Summer Picnic Dinners: What to Cook (Aug 10)
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Our 5-day healthy weeknight dinner meal plan is featuring Summer Healthy Picnic Dinners. Whether you eat inside or out. We’re capturing summer fun, every night next week in these easy, adaptable recipes.
From wraps to sandwiches, salads to pasta, we’re celebrating the best of summer all week.
I have a motto I try to live by… every summer. Picnics are always a great idea.
We shouldn’t let summer slip by, even in the midst of a pandemic, without having picnics. Whether that be inside on the living room floor, or outdoors on a balcony, patio, or backyard.
I’ve even been known to have a picnic in the car — when pesky mosquitos were bothersome.
Food Safety for Picnics
Most of our dinners will be eaten in the backyard, so I’m not too worried about keeping the food chilled. However, if you’re packing food for a true picnic, here are some practical reminders if you’re traveling with picnic food.
Don’t rely on foods that need to stay hot or super cold.
Pack foods for mild refrigeration like salads, pastries, hard-boiled eggs, pickles, cold dips, fresh-cut veggies, and more. Any snack foods that don’t need a change in temperature (chips, crackers, nuts) are also perfect picnic foods as well.
Coolers are perfect for keeping foods chilled.
Here are a few picnic tips from the FDA:
1. Keep cold food cold: Place cold food in a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs. Cold food should be stored at 40 °F or below.
2. Keep coolers closed: Once at the picnic site, limit the number of times the cooler is opened as much as you can. This helps to keep the contents cold longer.
3. Don’t cross-contaminate. Be sure to keep raw meat, poultry, and seafood securely wrapped. This keeps their juices from contaminating prepared/cooked foods or foods that will be eaten raw, such as fruits and vegetables.
4. Clean your produce. Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running tap water before packing them in the cooler.
Summer Picnic Dinners
As always, add greens everywhere you can and pack the dinners with added fresh in-season vegetables. Swap recipe ingredients for those easily found in your area.
Don’t forget the summer berries. They make delicious additions to any salad!
Have a great week everyone!
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Summer Picnic Dinners: What to Cook (Aug 10)
Monday: Pan Bagnat Tuna Sandwiches
Tuesday: Chicken and Arugula Pasta Salad
Wednesday: Shawarma Wraps
Thursday: Chicken Pesto Picnic Sandwiches
Friday: Big Picnic Taco Salad
Treat: Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Summer Picnic Dinners: What to Cook (Aug 10)
Our 5-day healthy weeknight dinner meal plan is featuring Summer Healthy Picnic Dinners. Whether you eat inside or out. We're capturing summer fun, every night next week in these easy, adaptable recipes.
Monday: Pan Bagnat Tuna Sandwich
It's a quick and easy Monday night, picnic-style dinner. Make your favorite tuna salad and layer it with hard-boiled eggs, lettuce, and tomato slices. If you want recipe inspiration for tuna salad, click the "read more" button.
Tuesday: Chicken and Arugula Pasta Salad
"Just a bit of a rich and pungent cheese can go quite a long way. Tossing hot pasta with a few ounces of creamy Brie makes for a light, luscious, and flavorful sauce to coat this abundant bowl of chicken, fresh veggies, and whole-grain noodles."
Wednesday: Shawarma Wraps
I'm going to improvise this recipe slightly as it has more ingredients than I usually use during the week. However-- it would be amazingly delicious. Modify to your family's tastes. It's a fun summer picnic inspiration for Shawarma spiced chickpeas, creamy hummus, spicy zhoug, and fresh veggies packed into a warm pita bread in this vegetarian wrap recipe.
Thursday: Chicken Pesto Picnic Sandwiches
"Try this fresh, fabulous and eminently packable and preservable Chicken Pesto Picnic Sandwich – and make sure all memories of that day are good ones filled with family, friends and the fabulous flavours of summer!"
Treat: Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
A summer chocolate chip cookie recipe like no other. If you love zucchini and chocolate, these will be a favorite!
More Weekly Dinner Plans
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