If you haven’t noticed yet, I am ‘pro-picnic’. I’m not sure if it’s because I love sandwiches and due to fond memories of childhood brown bag lunches, but I find it relaxing to head outdoors and plop down with delicious food.

Today’s picnic idea is one which I’ve played around with in the past. It features a vegetarian-friendly dried fruit and nut sandwich – chewy sweet dates, crunchy cashews and just a hint of citrus to brighten the flavors. I find the thick, chunky texture extremely satisfying and the flavor is downright delicious.

If you’re not a fan of dates, feel free to create your own mix – maybe apricots, pistachios and a drizzle of honey. You could also spice this up with a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamom.

Date-Cashew Sandwiches
1 cup pitted dates, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1/3 cup unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped

In a small bowl, combine dates, zest and orange juice. Stir to combine. Place half of the date mixture into a food processor or blender. Pulse until finely minced and the consistency of a thick paste.

Add the minced dates to the remaining coarsely chopped dates. Add cashews and stir until combined. Spread mixture on slices of whole grain bread.

Since the sandwiches are sweet, I decided to balance the flavor with a slightly acidic cucumber salad.

Cucumber Salad
previously posted, the cucumber salad recipe

Finish off the picnic with the complete opposite of sweet … bitter. Select a good quality dark chocolate bar (this one is more than 70% cocoa), then dip pieces of it into a flavored sugar mix.

Dark Chocolate Dippers
1 dark chocolate bar (>70% cocoa)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest

I like the simplicity of dipping a slightly bitter piece of chocolate into a bowl of orange scented sugar. You could also flavor the sugar with a vanilla bean pod.

To make the sugar stick, just give it a lick, then dip. If sharing with a larger crowd the dip-lick method might be unappealing, so consider providing individual baggies of sugar for each person.

Since this picnic features dried fruit, nuts, pickled cucumbers and chocolate, it packs easily and travels well. It’s perfect for a long road trip or long hike.

Where did I picnic?
I took my picnic to the top of a local ski hill (Grouse Mountain) which provided many ideal picnic locations and scenic views. Ski hills are often open during the summer for hiking, biking and other outdoor recreational activities. Access may be free or possibly a small fee, but it’s worth it — no snow, no long lift lines, and lots of amazing views.

More picnic ideas:
How to Plan a Picnic
Picnic idea #1: Tuna Sandwiches & Spiced Eggs

The weather is immaculate here, bold sunny days with gentle breezes, so we took the opportunity to explore several local parks. If you follow me on Twitter, you might have read about my fear of bears while out hiking around last weekend. Although Joe thinks I’m irrational, I can’t help but reiterate that the sign is there for a reason.

I nervously walked through the silent forest, it was anything but relaxing. I took comfort in seeing other hikers who didn’t appear to have been mauled. Happy with surviving our brief trek, we headed over to Stanley Park for a gorgeous view of the city, the only apparent threat being the hoards of tourists.

My goal for the weekend was to picnic and I wasn’t about to do it in bear country. Stanley Park offered a safer locale for opening containers of fragrant tuna and boiled eggs. Admittedly, sitting in the sun and nibbling on food is one of my favorite things to do, and if it didn’t sound so lazy I would list it as one of my favorite hobbies.

I enjoy planning and prepping for picnics. I like to pack a variety of foods that are both nourishing and refreshing. After a quick trip to the market, I decided to make a mayo-less tuna sandwich on crusty baguette, along with spiced hard boiled eggs, pomegranate seeds, and flax corn chips. Crispy, crunchy, chewy, soft and juicy. All of my favorite textures.

Tuna Salad
2 cans tuna (in water), drained
1/2 cup diced celery
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives
zest of 1 lemon
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
dash of pepper

Toss ingredients, adding enough oil to lightly coat. Feel feel to add or subtract ingredients based on preference. Fill a sliced baguette, or any sturdy bread, with the tuna salad. Place on waxed paper and tightly roll, twisting the ends of the paper at each end. These will hold nicely throughout the day without becoming soggy.

Spiced Eggs
4 boiled eggs, peeled
dash Chinese 5 spice
dash red chili pepper
dash salt

I love boiled eggs at picnics, especially when they’re deviled but only if we’re packing them on ice. There’s something about warmed mayo which makes me quiver. I opted to keep it simple and sprinkled the eggs with a few spices, so there would be no need to pack salt or other seasonings.

You might also try rolling the peeled eggs in finely chopped dill or other fresh herbs, along with a bit of salt. Delicious, flavorful and quick to make. A good burst of protein when taking longer hikes. For my egg ideas, see my short article on “10 Unique Uses for Hard Boiled Eggs“.

Fresh Fruit
Since picnics seem to always involve some amount of hot weather and hiking, I like to pack a juicy fruit. For our picnic, I chose pomegranate seeds but watermelon, pears, or peaches would have been good as well.

Drinks
Recently, I received two free product samples for juice which we hadn’t yet tried. I packed each one in a chilled thermos for taste testing.

POM – The juice promotes itself on the antioxidant content and associated health benefits. In addition to cardiovascular improvement, I was surprised to see additional benefits associated with prostate health and erectile functioning with actual clinical information to back up its statements. And, given the cardiovascular issues in my family, I am excited to see POM now offers POMx, a pomegranate supplement pill.

But, how does it taste? It’s tangy and flavorful, reminding me a more pleasant form of cranberry juice. Since we also packed fresh pomegranate seeds in our picnic, we felt fully fortified for a day in the sun. It was during my first month of blogging two years ago that I recorded my first pomegranate experience, and as you’ll read, I was not impressed. In retrospect, a little knowledge on how to use fresh pomegranate would have helped. I’ve come a long way since then and now enjoy them quite a bit.

V8 V-Fusion – Since moving to Vancouver, Joe started to buy a brand of juice which is a mix of fruits and vegetables. I normally don’t spend the money on such items but since he’s the one least likely to eat enough vegetables, I’ve encouraged his new found sense of health consciousness. I jumped a the chance to try this product as it provides a full serving of fruits and vegetables in each 8 ounce glass. Additionally, it includes an antioxidant combination of vitamins A, C and E.

What happens when you mix fruit and veggies in a glass? It’s delicious! We sampled the Goji Raspberry flavor and it was truly fruity, no undertones of the sweet potato or carrots it includes. While I don’t advocate replacing all of your fresh veggies with bottled juice, I view it as a tasty supplement. And, I like that it’s low in sodium with only 110 calories per serving.

So, how did our picnic turn out?
We were on the brink of starvation when we reached Stanley Park and immediately found a shaded spot to unpack our lunch. The sandwiches were delicious – I love the added zip you get from the salty olives and tangy lemon zest. A cricket game started up next to our picnic table, so we also had entertainment … until the balls started to land too close for comfort.

Next, we headed down near the seawall on a sunny patch of grass, watching tourists react to the beautiful city view. I read a book for awhile and then fell asleep, the sun softening my muscles as I napped. I woke myself when I started to snore. It turned out to be utterly relaxing, just as I had hoped. And, there were no bears.

My uncle loves radish sandwiches, slices of crisp radish on butter-slathered bread. It’s one of those memories from childhood which is burned in my memory. I never understood the appeal of radishes and only nibble on them occasionally. This week I received a fresh bunch of organic radishes and decided to try my hand at a sandwich. Although it’s not how my uncle made his sandwiches, I think my version offers a fun and healthy twist.

I took a break from work today to spend some time in the kitchen. I contemplated how I would construct my sandwich while I prepped a red quinoa salad for dinner tonight (more to come on that tomorrow!). I knew butter would not be an option, so I decided to use a thick and creamy organic Greek yogurt as the spread (Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt). The yogurt is fat-free and thick, as thick as full-fat sour cream. I mixed a tablespoon or so of the yogurt with a 1/4 teaspoon garam masala, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and a bit of lemon zest.

There is something about the spiciness of radishes that I thought would pair nicely with the spicy, creamy yogurt. To balance out any sourness from the yogurt, I decided to use a sprinkle of dried currants. I considered using honey or chutney but didn’t have any.

I would love to have used a nice rustic white bread, but instead I used a high-fiber bread (Orowheat Double-Fiber Bread. I toasted it first to add extra texture and flavor, then layered with lettuce and sliced radishes. I gave a generous dollop of the yogurt mix, then a sprinkle of currants.

Often I find myself in a rut with the foods I eat, especially when I’m carefully watching my diet. This sandwich is spicy, tangy, and sweet. It is crispy, crunchy, and creamy. Overall, it contains a mix of textures and flavors which makes my mouth happy. I enjoyed the yogurt spread and found the currants to lend just enough sweetness. I’m still not a huge fan of radishes but found the sandwich to be a great use for them!

Do not call this an ‘Egg McPanini’ or I’ll kick you in the bum! This panini is a culmination of all the things I craved yesterday and is not my interpretation of a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich.

The sandwich consists of fresh herbs, cheese, veggies, and eggs on a strong chewy bread. I used my freshly made ciabatta and it worked perfectly. The sandwich turned out to be a whole basket full of adjectives … sweet, savory, soft, salty, crispy, crunchy, juicy, creamy, etc.

And, I love that paninis make for such an easy to make meal, whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner! Here’s a photo of my chubby sandwich before it hit the grill:

As you can see, the goal is to slice your bread in half, then begin layering in the ingredients. Paninis do require the use of a sturdy European style bread, so don’t attempt this with Wonder Bread. Ciabatta is the traditional bread for panini and it does work the best.

When layering the panini ingredients, I only have one main rule. I think of cheese as the melty glue that holds everything together as it cooks. Due to this, I place half the cheese on each slice of bread. After this point, it’s a free for all on how you wish to stack it up.

I have a hard time calling a sandwich a ‘recipe’, so here are the ingredients I used to construct my panini:

Breakfast (or anytime) panini
2 eggs
1 green onion
2 slices bacon, cooked
8 fresh basil leaves
4 cherry tomatoes (or a few tomato slices)
6 slices mozzarella
1 tablespoon grated parmesan
1/4 cup roasted red peppers (in oil)
1/2 cup fresh greens (arugula, sprouts, spinach, etc.)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 4″ wide section of ciabatta, sliced horizontally
Salt and pepper to taste

To create the egg omelet, I beat two eggs with a fork and added a chopped green onion. Fry in a skillet until cooked. You can flip it like an omelet or scramble, just try to keep it in a few pieces at most. If you scramble it into small pieces then it will be hard to stack in your panini.

Before closing the sandwich, I sprinkle with salt and pepper, then give a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil – about 1 tablespoon. Slap the two sides of the sandwich together and prepare to grill it up.

The secret here is that you don’t need a panini maker. Yes, I have one but let’s face it, this isn’t rocket science. A panini is a pressed, grilled sandwich. You can place the sandwich in a skillet while using another heavy skillet to place on top of the sandwich while it cooks, you can use a bacon press if you have one, or you can even exert force with the back of your spatula.

I preheated the panini maker, then drizzled the top of the bread with a tablespoon of olive oil before shutting the lid. Sometimes, I sprinkle the top with fresh rosemary or minced garlic before closing the lid. I pressed down for 30 seconds to flatten the panini. Juices that aren’t captured by the bread run out and sizzle on the grill — from the sound, you know it’s going to be good. It took about 3-4 minutes to get all melted and crispy. Remove, slice and EAT!

The panini started off as a quick dinner idea last night, but the end result caught me off guard. It tasted so much better than anticipated and that’s why I’m writing about it here. The combination of flavors and textures were gratifying after a long day of work. My favorite toppings are the basil (it’s a must-have) and the roasted red peppers. These two flavors worked so well with the egg and cheese.

Unfortunately, last night’s panini was the last of ciabatta bread. Sad. I need to make a grocery run before I can make any more bread — maybe, I’ll do that tonight, so I can make more paninis!

In an effort to reduce carbs, I decided to make an open face sandwich. What I really wanted was a big panini layered with cheese and meat on slabs of ciabiatta. What I made was something healthier, but equally good.

I started with my favorite high-fiber whole grain bread from Beckmann’s. Their breads are stocked in most grocery stores near other specialty breads and they often have a stand at our local farmer’s market. I prefer their German Farm Bread which is round and thinly sliced. It’s hearty and toasts up nice and crisp. I love crispy toast, especially when smeared with buter and chopped egg … we’ll save that for another day.

The bread went into toaster while I sliced up some vegetables for the sandwich. Since my plan didn’t involve actually grilling the sandwich, I wanted vegetables that could stand up to grilling and opted for zucchini and peppers. The zucchini I sliced thinly and made similar slices of an orange sweet pepper. I drizzled them with a bit of olive oil and turned them to coat. I heated my panini maker to the recommended temperature then laid the vegetables in a single layer. I closed the lid on the grill and let them go until they began to soften and took on grill marks.

After I removed the vegetables, I sliced the ends off of a lemon, then sliced it in half. I placed it into the panini grill to attain grill marks (call it my homage to Bobby Flay). I went to work on assembling the sandwich, placing fresh basil leaves on the toast followed by layers of provolone cheese and the strips of zucchini and peppers. I finished it off with a drizzle of olive oil, black pepper, and a tiny sprinkle of red pepper flakes. I placed it under the broiler for a minute or two to slightly brown the cheese.

I removed the lemon from the panini grill, the natural sugars nicely caramelized. I placed it alongside my sandwich so I could lend a squirt of the juice on top. It turned out perfectly — crispy toast protected by the basil leaves, slightly soft grilled vegetables tangled with creamy provolone cheese … with just a kick of the red pepper flakes. Yum – now that my belly is full, I’m tired. Do I have to back to work or can I just take a nap?

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