Avocado & Edamame Salad With Dill For A Gourmet Picnic, Latin-Style

I grew up enjoying picnics at least twice a month. I looooooved everything about them. The grass stains, the endless food my siblings and I’d fight over, the flowers, the blue sky, the chilly yet soothing water (a requisite in  choosing our spot) and the down time.

This month’s 5-Star Make Over theme hosted by Lazaro y Natasha is a gourmet picnic. Perfect! What a throwback and great way to resurface yummy memories.

As a child, my parents were wonderfully interactive and kept us 5 bugaboo’s very engaged in all kinds of fun things. Retrospectively, I don’t think the average kid (at least nowadays) would enjoy let alone appreciate those things. Then again my parents have always been above average in their rearing, hence my interest in certain activities today you might not ever guess.

I used to love our picnics after church most especially. Having to feed 5 kids and one picky eating father, mami loved to pack our favorite things: pbj and tuna sandwiches, lots of fresh fruit, lil’ Debbie snacks (what?!?), fresh orange juice and my most favorite — potato and egg salad.

Our special spot was a recessed nook on the George Washington Parkway, right on the Potomac river. Only 3 miles south of the Mount Vernon home, the area we made ours for hours at a time had a lot of trees, which we took full advantage of to hang our maca, or hammock. The picnic baskets at this quaint park were far more elaborate than any other other day trip we’d take.

Actually, everything about those picnics was perfect and right up my alley. Sis and I had our banana bikes, dad and the boys had their fishing gear and mami was very clear about her nap time on her most comfy blankets (which sis and I’d end up on within the hour of eating). Oooh, those were the days! Nothing mattered! The birds and squirrels ate our crumbs. Nothing was more important than making sure we had great food and relished in a relaxing afternoon.

We’ve now morphed into more sophisticated get-togethers and I’ve not seen a picnic in years. And these sophisticated get-togethers are far more complicated. You know what I mean, right? Planning a house party involves far more than a simple picnic. Mami’s 60th b-day party is a perfect example.

(papaya shake I enjoyed today, whilst sitting on my patio with fresh flowers man friend surprised me with!)

Beyond offering us those wonderful tangible things, my parents instilled in each of us a great sense of quality family time and extending ourselves to friends. Eating has always been the crux of all get-togethers. So at this etapa, sharing similar experiences with friends is a huge part of my being and what makes me happy. I get super excited and anxious when I conjure up a party or even the smallest tryst.

Only now they’re not as rustic as when I was a skinny long-legged niña. But all of my friends know I love to chow and need no reason to invite them over. Somehow, though, I’ve yet not been able to convince any of them that having a picnic is fun, jazzy and sexy! Yes, sexy!  I wouldn’t expect the chicas to get on the ground and roll around like we did as kids, but certainly a well executed meal on a picnic table could be the thing to do all summer.

Or on my patio-deck in this case. With Memorial Day coming up this weekend, I thought what better way to entice my friends to finally jump on board with the picnic theme than to visibly shock them with some gourmet delectables. If they’re smart, they’d get with it and know nothing bad can come out of a breezy outdoor tryst with fab friends, fab food, luscious drinks, sexy sandals, Jackie-O glasses and no worries in the world!

If I were indeed to host a picnic this weekend, it’d be influenced by the greenery we enjoyed at the parks, the carefree and jovial spirit we had and naturally all those fave foods mami used to pack. I’m no where near water in Atlanta, but my ‘hood has nice patches of green where I can quickly plop myself on for a lovely afternoon of chatter and refrescante drinks.

The food? Envision a purple potato and egg salad with truffle mayonnaise, gazpacho (my dad’s go-to summer soup), cold pasta salad, exotic fruit salad, basil mojitos, bocaditos (petite chicken sandwiches), a papaya shake, tuna ceviche, mimosa’s and some form of chocolate goodness.

For the mashup, I decided on this aguacate salad because it’s a slight deviation from the staples I’d normally make but packs in amazing flavors and fills you up well! It’s just as picnic appropriate and easy to make. The touch of dill makes it pop and the combo of peanut oil and lemon juice yield a lovely and crisp dressing you can separately drizzle over over cold pasta (even warm)! It’s Latin-inspired in theory, but very mainstream in that all the ingredients are attainable at your local market. Ultimately, kinda fancy, but perfect for every day.

Let me emphasize how delicious the peanut oil tastes in this! I wasn’t sure if it’d work, but I had little time to play with it anyway and surprisingly it blew my mind! If you doubt it, just give a try. You’ll be done in less than 10 minutes.

* a great addition to this salad would be sesame ahi tuna or chick peas.

What’s your ideal picnic dish?

Eat well, love unapologetically, pray with true intention, and take care of yourself.

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Enjoy

AVOCADO & EDAMAME SALAD (ENSALADA DE AGUACATE)

Ingredients:

• 1 Haas avocado, cubed
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup edamame or soy beans
• 1/4 cup corn kernels
• 1/4 cup red onions, sliced
• 2 tbsp. peanut oil
• 2 tbsp. juice from fresh lemon
• 1 tbsp. dill, minced
• s/p to taste
• pinch of paprika

Method:

Combine all ingredients in bowl. Garnish with a bit more sprinkles of dill.

Serves 2-3.

* a great addition to this salad would be sesame ahi tuna or chick peas.