Beach, Blanket …Bingo! | Summer Picnic Recipes

The recipes in this very movable feast began with a craving for tuna. Not the mayo-slicked sandwiches of childhood lunchboxes, but something summery, tangy, vegetable-packed, and a little French. I thought of the sandwiches from Nice, France, called pan bagnat, that take the ingredients of classic Niçoise salad and layer them on crunchy country bread. So I piled tuna, tomato, green beans, olives, sliced egg, basil, and onions on ciabatta rolls with a drizzle of vinaigrette. They were fantastic.

This became the starting point for an easy summer menu that works perfectly as a beach picnic but can just as well be served on a front porch or patio. To wash it down: a quick blender drink that’s not just refreshing, but also cooling, made with watermelon, cucumber, and mint. Serve it with ice, a splash of seltzer, and a bit of vodka if you’d like. And with a nod to the tomatoes and stone fruits coming into season, I came up with a simple and flavorful salad with feta, pistachios, and basil (you can serve this on a platter or, on windy days, opt for jars).

The finale: very easy blueberry-pecan crumble bars. You make one dough and use it as both the crust and the crumble. It’s hard to eat just one. They’ll make you grateful for summer. 

French-Style Tuna Sandwiches (Pan Bagnat)

Nectarine & Tomato Salad with Feta & Pistachios

Watermelon-Cucumber Cooler

Easy Blueberry-Pecan Crumble Bars

Amy Traverso

Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.

More by Amy Traverso