Writing Prompt Response

Imaginary Vegan Charcuterie

An afternoon of Pleasant Picnicking

I’m a fan of the picnic lunch. As much as I love sandwiches, I also love picnics that are made up of a wider selection of small bites.

It’s such a pleasure to plan out a series of treats to eat away from home. While I know that the charcuterie board traditionally includes meat, I like to be creative and find vegan alternatives to these finger-foods for grownups.

My imaginary picnic begins with choosing a variety of lightweight containers for all the different foods. In reality, I have plain containers made of clear glass or plastic, some with special compartments for dips, etc. For my imaginary picnic, I’d have cute containers from a store like Daiso, printed with cats or smiling polar bears or maybe cartoon sloths relaxing on checkerboard picnic blankets.

So instead of setting up a charcuterie board, I would set up a series of containers for the picnic I’m hosting. Each container would have its own little treats, starting with the classics like cut-up fruits and vegetables, and dips like plant-based yogurt for the fruit and hummus for the veggies. It’s also nice to have some crackers, or maybe sliced bread or small rolls.

If I were feeling extra adventurous, I might try and make some kind of bread or breadsticks or rolls, or I might just buy the mini-sized pretzel sandwich rolls made by King’s Hawaiian. Marisa and I discovered these in Hawaii, and we had them on a happy picnic at the Dole plantation, so they have a special place in my heart.

I would select one or two tasty vegan cheeses from companies like Miyoko’s, Violife, Field Roast, and Follow Your Heart. Vegan cheese spreads are nice, too, like the Kite Hill almond milk cream cheese.

Oh, and I’d like to make some kind of salad, maybe a potato salad or a bean salad. Or what about tabbouleh, or a salad with cold rice or quinoa? If the weather is on the cooler side, I might make soup instead, like a butternut squash soup or a potato soup, something that we can drink from a cup.

For dessert, I would bake cookies or maybe even a light, unfrosted cake, like an apple cake. And to drink? How about some sparkling water, maybe even the kind with a hint of fruit juice? Or I can never resist a ginger ale.

As for the location, I think a picnic at the beach is always a solid choice, as long as it’s not too windy. Sometimes it helps to bring a hoodie and to weight down your picnic blanket, just in case.

Where I live, it often gets rainy and cold at the beach, so I like to be prepared to have a picnic in the car if need be. The small containers for food are perfect to pass around in the car as you enjoy the view of the sand and the waves through the windshield.

At my imaginary picnic, however, it’s a perfect day at the beach: a calm day with a hint of a breeze, and temperatures that are warm but not burning hot. There are no angry dogs barking or grumpy people shouting, just other people happily picnicking and flying kites and walking around in shared delight to be alive.

I wrote this story in response to Sahil Patel’s prompt below:

For another story about appreciating nature, I suggest Allisonn Church on drawing with her grandfather:

And I was delighted to read about one of my favorite parks in Seattle in this story from Akemi Sagawa: