Help me make our family picnic awesome.
August 5, 2011 2:36 PM   Subscribe

Ideas for food to bring on a gluten-free, vegan picnic?

I'm reconnecting with parents and brother this weekend, and the 4 of us have decided to go on a picnic, followed by a hike. Yay!

My mother and I are trying to decide on dishes that will we can pack for the whole family, given our dietary restrictions. Two of us have celiac disease, one of us is vegan, and all four of us are trying to watch our weight.

I'd love to hear fellow MeFites' suggestions for healthy, satisfying dishes that will meet our guidelines, keep well, and provide energy without weighing us down.

Also: the more exotic, the better, provided everything can be sourced/prepared by Sunday afternoon. (We have access to Trader Joe's and a "normal" grocery store).

Thank you all so much in advance!
posted by arianell to Food & Drink (19 answers total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Gluten-free goddess has a whole section of picnic foods for vegetarians/vegans.
posted by quodlibet at 2:42 PM on August 5, 2011


Gaaaaazpachoooooo! Made even better by the fact that you can transport it in a nalgene bottle for maximum packability.
posted by phunniemee at 2:47 PM on August 5, 2011


Macaroons with a berry filling on top. Basically mold the macaroon with an indentation and bake. Then fill the indentation with berries...you can cook them or mash and serve fresh. If you want to sweeten and watch the sugar portions on the berries, use xylitol or stevia...stevia works really well with the tartness of berries. You can also use a clear stevia liquid to sweeten the macaroons or a touch of xylitol plus vanilla. Pretty harmless all the way around.

Well, that's dessert anyway.
posted by zagyzebra at 2:47 PM on August 5, 2011


Best answer: Gaaaaazpachoooooo! Made even better by the fact that you can transport it in a nalgene bottle for maximum packability.
posted by phunniemee at 2:47 PM on August 5 [+] [!]


The NYT Morrocan Tomato Soup is a particularly good play on this excellent idea. Bonus - no bread which is a common ingredient in most recipes. I make this every summer - it is the best chilled soup ever. I don't bother with the food mill - roughly chop the tomatoes in a food processor - and you are good to go. It's a very forgiving recipe and easy to play around with too.
posted by helmutdog at 2:52 PM on August 5, 2011


Gluten-free chocolate cupcakes (with egg substitute of choice). They come out so fugey and delicious. I'm gluten tolerant, perhaps gluten infatuated, but those things are so damn good I don't make englutenated chocolate cake or cupcakes any more.
posted by Garm at 2:53 PM on August 5, 2011


Best answer: Summer rolls! I am kind of obsessed with them because they are versatile, and everyone from my veg-self to my glutten sensitive best friend to my lactos intolerent boyfriend can eat the shit out of these tasty things. Just pop them in a rubbermade and keep them seperated with damp paper towel and they keep great.

In fact- if you make whatever sauce ahead of time, you can smear some on each roll and then REWRAP it with another rice wrapper- so you don't even have to bring the sauce AND you can control the portions for those calorie-watching peeps.
posted by Blisterlips at 2:58 PM on August 5, 2011 [6 favorites]


Seconding summer rolls! They are perfect for everyone. Vegan. Halal. Kosher. Allergy-friendly if you leave off the peanut. They don't get poisonous when they're out in the sun. They're also beautiful, delicious, cheap, and make people go "Wooo!" Can't ask for more than that.
posted by apparently at 3:10 PM on August 5, 2011


I was at a potluck that had amazing gluten-free vegan dishes - two I particularly liked were:

massaged kale salad: may have been massaged kale salad? The one I had included red grapes sliced in half.

red cabbage-mango slaw: may have been cabbage-mango slaw with cashews and mint? or you can search around for something matching those terms.
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:10 PM on August 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


Roasted cauliflower (and the like) are also good cool with a little salt, pepper, and lemon juice on them.

And bring nuts for snacking.
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:13 PM on August 5, 2011


My favorite, on-the-go, Trader Joe's picnic potluck thing is this -- two containers of their prepared mango (or more for a larger group), sliced and diced, tossed with fresh lime juice from one lime (or more, to taste) and salted (to taste). Chill well and enjoy. It's zesty, fresh, slightly exotic and good!
posted by amanda at 3:38 PM on August 5, 2011


We have basically the same restrictions you have. Our standard picnic fare is a big batch of homemade hummus, with fresh veggies and corn tortillas for dipping and spreading.
posted by roll truck roll at 4:12 PM on August 5, 2011


There are lots of rice pasta options at grocery stores today. You could easily put together a pasta salad option, adding nut-as-cheese-substitute pesto, veggies, olive oil, etc.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:25 PM on August 5, 2011


Blisterlips: "Summer rolls! I am kind of obsessed with them because they are versatile, and everyone from my veg-self to my glutten sensitive best friend to my lactos intolerent boyfriend can eat the shit out of these tasty things. Just pop them in a rubbermade and keep them seperated with damp paper towel and they keep great.

In fact- if you make whatever sauce ahead of time, you can smear some on each roll and then REWRAP it with another rice wrapper- so you don't even have to bring the sauce AND you can control the portions for those calorie-watching peeps.
"

Thirding summer rolls. I am a divorced guy who is not an experienced cook and I made this exact recipe for a themed party last spring and it was a huge hit. Easy to prepare, easy to keep for a day and tastes great. Less filling too.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 4:49 PM on August 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


Sweet potato fries!
posted by vecchio at 4:51 PM on August 5, 2011


Response by poster: Awesome ideas so far, thanks everyone!

Based on these suggestions, I'm currently thinking chilled tomato soup in thermoses, summer rolls (can't believe I didn't think of those!), and maybe an antipasto salad like this one.
posted by arianell at 5:17 PM on August 5, 2011


this post might be helpful...

Urban Vegan 101 fast recipes for inspired picnics
posted by thanksfive at 5:33 PM on August 5, 2011 [2 favorites]


Lots of booze.
posted by WhitenoisE at 6:05 PM on August 5, 2011


Quinoa tabouleh is delicious, and perfect for a picnic. I like this simple recipe from Epicurious, but there are a number of more elaborate versions available via our friend Google.
posted by netsirk at 6:37 PM on August 5, 2011


When I was faced with this problem, I made a cold lentil salad with fennel.
posted by mismatched at 11:45 PM on August 5, 2011


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