Dill-icious!

It’s picnic season (albeit not picnic weather… even the ants have moved inside) and I’m ready for a change of pace in the kitchen. Out with the soup and in with the salad, bye-bye casseroles, hello crudités!

Picnic food is making my summer cooking as easy as my slow cooker makes winter cooking, especially for lunches. You can make up big batches and have a kind of salad festival in a Tupperware (BPA-free, of course!). Today my “worknic” consisted of veggies, olives and dip (see below), rhubarb yogurt and some –four square, oops! - dark coffee chocolate. Yummy.

For some great picnic ideas, keep reading and then check out Healing Cuisine, where Elise has produced a week's worth of marvellous picnic recipes. And if you have well-loved picnic recipe, please share it in the comments section.

Here’s what I’ve been eating this week:

Salmon Potato Salad – my own creation, this is a Tall Guy-approved amalgamation of ensaladilla rusa and good old fashioned potato salad. Amounts aren't important; just add how much of everything that you feel like eating.

Quarter or halve new baby potatoes and boil in salted water.
Drain, cool if you have time, and toss with a can of drained pacific wild salmon or chopped smoked salmon.
Mix in plain yogurt, a squeeze of lemon juice, a spoon of Dijon mustard, a dash of pepper and lots of dill.
Spoon onto curly lettuce and enjoy!

RAW creamy Dill Dip – adapted from a Whole Foods Meal Planning for Two brochure, perfect for veggies and crisp bread. Tall Girl approved, but thanks to his seeing the soaked cashews, Tall Guy is not sure about this one.

Soak 200g of cashews for a few hours (this is important – it makes them easier to blend)
Peel a large cucumber (about 600 grams).
Grate into a strainer, mix in some salt and let drain for about half an hour.
Squeeze as much water out of the cucumber as you can, and drain the cashews.
Put both into a blender or food processor (I used an immersion mixer, because I only have the Magic Bullet mixer with me at the moment and it was a bit small). 
Add a tablespoon or two of dill, the juice from a lemon and some chives or spring onions if you’d like.
Blend until creamy, chill and enjoy!
 
So long, slow cooker. I’ll see you in the fall.