Take it outside

Looking to take your meal out into the spring sunshine? I asked chef Ryan O’Malley of Pullman Kitchen, which offers yummy prepared foods at Quarry Pond in Granite Bay, for some ideas for putting together a great picnic.

1. “Cold salads are wonderful this time of year, and not just cold salads, but marinated artichokes, couscous—or, I make a wild-rice salad. The idea is to use things that are at their best sitting out at room temperature.”

2. “There’s nothing I love more in this world than a simple sandwich—you put great cheese and ham on a really nice baguette, and take it out and as it warms up the fat soaks into the bread and it all comes together.”

3. “The strawberries are perfect right now—you bite into them, and you don’t want to pull that little stem out of your mouth. You just want to suck every last drop of juice. After months of potatoes and chard and winter things, everything about spring is here, and you want to take it outside and enjoy it.”