The hot and sunny summer days are perfect for picnics with our loved ones. It’s so nice! And what best to complement your other dishes than delicious potatoes? Versatile, nutritious and filling, they can be mixed with a multitude of flavours to create delicious potato salads and fresh summer dishes. They are an essential for a successful picnic! We are delighted to share with you some fresh and tasty ideas to make a perfect picnic with Dolbec potatoes.
Potato Salad as a Main Dish
It’ll come as no surprise to learn that at Dolbec, we loooove potato salad as a main dish. Far from being too heavy, potato salad can in fact be light and fresh. In a potluck, it’ll take people by surprise, often being forgotten behind the macaroni salad, the green salad and the coleslaw. Even if everyone loves it! Whether it’s with family, friends or with a significant other, a potato salad meal is perfect because it has proteins and vegetables and is filling enough to satisfy your hunger. Here are our favourite salads:
Niçoise Salad With Potatoes and Smoked Salmon
Very chic, this salad reminds us of the delicious Niçoise salad, but we change things up by switching the greenery for our Salade Parfaite yellow potatoes and the tuna for smoked salmon. Yum! This salad is perfect for a romantic picnic, but it also has a spot at the table for brunch-type picnics. What’s more, you should know that it’s impossible not to cook your potatoes perfectly when using our Parfaite potatoes!
Feta and Pancetta Potato Salad
Made with pancetta, feta cheese and pine nuts, this easy potato salad recipe is our favourite for picnics with friends. Why? Because it’s a showstopper (isn’t it gorgeous?), and because it’s flavours and freshness are loved by everyone. You can’t go wrong with this potato salad! It’ll be the star of your potluck picnics. To make this summer recipe, we use red potatoes; their crispy flesh is perfect for salads.
Potato Salad with Asparagus and Grilled Bacon
Our favourite potato salad for family picnics is this one, with asparagus and grilled bacon. With its crispy bacon and potatoes, the kids won’t even notice the other vegetables! A delight for your taste buds that, let’s face it, need a break from ham sandwiches.
Potato Salads as a Side Dish
When we plan a picnic, we also want to have side dishes, like sandwiches, salads, mixed raw vegetables, cheeses, charcuteries, etc. A potato salad can very easily be one of those sides. And if you have a portable BBQ, some municipalities in Québec allow them in parks, so go ask if yours does! A potato salad becomes the perfect (and easiest) side dish for a barbecue. Here are our favourites:
Potato Salad with Mint and Mango
A refreshing salad that is perfect for summer! Above all, we love that it’s the perfect side for any meat: chicken, beef, lamb, sausages and even fish!
Potato Buddha Bowl
It’s not just potato salads that you can easily bring to eat outdoors: bowls are also perfect for picnics. What’s nice with this type of meal is that you can make them with whatever you already have at home and still get a rich and diverse meal full of different flavours in one bowl. Quick and easy! Here is our team’s favourite Buddha bowl:
The potato, cauliflower and Cajun chickpeas Buddha bowl
The Dolbec team loves the spiciness of the Cajun spices, perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the maple syrup. A real delight and a nice way to honour the Patates Dolbec baby potatoes.
Even if the picnic is taking place close to your house, don’t forget to carry your food in a cooler containing ice packs. That way, you can keep the leftovers cool when you’re done eating. Don’t have any? Don’t worry, you can use frozen water bottles or juice boxes. In order to prevent any food poisoning due to a food that sat in the heat for too long, remember that the longer a food stays at a temperature higher than 4 °C, the riskier it gets. Be careful! When in doubt, it’s safer to throw away leftovers that have spent more than two hours at room temperature.
Whatever you’re celebrating with your picnic, the place you choose or the menu you picked, the important thing is the precious moments shared with your loved ones!
Have a great summer and great picnics!
