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Tips and Featured Recipes for Picnics and Summer Travel
Road trips, camping or a day at the beach all make for great summertime fun! Wherever you go, though, you'll be faced with the same question: "What are we going to eat?" Sail past those fast food traps and enjoy the best that summer can offer with our favorite tips for simple, easy meals and snacks to keep you eating healthfully while away from home.
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Plan and Prepare
Simplicity and quality are the main ingredients in any recipe for food-on-the-go. With a bit of planning along with some minor meal preparation in advance, eating well while on the go is a lot easier than you might think — especially in the summertime when many fresh fruits and vegetables are at their peak.
First Things First
A little common sense planning before you head out the door helps ensure stress-free dining later on down the road. Think ahead about where you will be when hunger strikes.
Hitting the road? Pack some healthy snacks. Make sure at least some of them don't need to be in the cooler to avoid frequent opening and closing. Pack along your favorite drinks and water too.
Going camping or to the beach where you can cook out? Pre-marinate fish, chicken or tempeh to cook on your first night out. Pack frozen items to thaw for the second night, or bring canned goods to heat up easily.
Try out new recipes at home first to make sure you like the dish before packing it along on a trip.
Figure out exactly how many meals you need to pack for and write out a menu that you can tape to the top of the ice chest. Helps you remember and everyone else will know what to expect.
Safety on the go is also a consideration. Transporting food in summer heat and consuming it outdoors has its own set of hazards. Not to worry, however, we have some basic tips on picnic safety that will allow you to relax and enjoy your surroundings.
We're sure you can think of many more planning questions specific to your trip. Let ours be an inspirational guide to get the wheels rolling.
Packing Up the Good Stuff
Our chefs cooked up these delicious suggestions for food to go, and we encourage you to be inventive as well. Let these ideas inspire you to design meals and snacks perfect for your family or friends.
Appetizers
With food-on-the-go, we classify "appetizers" as finger foods that don't require additional preparation when you are ready to eat. Perfect for snacking in the car or munching around the campsite before the big meal.
- Whole-grain breads, pita bread, all-natural snack crackers and chips for dips, spreads and cheese.
- Dips and Spreads
- Baba Ghanouj — homemade or from our deli.
- Black Bean Hummus
- Cream Cheese & Cashew Nut Dip
- Cold Guacamole goes great with anything from organic corn chips to slices of fresh cucumber, baby carrots and jicama.
- Perfect Picnic Cheese or your favorite cheese cut into bite-size pieces.
- Assorted roasted nuts — try honey roasted, tamari roasted, chili roasted or plain with or without sea salt.
- Trail mix: spend a few minutes in our bulk section creating a good-for-you blend of your favorite nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
- Fresh fruits and vegetables are a smart choice — perfect for dips and spreads and they won't spoil quickly or weigh you down. Think grapes, carrots, cherry tomatoes, apples and celery.
- Olives, capers, mushrooms and roasted peppers from our olive bar are perfect for chilled picnic appetizers.
- Popcorn
- Homemade Energy Bars with dried fruit and nuts.
- Your choice of all-natural cookies and granola bars.
Salads
Preparing a few salads ahead of time makes on-the-go meal time a snap. Be sure to keep your salads cool and use plenty of ice when packing. Also, for best results, assemble and dress vegetable salads just before serving, especially in hot weather.
- Carrot Vegan Salad with Almond Butter Dressing
- Cucumbers, apples and pears mixed with a whole grain mustard-apple cider vinegar dressing.
- Curried Couscous Salad with whole wheat couscous, raisins, toasted coconut, cilantro, peas, shredded carrot and sliced scallions.
- Grape tomatoes and cubed Swiss cheese salad with a splash of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.
- Grilled Tofu and Melon Salad — organic baby greens accented with dried cherries and chopped pecans and topped with grilled tofu and cantaloupe.
- Macaroni Salad with whole wheat macaroni, celery and shallot.
- Quinoa Salad with Chicken, Grapes and Almonds in a light vinaigrette.
- Rice Noodle Salad with Asian-Style Beef
- A simple green salad paired with full-flavored green olives, fresh tomatoes, red onion and feta cheese dressed in a lemony vinaigrette.
- Shrimp and Grape Salad with celery and chives in a white wine vinaigrette.
- Using Leftovers for Salads
- More Salads...
Sandwiches
Sandwiches are always an easy option. Let your backseat drivers create their own sandwich masterpieces before the big trip. Some interesting options to take the doldrums out of everyone's typical lunchbox include:
- Alternative seed or nut spreads like tahini or cashew butter with boysenberry jam.
- Creamy smoked Gouda with sliced apples on pecan raisin bread.
- Sliced turkey and cranberry jam on whole wheat.
- Garlic hummus with red ripe tomatoes and a slice of cheddar cheese on spelt bread.
- Tuna and apple salad sandwiches on 7-grain.
- Roasted yellow peppers, red ripe tomatoes and a spread of cream cheese on a French baguette.
- Sliced chicken breast stuffed into pita bread with lightly dressed spinach salad and purple onions.
- Ham salad on rye with dill pickles on the side or in the sandwich.
- Deli roasted veggies and pepper jack cheese on olive bread.
- Cream cheese and apple or cucumber on sourdough raisin bread.
- View all of our Unique Sandwich Ideas
Eclectic Edibles
Keep your vacation from sliding into a rut with these recipes and suggestions for unique travel food.
- Deli-style Picnic Rollups are slices of deli meat wrapped around a thin slice of cheese along with a piece of fruit or vegetable. Perfect finger food.
- Portobello Spring Rolls with Cilantro-Tahini Dip combine rice noodles with red cabbage and green collards in a tidy rice paper wrapper.
- Stuffed Chard Leaves — Pretty little packages of rice, goat cheese, pine nuts and raisins, perfect for a picnic.
- Picnic Drumsticks with Orange-Mustard Sauce are delicious cold from the cooler or warm when wrapped in foil to eat within an hour.
- Pack up a chilled soup like gazpacho or avocado-cucumber purée in a thermos. Chill on ice, until ready to serve.
- Pick up a rotisserie chicken to take along for a supremely easy meal. Pack a bagged lettuce mix, some tortillas, canned beans and your favorite salsa for easy to assemble tacos.
- When sticking to grilled basics — like veggie or meat hot dogs and burgers — spice up the menu with chipotle ketchup or spicy pepper relish.
- Sausage on a stick — freeze a package of precooked sausage. With a good quality cooler, it should thaw in time to simply heat over an open fire or grill on your second night out.
If camping or packing a small grill for the beach, pre-marinate meats, seafood or tempeh for straight to the grill convenience.
Desserts
Finish off your on-the-go meal with something sweet.
- Fresh fruit provides a very convenient dessert. Apples, Pears and bananas are highly portable, taste great and are good for you too.
- Chocolate is a favorite no matter where you are. Make superb S'Mores using high quality chocolate bars, all-natural marshmallows and graham crackers.
- For the slightly more elegant picnic table or blanket, try a ripe, creamy Brie paired with flatbread crackers and an artisan fig spread.
- Blue Cheese and Walnut Dusted Grapes are a fancy treat, yet simple to make and easy to take along in a cooler.
- Cold fresh blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are delicious on their own or when topped with organic yogurt or whipped cream.
- Pick up chilled individual-size flan or cheesecake.
- Prepare your favorite flavor of pudding and then freeze in small containers to take along.
- Many cookies, bars and brownies travel well. Make your favorites or visit our bakery before heading out of town.
- More Desserts and Snacks...
Do it Right
If you're anticipating a summer of picnics and roadside dining, here are some suggestions to make the whole process easier and more pleasurable.
Invest in a good quality cooler for perishables. While you might pay a little more, a good, well-built cooler makes a world of difference. Look for air-tight gasket seals around the lid and, on larger ones, a leak-proof spigot for draining meltwater. Consider the size: coolers filled with food and ice can be quite heavy so you may want to buy two coolers of manageable size and weight rather than one large one you can't lift easily. White is the best color since dark colors absorb sunlight, which can heat up the cooler and defeat even the best insulation.
Individual water-tight containers for storing salads, sandwiches or ingredients for grilling are essential. Few things are more disappointing on a picnic than discovering that your sandwiches are water logged from melting ice. Heavy-duty, reusable ones are best.
Dishware and flatware should also be reusable to minimize the amount of paper and plastic going into landfills. Heavy-duty plastic or melamine plates and cups are perfect for picnic use and, along with metal flatware, lend a small measure of elegance to al fresco dining.
A wooden cutting board and sharp knife come in handy for last minute food preparation.
Bring an oversize blanket for impromptu dining on the ground. A plastic ground sheet is also a good idea to protect the blanket (and your backside) from ground moisture. And don't forget a tablecloth for those less-than-clean public picnic tables.
Two tea towels, one damp and one dry sealed in plastic bags, will ensure you're well-prepared for almost any picnic mess. A roll of paper towels can also come in handy.
If you have the room, folding campstools or other outdoor chairs are a welcome alternative to sitting on the ground.
Thwart hungry ants by drawing circles around your plate with chalk. Talcum powder works equally well if dining on the ground. Ants can't stand the smell and texture of either.
Garbage bags take up very little space and are essential for those areas with no trash receptacles.
Toss in a plastic vase or jar to hold wild flowers — it's an easy way to dress up your picnic table and a fun activity for everyone.
Stay hydrated — Have plenty of liquids on hand and remind everyone to drink often (especially children and the elderly). Water is always best, but 100% fruit juices or juice mixed with natural sparkling water work well too. Sugar-laden sodas can be dehydrating and should be avoided. If you can't avoid them altogether, try an all-natural soda made with 100% fruit juice and sparkling water.
First aid — Always pack a first-aid kit for minor emergencies and bring along a cell phone.
Always have sunscreen available, preferably one that has a rating of SPF 30 or higher. Sunglasses with UV protection are also important.