The Savvy Life

I found the New York Times article, The Minimalist – 101 20-Minute Dishes For Inspired Picnics by way of Lifehacker.com.

With the Fourth of July looming on the horizon, there is no doubt summer is in full swing. I’m really interested in breaking from the ‘typical’ when it comes to cooking and I was intrigued by more than a few of these simple recipes.

For example, check out this take on black beans:

Soak a tablespoon or two of black beans in sherry or wine; toss with cooked rice, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and cilantro.

Or how about this for a salad idea:

Cut day-old crusty bread into one-inch cubes. Just before leaving the house, combine it with chopped tomatoes (seeds are O.K.), chopped cucumber, chopped red onion and fresh basil. Pack dressing separately: olive oil, red wine vinegar, diced anchovies, capers, salt and pepper. Call this panzanella.

All I can say is adding one or two of these dishes to standard picnic foods of fried chicken and potato salad would really enhance the occasion.