Pack a picnic with a punch

Let's make the most of our short winter by eating outdoors. Just pack a simple meal and head for the nearest garden.

Since the UAE has many picnic spots, it's easy to find one.
However, to make the most of your picnic, keep in mind a few guidelines:

Do remember to clean up when you finish and most importantly, have fun!

All packed and nowhere to go? Check out Explore for some great picnic spots in the UAE

For your basket

Try these quick-to-make and easy-to-carry dishes:

Springtime broccoli quiche
An 8-inch readymade pie crust
1 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1 cup milk
1 tbs oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
150g broccoli florets
2 eggs, beaten
100g cheddar cheese, grated
Salt, pepper and mustard to taste

Prick the base of the pie crust with a fork and bake “blind'' at 200C for ten minutes. Remove from oven.

Melt the butter, add the flour and cook for a minute, stirring well. Pour in the milk and cook over low heat while stirring rapidly till it thickens slightly.

Heat the oil and sauté the onion and broccoli for a few minutes till tender, then add the red capsicum and cook for just another minute.

Beat the eggs and combine with the milk mixture and half the cheese. Spoon the vegetables into the pie crust, pour over the custard, sprinkle the remaining cheese, check seasoning and bake at 190C till set. Cool and pack.

Curried rice and chicken salad
50g white rice, cooked
225g brown rice, cooked
4 tbs unsalted peanuts
8 dried apricots, halved
4 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
2 tbs sultanas
3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

Dressing
150ml plain yoghurt
1 tbs milk curry paste
1 tbs mango chutney
2 tbs lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Combine the two kinds of rice with peanuts, apricots, spring onions and chicken. Chill and pack in a cooler bag.

Combine the ingredients for the dressing and pour into a bottle, seal. Just before serving, combine and garnish with coriander.

Mincemeat gingerbread bars
2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each ginger and cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp powdered cloves
1/2 cup softened butter
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup light molasses
1 and 1/4 cup drained bottled mincemeat

Sift the flour with soda, salt and spices. In a large bowl, beat the butter, egg and molasses until smooth. Add the flour mixture and mix till just combined. Fold in the mincemeat.

Turn batter into a greased, dusted-with-flour pan, bake at 190C for 25 to 30 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool.

Orange frosting
2 and a 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar
2 tbs soft butter
1 egg
1 tbs grated orange peel

Beat together the sugar, butter and egg till smooth. Add the orange peel. If the mixture seems too thick, add a little orange juice.

Spread on the baked mincemeat bars, cut into squares and cover with foil till needed.

Note: For the uninitiated, bottled mincemeat is the yummiest part of a Christmas meal. Just buy a jar and throw away your diet sheet!

Nirmal Khanna is a UAE-based freelance journalist