Pack these picnic snacks on your next trip to indulge in some delectable treats without any guilt. From simple Bombay sandwich to corn chaat, these healthy snacks are not only nutritious, they also pack a flavour punch that is hard to ignore.
Delectable, Guilt-Free Picnic Snacks For Your Next Outing
A light-hearted means of getting away from the hustle and bustle of life, picnics are always fun to plan. It is an outing that is equally enjoyed by children and the elderly and makes for some terrific adventures. However, a fun day can also be made healthy with the right choice of foods. Read on as we discuss the task of choosing picnic food and the background work that goes into planning nutritious picnic dishes!
Picnic Menu
Picnic Menu
- Appetisers/Starters: As the first meal that will be served to the group, ensure it’s light. Appetisers help in appetite regulation, ensuring you don’t overindulge in food later on. Besides, food has a role to play in how we feel, and appetisers can get you in the mood for an outing. Make it healthy by including options like baked veggies with paneer on toothpick skewers.
- Entree/ Main-course: An outing requires energy, and food is the fuel that boosts activity. A main course must include a cereal group like whole wheat pasta or mixed grain chapatti, a protein group coming from eggs or paneer, vegetables of your choice, and milk products like curd. On the other hand, an important factor while planning picnics is also choosing picnic food items that are easy to carry and serve. A Frankie that includes all the above-mentioned food groups packed individually in butter paper is a wonderful option, for it serves the criteria of both health and convenience!
- Salads/Chats: How can a desi picnic be complete without savoury? Dished a while after the main course or as an accompaniment to it, masala corn salad or chana chaat make for some delicious picnic recipes along with being nutritious! Both corn and chana are excellent sources of fibre, which is important to provide satiety so you can go on with your picnic without feeling hungry often.
- Snacks: Picnic snacks are usually the highlight of the occasion. They can be a great bonding time for the group too as you gather them together to assemble the snacks. For example, if you’re including sandwiches in your picnic food list, instead of making them at home and getting them cling-wrapped, you can bring the bread, butter, chutney, and the filling and ask all members to sit in a circle and begin the job of making sandwiches. Not only do they taste delicious, but when made with multigrain bread and a variety of vegetables like cucumber, beetroot and mint, they serve as an important source of antioxidants, which are required by the body to fight cell damage and stay healthy.
- Drinks: We can’t forget the liquids that’ll keep us hydrated during an outdoor picnic, can we? Lemonade - our very own neembu pani or watermelon juice, is refreshing and rich in antioxidants! While lemon is a rich source of Vitamin C that helps with wound healing and tissue repair, watermelons will keep you hydrated and are packed with essential plant compounds.
Quick Snack Recipes for Picnic
Bombay Sandwich:
- Prepare the mint chutney by adding coriander leaves, mint leaves, rock salt, green chilli, tamarind pulp and cumin seeds in a blender.
- For the filling, pressure cook potatoes and separately boil beetroot. Once tender, slice the vegetables along with tomato, cucumber and capsicum.
- Apply mint chutney to one side of the bread, butter on the other slice, stack the vegetables in between and there you go, this picnic recipe of Bombay sandwich oozing with flavour is ready!
The body breaks down bread and potatoes into glucose, which our body uses for energy, while tamarind and mint are a source of iron and tomatoes provide lycopene - required to protect cells.
- Sauté the sliced onions in hot oil and add jeera and ginger garlic paste. To this, add chopped bottle gourd, chopped cauliflower, water as required, haldi powder and salt.
- Add boiled moong sprouts and allow them to cook in sufficient water for 5 minutes.
- Once done, remove the lid and mash the bhaji. Add chopped tomato, pav bhaji masala, red chilly powder, dhania powder, mango powder, butter, mix and mash well. Then add different coloured chopped capsicum, cook with lid on and mash well once done. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, and serve accompanied with pav.
This picnic recipe provides a generous dose of protein, required for growth, repair and maintenance and is rich in a number of vitamins and minerals like calcium, Iron, vitamin C and zinc.
- Easy to whip and delicious to eat, corn chaat is a picnic snack that’s enjoyed by most. To prepare the chaat, remove the sweet corn from the cob and cook it in salted water.
- Simultaneously, in a different bowl, chop tomatoes and onion. Add rock salt, lemon juice, chaat masala and give it a nice mix.
- Add the cooled tender corn to the bowl, garnish with fine coriander leaves and this easy to make appetising snack is ready to take for the day out!
This recipe is a wonderful blend of carbohydrates to keep you energised and is also provides vitamin C!
The bottom line
While picnics are a great way to meet family and friends and share memorable times, they can be made nutritious too with their meticulously planned picnic snacks. Try adding these convenient and easy-to-prepare picnic recipes to your picnic menu, and we’re sure with the right food, the picnic will go down as a happy and healthy memory in your journal!
क्या आप अपने खाने को हेल्दी बनाने के लिए क्विक और आसान किचन ट्रिक्स की तलाश में हैं?
