Picnic Perfect!

Did you know that April 23rd is “Picnic Day”?

We love eating outside as much as possible, and our kids especially love picnics. As moms, we love the added bonus of not having to vacuum up all those crumbs under the table after meals. #momlife

We’re always up for an impromptu picnic in the backyard. However, a favorite picnic spot is at one of our local wineries. There are a number of family friendly wineries in our area with large lawn areas and live music on the weekends.

It’s such a nice break from the busy week to just pack a simple picnic and taste some new wines.

We’re excited to have just joined The Recipe Redux.

The theme for this month is healthy recipes you like to bring on a picnic. As dietitians, you can probably guess our picnics don’t involve fried chicken and potato salad! We have a few criteria for a good picnic food:

• easy to transport
• self-contained (hand-held/finger foods that don’t require a lot of utensils/serving dishes)
• ingredients not prone to food borne illness (since you’re outside in warm weather for an extended time period)
• last but not least: it should be healthy. healthy food can still taste amazing!

Thus, our perfect picnic food is…

This is a fun, colorful sandwich that is a hit with both kids and adults. We’re always teaching our children the importance of “eating the rainbow” (eating a variety of fruits and vegetables of all different colors to incorporate more vitamins and minerals and boost your nutrient intake).

These wraps were fun to prepare with our kids. As we chopped and sliced up each vegetable, we talked about the main nutrients found in each color.

• Red and Yellow Bell Peppers: Vitamin C, B6
• Orange carrots: Beta carotene, vitamin K
• Green baby spinach: Vitamin A, K, Iron
• Purple cabbage: Vitamins A, C, B-6, Iron
• White meat grilled chicken: protein, B-vitamins, selenium

To add even more color and nutrition (not to mention, tons of flavor!) we made an avocado ranch hummus.

The chickpeas are rich in manganese, folate, iron. The avocado is rich in potassium and heart-healthy fats. We used blue and yellow corn tortillas to up the nutrient and color factor. This wrap is very high in fiber, a good source of protein and gluten-free.

After layering the tortillas with the hummus, we added our colorful ingredients.

Then, just wrap them up and secure with parchment paper to help hold them together.

These wraps are super filling and super delicious. We hope you try them at your next picnic!