It’s been a long wait, but summer is finally here! We’re so excited to see the restrictions following Covid-19 easing up. It’s time to fish out our picnic blankets and head outdoors to enjoy some great food with our family and friends. Summer is the perfect excuse to explore the best meat-free meals out there, and what better way to do it than hosting your own vegan picnic.
We think you’ll agree that food is something that helped bring us all together throughout the pandemic and in some cases built a sense of community. There are lots of lovely stories about neighbours looking out for each other and delivering meals to those that were shielding and countless brands or businesses that donated food to hospitals and food banks. Restaurants quickly adapted to bring us at home dining experiences to keep us sane over the weekends and lots of new ventures were set up so that you could send postal brownies to loved ones that we couldn’t see. Food is something that we could all rely on (apart from you pasta, where on earth were you!).
We naturally rekindled our love for picnics and we think they’re here to stay for the long haul. It’s also National Picnic Month this July 2021 – so let the picnics commence! (as long as it doesn’t rain).
Our range of plant-based products are perfect for picnics. If you haven’t already tried them, we’d like to persuade you to head to your local supermarket to give them a go. Gosh! Veggie Cocktail Sausages are our personal favourite for this occasion. They’re incredibly delicious, and much lower in saturated fat than regular cocktail sausages. Ours are available in Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, in case we can tempt you.
We’re not just here to talk about our vegan sausages – we want to encourage you to get outside, enjoy nature and have a joyful picnic! There is one concern though. Following mass gatherings at parks across the country last summer, there were multiple cases of litter being left behind by the crowds. It seems harmless to some but it is extremely damaging to our environment. What would Mother Nature say? Or, worse, what would David Attenborough say? So, we’d like to share some tips on how to have a more sustainable picnic.
There are plenty of plastic-free alternatives around these days and if you’re not up for taking your own kitchen cutlery you can purchase disposable bamboo ones which are compostable, therefore, better for the environment. If you want to get creative and save on costs, why not use the trays from our tasty Gosh! products as your bowl/plate. The trays are made from 100% recycled plastic and are 100% recyclable.
For the meals you’ve prepped for your picnic, pop them into Tupperware to transport. It also means you’ll have somewhere for your leftovers. We recently did a giveaway with Sasstainable on our socials (always keep your eyes out for more giveaways throughout summer!) where our winner received Sasstaintable reusable silicone pouches. Perfect for popping any leftover Gosh! Bites into. What’s great is that the pouches are light and won’t take up too much space either. There are plenty of other shops selling similar pouches too.
Keep your food safe by packing up your food into cool bags with ice packs. This should help reduce your food waste too as you can pack up any leftovers and they should stay fresh until you get home. Also, there’s nothing worse than a warm soft drink!
Challenge yourself to a completely natural picnic, opting for fresh fruit and vegetables over too many heavily processed foods. Bonus points to those that go plant-based as well. This is where we help give you a head start as all our products are 100% natural, vegan and ready to eat.
This doesn’t have to be too complicated and the benefit of it being summer means there are lots of colourful veggies and fruits to use to make your picnic look and taste delicious.
Here at Gosh!, we’ve got a few vegan recipes up our sleeves. Here to offer mouth-watering meat, dairy and gluten free alternatives that will make your vegan picnic one to remember. Head over to our recipe page to see.
If you are looking for ideas on what picnic foods to take with you, we’ve created some zero waste vegan picnic recipes for you to try. Our recipes include: plant-based, meat free, dairy free and gluten free vegan ingredients. They’re quick, easy, and more importantly, delicious!
You’ll find a tasty beetroot hummus, perfect for dipping our bites into. When making the recipe you’ll need to drain the chickpeas. Instead of draining this down the sink, drain into a bowl and keep the chickpea water, known as aquafaba, which is a fantastic egg replacement and we show you how to make a delicious vegan chocolate mousse using it. Sounds fancy but it’s honestly so easy to make and has just three ingredients: aquafaba, ethically sourced dark chocolate and 2 tsp of icing sugar.
We’d also suggest keeping the stalks and leaves of the beetroot from the hummus recipe, roasting the stalks and throwing the leaves into a salad. For guidance, we’ve created a refreshing salad recipe using our Gosh! Beetroot Falafel. Our falafel are vegan, gluten free and tasty. We’ve given you a list of salad vegetables but feel free to use up anything that you may have in your fridge. For the dressing you’ll need the juice of the lemon – we make the most of our lemons and use the rind to flavour our water!
To make sure that everyone gets their fair share of Gosh!, prep our veggie skewers making at least one (or two) for each picnic guest. Again, this is so simple – just place chunks of your favourite raw veggies on a skewer an alternate with Gosh! bites. Whilst you’re at it you could make use of our tasty sweet potato pakoras. Combine with olive oil, onion, chives, sherry vinegar and honey to create a delicious vegan potato salad. The perfect side dish for your vegan picnic. For desert, why not combine some of your favourite fruit to create a vibrant fruit salad. Fresh and healthy eating, a great way to top off your picnic.
If you’re feeling a little bit more fancy we’ve given you a template for a vegan grazing board – simply copy our layout for a total showstopper!
We hope you’ve enjoyed our vegan picnic ideas and you have a joyful picnic season. We would love to see you tag Gosh! in any picnic pictures so that we can feature you on our social pages. Follow us @Gosh_Food on Instagram and @GoshFoodOffical on Facebook.
