by: Natalie Merchant (page 67)
If I were going on a vegetarian picnic - which is the only type of picnic I'd go on - I'd bring real plates in a little wicker basket. Nothing disposable, please.
Middle Eastern food is great for picnics - it's so portable - so I make hummus, baba ghanouj, a good grain salad, whole-wheat pita bread with sesame seeds, and a fruit salad. And lemonade. I use cookbooks like the Moosewood Cookbook as a guide, but I tend to improvise and go by taste. I always cook for twenty people because I'm Italian. It's genetic: You have to force that third helping on everyone. The following recipes will serve six.
You'll need:
| 2 cups garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chick-peas) | juice from a whole lemon |
| 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, minced | 3/4 cup tahini |
| about 1 teaspoon salt | dash of pepper |
When I make hummus, I use garbanzo beans that I've soaked and boiled myself. I don't like using canned anything, and it's much fresher tasting. The trick I've learned over all the years of cooking with tahini is that it will separate and it will be impossible to stir without spilling it all over, so I do it in the sink and wear an apron because it's going to splatter. Since my father bought me a food processor a couple of years ago, I dump the whole can of tahini in the food processor and mix it up; then it's pliable.
I usually soak two cups of beans overnight in four cups of water - that's the rule with grains and beans: one solid to two liquid. Then boil them for about an hour the next day, and when they've cooled off just throw 'em in the blender with the other ingredients.
Hummus to me is about texture. If it's too thick I just add water and olive oil. If it's thin I dump in more tahini. If it sticks to the roof of your mouth, put more garbanzos in.
People think it's very complicated, but it's not. You'll need:
| 2 medium-size eggplants | juice from a whole lemon |
| 1/2 to 3/4 cup tahini (to taste) | 1 teaspoon salt |
| 3 cloves garlic, minced | dash of pepper |
| 2 teaspoons olive oil |
Some recipes call for you to blacken the eggplant, but I just bake it for twenty minutes to half an hour at 350 degrees. When it's cool, scoop out the insides and put it in the blender with the other ingredients and ... there it is.
I like to make my grain salads with short-grain brown rice and corn, red peppers, carrots, parsley, and either beans or pineapple and raisins. (Just follow the directions on the rice box for the amount you want, then add about 1/2 cup of chopped vegetables and 1/4 cup of fruit if you want it sweet.)
You get extra hungry when you're outside, so fruit salad is great. Adjust the amount for however many people you have to feed and combine sliced bananas and cantaloupe with orange sections plus whatever fruits are in season. Top with about a teaspoon of grated ginger, the juice of one lemon, and nutmeg - just a little bit, not too much!