Spring is upon us here in Seattle, and my food daydreaming has shifted to eating al fresco: on my back patio to picnics in the park and any dry, sunny patch of land where a blanket can be spread in between. I love a good sandwich, of course – here’s a stunner with watercress, radish and butter on a crusty baguette, hardly a need for a recipe – but the switch to gluten-free sandwich bread in recent years has me eating anything but when I’m on the go.
Like this Thai zucchini salad that busts out the spiralizer, or this A+ pasta salad for antipasto fans; or maybe it’s this grilled veggie salad with toothsome black lentils, parsley, and a sharp vinaigrette. For other salads that improve over time: this farro, fresh corn and basil salad with garlic scapes tucked in (swap green beans instead, if you are fresh out of scapes); this barley + dill salad; or even this stone fruit salad with black pepper and goat cheese. Surprise your dining companions with either of these two wacky beet salads: with radishes and tarragon, or paired with mango, ginger and cilantro. Whether or prepared in advance or brought to the patio table fresh off the grill, this grilled broccolini salad with basil-walnut vinaigrette is something I make about once a week when grilling season starts.
Of course, a container of classic chicken salad tossed into a cooler with a box of crackers and a few pieces of fruit work too. It’s hard to beat.
The star of the al-fresco meal (or any, really) is dessert. I have a theory that fresh air lends glamour to humble baked goods, bonus points if unfurled from a kitchen cloth. There are the bars – with rhubarb and oats, jam, grains + nuts, or reminiscent of apple pie. There are the cookies, too -- chewy with peanut butter, brooding with chocolate, waxing nostalgic with snickerdoodles, or jumbled with oats and apricots. But a brownie always wins, especially my favorite one made in the blender from five ingredients.
I hope wherever you cook from these days has sunshine starting to spill through the windows, imagining a meal as an excuse to gather outdoors and celebrate simple things: good food, good company, and good weather. We aren’t there yet, I know, but I’ll be cleaning off our patio dining table and dragging my family out there soon, I can just feel it.
In the meantime, thanks for reading here and exploring my work. Other ways to support my work include taking a look at my books: Twenty Dollar, Twenty Minute Meals (that has a whole sandwich section featuring tasty bread I no longer eat, but you definitely should); Cake Magic! (with literally hundreds of options for picnic-worthy cupcakes); Catalan Food (with a recipe for the best tuna salad you’ll ever have called Ensaladilla Russa, no question); and Soup Club (eating soup from a Thermos is a vignette from my life year-round, though the Farmer’s Market Pistou would be perfect right now). For the paid subscribers among you, hang back for a new recipe for you to carry with you as the weather warms up.
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