Picnic Lunches a la Summer

Going through some old photos from last summer's cooking fiesta I found a snapshot of some of the dishes before they headed out onto the buffet table. I loved cooking lunch at the retreat centre full of hungry artists because it was always a seasonal picnic bonanza.

I always made a soup: garden vegetable, coconut lentil, borscht, corn chowder, potato leek, cream of asparagus, gazpacho, vichysoisse, spicy red tibetan lentils, etc. I also tried to do at least two sandwiches; I made wraps with creamed cheese and thin slices of vegetables or sundried tomatoes and I made open faced baked egg salad on crumpets, and old cheddar cheese on nut bread with russian mustards. I also liked doing open faced layers of goat cheese and avocado with tomato and cucumber and lots of ground pepper. The bread makes the sandwich - good walnut bread is a chewy side kick to creamy rich cheese with something tart and fresh like arugula or cucumber.

The salads would always vary. I liked offering spicy carrot and cabbage coleslaw with fresh garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, fresh lemon, sesame oil, tamari and a bit of salt with a more hearty grain or carb salad like couscous and chickpeas or boiled potato with artichoke hearts, hard boiled eggs and a grainy mustard vinaigrette. Lentils are great with an orange-lemon-curry dressing served warm with crumbled feta, sliced cherry tomatoes and lots of fresh herbs like mint, coriander and parsley.

I'd always put out baskets of fresh baguette, bowls of olives and hard boiled eggs. There would be platters of cut melon and fresh fruit.

I'm tired of stews and curries and pasta. I'm pulling on my visual references of seasons past and getting inspired to cook fresh again. Happy Easter! I bought a bone-in leg of lamb today for tomorrow's dinner with my parents and brother - I was a wreck at the butchers both last night and today - after being a strict vegetarian for 15 years I was stuck at what to buy for a family dinner. I buy myself chicken breast and make curries. Or I buy pork sausages and make pasta sauce. Or a get ground lamb and make burgers. But anything remotely beyond that I'm unsure of - pork ribs, rib eye steak, crown of lamb? I couldn't imagine what my parents would think yummy and elegant. The leg of lamb I thought would be something different to try. I hope it turns out! Yikes!

Comments

[Gwen]

Wow, do I feel inferior. Summer lunches at our house consist of ham and cheese sandwhiches and chips eaten outside on a paper plate. When we want to get really fancy we might cook the hotdogs on the grill and not in the microwave. :o)