Wednesday 27 May 2015
I never really liked picnics, they conjure childhood memories of plastic ham, dropping chocolate bars in sand and lots of insects. However, when you decide to hike for an extended period of time passing through nowhere to purchase any food and tasked with a partner whose anger grows the lower their glycemic index gets, you’re left with little other option.
Realising this I set about to create and pack something that I would actually enjoy - essentials foodstuffs included avocados, sweet potatoes, greenery and something sugary to appease the aforementioned hunger anger. Test driven on a cliff overlooking the sea this weekend, this is definitely a goer and I would heartily recommend it as a base for future picnic goers. The menu consisted of a Sweet potato, guacomole and coleslaw sandwich, the Oh She Glows Speedy Three-Bean Salad, a broccoli and pea green salad adapted from this book and a variation on these chewy peanut butter cookies.
The Sandwich - Make sure you have a great crusty loaf on hand for this.
Makes 2 large sandwiches
Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
1 Large Sweet Potato, Peeled
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Tsp Salt
Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C.
2. Put a large pan of water on the stove on high heat, to boil. Whilst it’s heating up, slice the potato into rings around 2cm thick.
3. Once the water is boiling add the potatoes and let boil for 3 minutes.
4. Drain the potatoes and let them steam and cool so that they dry out a little.
5. In a greased baking tray, lay the potatoes out flat with enough room that they aren’t touching each other and drizzle the olive oil and balsamic vinegar over them.
6. Sprinkle the salt and place int he oven for 20-25 minutes until they have started to crisp, without burning.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Guacamole - The key to a good guacamole is the balance between it’s acidity and it’s creamy texture, once you’ve worked you’ve perfected your recipe you’ll never buy it again.
Ingredients
1 Medium Avocado, ripe (keep the stone handy)
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1/4 Medium Red Onion, diced
1/2 Red Chili, diced
1 Small Clove Garlic, minced
Salt, to taste
Method
1. In a bowl half mash the avocado and pour over the lime juice and let rest for a couple of minutes.
2. Once the acid in the lime has to got to work on the avocado, mash it further and add the onion, chili and garlic.
3. Taste and add salt and extra lime juice as needed.
4. To keep overnight, wedge the avocado stone into to the guac and refridgerate in an airtight container.
Coleslaw - This coleslaw is incredibly simple, but in all honesty I’ve found over complicating it makes it taste strange, rather than good.
Ingredients
1 cup white cabbage, diced
1/2 Large Carrot, peeled and diced
1/4 Golden Delicious Apple, diced
1/2 Cup Veganaise
2 Tbsp Cider Vinegar
Salt, to taste
Method
1. In a bowl mix the cabbage, carrot and apple. When dicing these endeavour to get everything roughly the same size.
2. In another small bowl whisk together the veganaise, cider vinegar and a little salt to your preference.
3. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix.
Assembly
To assemble spread the bottom of your sandwich with the guacomole, add your preferred amount of sweet potato slices and top with coleslaw!
Speedy Three-Bean Salad
Head over to Oh She Glows to get the recipe for this, the only adjustment I would make is halving the amount of Dijon mustard as otherwise it can overbalance the recipe a little.
Broccoli and Pea Green Salad - This salad is crunchy, refreshing and has a nice asian twist.
Salad
1/2 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1/2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
200g Tenederstem Broccoli, sliced
1/2 cup Frozen Peas
2 handfuls Spinach
25g Watercress shoots
Dressing
Juice of 1/2 a lime
2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil
1.5 cm piece of Ginger, peeled and grated
Method
1. Heat a small frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the Chia seeds and Sesame seeds, tossing until toasted. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
2. Bring a large pan of water to boil and blanch the broccoli and frozen peas for 2 minutes.
3. Drain the vegetables and rinse with cold water to arrest the cooking process.
5. In a small bowl whisk the lime, sesame oil and ginger until mixed.
4. In a large bowl combine the all the dry ingredients and drizzle the dressing over, tossing to coat.
Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies - Based off this super simple recipe at One Green Planet, I made a few adjustments. Check out the original and the Frontier Daydream version below!
Makes 16 Cookies
Ingredients
1 Flax Egg (1 tablespoon Flax Seed + 3 tbsp warm water)
1/2 cup Mashed Banana
1 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla
3 Tbsp Almond Milk
1/2 Tbsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Bicarbonate Soda
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Cup Coconut Flour
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2. Make your ‘egg’ by combining 1 tbsp of ground flax seed and 3 tbsp of warm water. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it’s gelatnized. Meanwhile prepare the rest of the dough. In a large mixing bowl, combine mashed banana, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla. Mix well using a fork or whisk. When your flax egg is ready, add to the bowl alongside the milk. Mix to combine, throw in the salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and flour.
3. Mix very well using a wooden spoon, ensuring there are no clumps of dry ingredients.
4. Spoon balls of cookie dough onto a non-stick baking sheet, and flatten gently with a fork. Bake at 180 degrees for 10-12 minutes until they look firm and golden.
