with most of the leaves removed and this skewer will impart a nice tang of rosemary to the meat).

Thread the cubes of chicken onto the skewers or kebab sticks. Put another tasty morsel on each end if you like, such as a sweet piquante pepper (available in jars), or intersperse the chicken pieces with baby onions, mushrooms or thick slices of courgette.

Grill the kebabs using the marinade to keep them moist or cook in the oven at 170 degrees C for 15 – 20 minutes, until cooked through. Cool quickly and transport in a box. Serve cold at the picnic drizzled with a basil or red-pepper pesto or a yogurt dip.

If you have a portable barbeque, transport the kebabs raw (keep cool) and cook on site. Make sure the chicken is thoroughly cooked before eating - I don't want anyone getting food poisoning from my chicken recipes for picnics!

Chicken Satay

Marinade 450 g of cubed chicken breast overnight (or at least 3 hours) in the fridge in:

• 2 tablespoons of dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
• half a teaspoon of chilli powder

Put on skewers as above and grill or oven cook. Serve with satay sauce.

More chicken recipes for picnics to follow shortly. Check back soon or go to marinades for chicken or chicken soup.

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