Healthy Vegan Picnic Recipes & Ideas

Serve this refreshing fruit salad featuring juicy plums, grapes and berries on its own or with other colorblock fruit salads (like red, green and orange) for a fun, crowd-pleasing rainbow side dish.

This filling rice casserole, loosely based on paella, features seared corn, roasted peppers, garlic and red onions. If you like, include diced zucchini or chopped green beans as well. A flavorful roasted garlic mayonnaise makes a luxurious topping.

This pretty pink cocktail would be perfect for a bridal shower luncheon. Any leftover pureed juice is refreshing on its own.

This caponata is a vibrant mixture of fresh vegetables, including eggplant, onion, celery and tomatoes. Olives, capers, basil and pine nuts makes it special. Serve it as a side with fish or as a spread on rustic bread. Prepare it the night before serving if you can; it always tastes better the next day.

We love dilly beans, but using a sweet brine and dried chile peppers gives pickled green beans a unique twist.

Top this vegetarian noodle salad recipe, which is tossed with loads of veggies and ample peanut sauce, with chopped roasted peanuts for added crunch and protein.

A Mexican-style torta is just like a burrito, except the “wrapper” is a hollowed-out roll instead of a tortilla. Here it's filled with mashed spiced black beans and a quick guacamole. Take this vegetarian version to another level (and add calcium) by melting Monterey Jack cheese onto the bean side of the sandwich. Serve with: Grilled corn on the cob or Spanish rice.

Fresh veggies with dip, juicy fruit and even a sweet treat make up this easy-to-make picnic dinner that's great for packing up or enjoying at home. Plus, this combo excludes the most common allergens and food intolerances (it's free from dairy, eggs, soy, nuts and gluten) so just about everyone should be able to enjoy it without worrying. Store-bought white bean dip is a fast and convenient option but if you have the time and want to make your own, try the Garlic and White Bean Dip below.

This simple, fresh-tasting salad adds delicious variety to grilled foods, such as salmon, halibut, chicken or pork. Browning the corn in a skillet gives it a nutty, caramelized flavor that contrasts with the sweetness of the mango.

Avocado and salsa team up for a zesty Southwest-inspired topping on a whole grain crispbread. This snack is packed with fiber, veggies, and healthy fats, and it takes just minutes to put together.

A versatile side dish to go with grilled meats or poultry. Crispy, crunchy and thoroughly delicious.

If you like mild salsa, use banana peppers in this recipe. For a hotter version, try jalapeño or one of the alternate pepper choices.

This rice pudding is dairy-free, but the bananas and rice milk make it so creamy and rich-tasting, no one will know the difference.

In this easy guacamole recipe, musician Mraz prefers California Hass or Reed avocados because they are the creamiest. Adjust the heat, tang or other flavorings to suit your tastes.

This healthy date, carrot and lentil salad recipe is flavored with a spiced preserved-lemon dressing. While most salads taste best when freshly assembled, lentil salads appreciate time for the flavors to marry so try to make it at least a few hours ahead if you can. Bring the salad to room temperature before serving and adjust salt if needed.

A simple dressing of sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard and paprika flavors this rice and lentil salad. It's a great way to use up leftovers.

Dressed with a tangy lemon vinaigrette and fresh mint, this invigorating—and dairy-free—potato salad makes the perfect summer potluck contribution.

Whole-wheat pasta bolsters fiber and nutrients in this popular Asian noodle salad. The recipe is from Annelise Stuart of Germantown, New York.

Perk up your cheese plate or crudités platter with these crunchy, zesty pickled turnips or try them on a sandwich instead of cucumber pickles.

This pilaf, made with nutty bulgur, gets plenty of bright flavor from fresh dill, mint, parsley, ginger and lemon.

We like to use heirloom tomatoes in this simple salad. They're at their peak during the summer months and worth seeking out at your local grocery store or farmers' market. Which varieties you choose is up to you--any will work well here.

Serve this tart, parsley-dominated tabbouleh at your next backyard gathering.

Here's a way to make better-than-store-bought pickles in under an hour. The secret is pouring the hot vinegar mixture over slices of cold, crisp cucumber. These pickled cucumbers have the perfect balance of sour and sweet—though closer to a "bread and butter" taste, these quick pickles still satisfy the vinegar-loving pickle crowd. In our humble opinion, there's no reason to ever buy another jar of pickles.

These curried cashews are impossibly addictive--every time we made them in the Test Kitchen they disappeared in a flash. If you use salted cashews, omit the added salt.