Vegetarian picnic ideas
Choose veggie recipes
To pack a perfect vegetarian picnic, as with all al fresco menus, go for gutsy flavours and some, but not too much, variety. Fresh air encourages hunger in vegetarians just as much as meat eaters – so make sure you pack enough to satisfy everyone! |
Healthy dips are a delicious way to enjoy a nutritious veggie picnic starter or snack. Make the hummus, for example, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with toasted wholemeal pitta breads. Alongside you could offer a crunchy salad including torn leaves of Little Gem lettuce, cherry tomatoes, radishes and strips of colourful bell peppers.
Individual pastry tarts look impressive and are sure to impress fellow picnickers but they are dead easy to make. (However, they are a wee bit fiddly to transport. Best for a picnic close to home, where they are made not long before eating.)
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Unroll some ready-made puff pastry, defrosting for 15 mins if frozen and cut into individual square or rectangles. You might even be able to find ready-made individual squares or rounds – such as Jus-Rol.
Oil or grease a baking tray and arrange the pastry squares on it, bringing up the edges and pinching the pastry to form a border around each one. Then brush all over with beaten egg. Then you can add some savoury topping to each before baking for 15 mins or so until golden brown and puffy.
Savoury toppings could include lightly cooked mushrooms with chopped garlic and herbs to taste, strips of roasted peppers and cheese, asparagus spears and soft cheese, a mixture of fresh and sunblush tomatoes with a sprinkle of basil, or any other mixture of ingredients you like, which do not need a lot of cooking.
Muffins are a good choice for an al fresco meal – I love sweet, fruity ones such as blueberry buttermilk muffins but savoury ones, like spinach with goats cheese or carrot and coriander, would make a nice addition to a vegetarian picnic too.
There are many veggie recipes featured around this site and others can easily be adapted. Here are some of them:
- bean salad
- fennel salad
- cabbage salad
- carrot salads
- beetroot recipes - just ignore the references to roast beef and ham! There are some great ideas here on how to serve beets to veggies.
- egg recipes - just ignore Scotch eggs.
- watermelon recipes - make a watermelon salad or savoury salsa.
- My favourite couscous salad is suitable for non-meat eaters, as are cold broccoli salad recipes and this great peanutty noodle salad.
- tomato salad recipes (except the chorizo one) will also give you some ideas, as will cold pasta salad recipes and of course don’t miss out on my ultimate picnic salad
If you are lighting the coals at your vegetarian picnic here are some bbq ideas too:
Add some fresh fruit, a
picnic cake recipe
or a yummy
picnic dessert recipe
and don't forget to check my
picnic list
before you set off.
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