One of the most popular blog posts at the moment seems to be a gluten free picnic post I wrote years ago! It is well overdue an update (my eyes hurt looking at the photos) so today I am sharing my top tips on picnicking again! This time, there’s a plant-based theme and I have teamed up with the folks at Goodlife to create some quick and easy healthy picnic recipes.
Sausage and Avo Couscous
Because I can’t eat raw salad, I often use a gluten free grain base for picnic dishes instead. These add some much-needed carbs and are often easy to digest. In the dish below I have used gluten-free couscous (made from corn) but using quinoa works just as well. Because this can be quite tasteless as a base, I like to add a stock cube to the boiling water to give it some flavour!
In this case, I’ve topped my couscous with Goodlife’s Beetroot and Feta sausages (note: these beauties are unfortunately not gluten-free but I made a few different batches of these with different toppings for everybody. My husband loves these so I thought I’d include them for him. They contain feta but not cow’s milk), avocado and goat’s cheese. I love this as it’s a heartier take on a regular salad and tastes delicious. For those who are gluten and dairy free, you could replace these sausages with gluten-free sausages of your choice- or if keeping it planted based, Goodlife’s cashew burgers- which I blogged about in my gluten free vegan dinners blog post.
Cashew Burgers
Another picnic staple for me is falafel. I love falafel and it’s so rare to find gluten-free falafel but Goodlife’s falafel is vegan and gluten free! Falafel is something I keep in my freezer on standby for when I need a quick and easy lunch or dinner. My favourite picnic snack is falafel dipped with hummus. You can buy shop bought or make my cashew hummus dip
I cooked some sweet potato and turned it into my own healthier version of potato salad (a staple picnic food I still mourn for!). You can also add courgette noodles.
Other Tips for a Plant-Based Picnic
- Make your own ice-lollies! My vegetable juice lollies are full of goodness, iron boosting and taste great!
- My favourite grab and go crisps are Hippeas, Yoshoi pea snacks and Emily’s Fruit Crisps. All are gluten free and vegan.
- Stay hydrated- coconut water is the perfect picnic drink!
- For shop bought last minute picnic snacks- Boots do gluten free Sushi (veggie options available) and M+S do gluten free sandwiches.
I hope you enjoyed my picnic tips! Let me know your favourite picnic dishes below…
This is a collaborative post with Goodlife. You can find their tasty vegetarian dishes at the following retailers: Sainsbury’s, The Food Warehouse Iceland, Ocado, Waitrose, Morrisons, Iceland’.