Picnics: the round-up

Picnics - it seemed like such a good idea earlier in the summer. It's been raining non-stop all over Britain, no real scope for picnics ... most of ours either called off or held uncomfortably in the car. We had one on a beach in Cornwall, involving a fire, sand - and rain. I think it's been the same all over, as entries were unusually thin on the ground ... the harvest-home theme for September seems like a much better idea.









Laurie at Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska was feeling as guilty as me about not blogging enough. She got back into the groove with this Three-Bean and Macaroni Salad with Green Olive Dressing ... and she didn't even like pasta salad or green olives until she tried what she'd made for her husband.










Jugalbandi's minty coleslaw with a vegan "mayo" doesn't need a picnic to be enjoyed ... and, anyway, leafy veg like cabbage have been doing really well in all this rain. Tofu, sesame, lemongrass - this is not your run-of-the-mill coleslaw, as you'd expect from Jugalbandi.










Katie at Thyme for Cooking made ratatouille for the picnic - because that's what you do in France. Good hot or cold, full of veg - the fresher the better. Since I started roasting vegetables, I haven't made a ratatouille, which is something I need to put right, as it's delicious. Katie consulted six recipes for this, every one of them different ... I think I'll follow her version.










Next up, Annarasa makes spinach parathas ... lovely robust picnic food, and warming on a rainy day. Annarasa's mum used to make them for her to take to school in her lunchbox.










Elizabeth at Blog from Our Kitchen made veggie burgers for meat eaters - no big lumps of veg, no tofu, optional bacon. Chickpeas, the recipe is based on falafel. She and her husband prefer them to regular hamburgers ... definitely worth a try, as I love falafel.









Michelle The Accidental Scientist has recently moved to Hawaii, where she's had picnic weather. Her first Hawaiian picnic involved a kayak, a beach - and a three bean salad, with homemade granola bars to finish.










I made a yoghurt cake. I flavoured it with rosewater syrup. Now I'd probably flavour the syrup with citrus, as, although there are still roses in my garden, it feels like a taste you'd want in high summer, when you were pretending to yourself that there would be some sunshine, some meals outside.


Apologies all round for this being so late. Let me know if I've forgotten anyone. Preserving the harvest. Michelle at The Accidental Scientist is in charge. Sunday 28 September's the deadline. xxJoanna

July/August announcement: PICNICS

The theme for Heart of the Matter for July and August is PICNICS ... whether you're travelling, on the beach, in the garden, going for a walk, rambling up a mountain, going for a bicycle ride - you'll need something to eat, and we'd like to know what it is. Every kind of picnic, from the elaborately pleasurable to the purely functional: what heart-healthy foods do you take with you?

Here it's been raining, so not really picnic weather. But I did make a lovely yoghurt cake soaked in rosewater syrup, and we did manage to eat it outside in between the showers. Not quite a picnic, but the next best thing.

This yoghurt cake is simplicity itself, pretty robust, and infinitely adaptable: you could flavour the syrup with all kinds of other tastes - orange springs easily to mind. And if you're not taking it out and about, you could serve it as a pud with some lovely bright berries simmered in a little water or wine.




Yoghurt cake

200g self-raising flour
110g ground almonds
150g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
250g yoghurt
150ml sunflower oil
zest of a lemon

Measure the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add everything else and stir with a wooden spoon. You really do not need to use a mixer for this. Pour into an oiled 20xm springform tin. Bake at 180C for 30-40 minutes. Leave for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Pierce all over and pour in rosewater syrup. Allow the cake to cool and the flavours to mingle before serving.

Rosewater syrup

275 ml water
175 sugar
juice of a lemon
2 tbsp rosewater

Measure everything except the rosewater into a small saucepan. Dissolve the sugar, then bring to the boil. Simmer for seven minutes, leave to cool, then add the rosewater.

As usual, I've been inspired by Diana Henry's piece in the Sunday Telegraph magazine. Her cake looked lovely, covered in rose petals.


We'd love to hear your heart-healthy picnic ideas ... the Heart of the Matter website is a great place for ideas for heart-healthy recipes (something I wish had existed when we were changing our diet on doctor's orders after my husband's heart attack), and it only exists because so many bloggers have taken the time to share their recipes.

The usual rules: If you’ve participated before, you already know the basics. If you haven’t, check here, here and here for ideas on what “heart-healthy” means, and we hope that you’ll join us! Again, we ask that this please be a single event entry (please don’t use your post for other events – that way we can keep things centred on healthy heart awareness). Just send your entry to joannacary AT ukonline DOT co DOT uk (could you use the title HotM, so they don't get lost) by midnight Monday 25th August (a Bank Holiday in the UK) , linking to my site, Joanna's Food (and to the HotM blog if you’d like) and I’ll post the round-up on the Thursday or Friday on both sites.

Related links

A fabulous spot for a picnic in the south of England
A travelling beef sandwich (mark two coming up later this month)
A place in our garden for a picnic