Picnic Wraps & Chia-Seed-Lemonade
I can’t say it enough: I love summer! Long, warm days, constantly opened windows and the faint clatter of dishes from other apartments. Mild summer evenings that you spend sitting outside somewhere… As far as I’m concerned it could go on like this forever. And yet, every year I feel like I’m not making enough of it. One blink and the leaves are already changing color again. So I made it my mission this year to spend as much time outdoors as possible. Instead of devouring lunch inside and in front of the newest Homeland episode (true story), I meet up with friends for lunch and take a short break in the park.
Answering emails in the sunshine in front a café works much better anyways and I’d rather soak up a few more minutes of sunshine and wait until nightfall to sit down and edit photos and videos.
When Glossybox contacted me earlier these days and asked if I wanted to create a recipe with them all around the theme of their july box Pretty Picknick, I already had an idea in mind of what I would like to contribute. I decided to go with classic wraps and lemonade, but giving both a simple and interesting twist.
The wraps are filled with cut up vegetables, cooked quinoa and two dips – guacamole and a red lentil tahini paste.
The wraps can be rolled in advance and wrapped in sandwich paper and thread. Another possibility is to store the dips and vegetables in small containers and wrap them on side. This way the wraps will not get soggy and everyone has complete free choice of topping.
The Chia lemonade is incredible refreshing and easy to make with only four ingredients. It’s the perfect mixture of sweet and sour that you can easily adjust to your liking. By leaving the chia seeds to soak in the water for a little while, they will rise in size and give the lemonade an interesting and funny texture.
A big thanks to Glossybox for working with me on this!
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Picnic Wraps & Chia-Seed-Lemonade Recipe
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Servings: 4
Ingredients
for 8 wraps
8 whole grain wraps
2 sweet bell peppers
2 romaine salads
150g feta cheese
150g quinoa (+ca. 400ml water)
optional:
cucumber, dried tomato, cherry tomatoes, arugula, baby spinach, corn, kidney beans, chickpeas, …
for the lentil paste
200g lentils (+ca. 450ml water)
1 tbsp tahini
½ tbsp lemon juice
¼ – ½ clove of garlic
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp sea salt
black pepper
½ chili flakes
1 handful parsley
for the guacamole
2 avocados
1 larger tomato
handful of parsley
½ clove of garlic
1 small red onion
juice of 1 lemon
handful of sunflower seeds
salt & pepper
For the seed & spice blend
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tsp chili flakes
½ sea salt
for the chia seed lemonade (2 portions)
700ml water
6 tbsp lemon juice (circa one lemon=
6 tbsp (40g) chia seeds
2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
optional: ice cubes
Instructions
Wraps
- Rinse off quinoa and lentils thoroughly and place in boiling water (in two separate pots!). Let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes. If there is not enough water, simply add more.
- Guacamole: In a bowl mix the peeled avocado and tomato and mash with a fork. (In case that your tomato is too solid to mash, you can blend it with an immersion blender for a short amount of time.)
- Cut the onion in small cubes, and either cut the garlic in super small pieces or use a garlic press; add both and the juice of the lemon to the mix.
- Rinse the parsley and generously chop it, combining it with the guacamole.
- In a small pan, roast the sunflower seeds on medium heat until they are crispy, but not burned. Add the seeds to your freshly made guacamole and spice it with enough salt and pepper.
- Lentil paste: Add cooked lentils to a bowl, then crush the garlic, finely chop parsley and add it together with the rest of the ingredients to the lentil bowl. Mix generously.
- Spice blend: In a small bowl (or glass jar) mix together all the ingredients for the blend.
- Cut up the vegetables for the wraps and dice the feta.
- Now fill the wraps to your liking! To serve the wraps sure to place the ingredients rather in the middle so nothing falls out when you wrap it together. It is helpful to turn over the upper and lower side first, then to roll from right to left.
