Monday, April 10, 2023

A Picnic Of Leftovers

 With Easter comes leftovers. Everyone right now is inundated with ham and hardboiled eggs , not to mention Spring potatoes and soem kind fo veggie side. What to do? Use them on an Easter week picnic. Everything cna be repurposed in a tasty outdoors dish.

Of course there is ham and with it comes all sort of leftover ideas. The best for a picnic is slices on a good sourdough or baguette. You can layer it with slices of Gruyere along with either mustard or mayo.A ham salad is also a smart repurpose. This is a mix of cubed ham, mayo and chopped celery. Some add a  tablespoon of chopped dill o sweet pickle for tang and bite. That's up to you as is the addition of mustard. The best seasoning for this is simply  freshly ground pepper (skip the salt because th e ham has it). You could add celery seed which gives it a fresh green undertaste.Devilled ham is another picnic food you can easily make wth the leftover meat.Blend chopped ham with any oil or mayo. You could add celery for color or carraway seeds for a more robust flavor. Some add Worcester sauce to get that unique  Underwood Devlled ham flavor.Again it's up to you tastewise. Devilled ham is great on Hawaiian rolls but would also be good on thin slices of Italian bread too.

All those Easter eggs can  be repurposed too. A plain one with some salt is a nice simple appetizer in any picnic basket. You could also turn them into devilled eggs by peeling them and then cutting thm in half. Mash the yolk with some mayo and ketchup (or mustard ) and then refill the whites . Add a dash of paprika for some color. How to transport? You can use a silicon muffin tray or even an ice cube tray . Make sure they're at the top fo the cooler or have some kind of solid lid so they're not squashed. What's a picnic without egg salad sandwiches? This is a simple make with just the hard boiled eggs and mayo. As with ham salad you can add other ingredients like chopped green onions or mustard if you want. You can make the sandwiches at home or bring a container and rolls and wait until you hit the park or the beach. Those left ove veggies can also be turned into yummy salads too.Add a vinaigrette to those green beans or broccoli florets , mix and pop into a carry all container Slice leftover Spring or new potatoes, add some mayo and chopped celery and you have another tasty picnic dish.

It's the week for sunny picnic and good food. REpurpose those Easter leftovers into a tasty out door lunch. It's a fun way to njoy that ham and Easter eggs a second time.