It's Picnic . . . It's Picnic Time!

Spring has sprung in Boston. And it's hard to stay inside. So I packed up a picnic for some visiting friends, using the three recipes below.

"This is fascinating!" said the process development engineer as I demonstrated proper fruit soup assembly. "Quinoa . . . I've never had this before . . . this is fantastic!" said the aspiring nurse, as her 3-year-old gnawed happily at a strawberry. "Who knew that a bunch of vegetarian dishes could destroy me like this?" exclaimed the leukemia researcher, rubbing his highly carnivorous belly in satisfaction. "She has a food blog, you know," added the newly minted Organizational Behavior Ph.D. When they whipped out their iPhones to jot down the URL, I knew I had scored big.

My friends do good work; they deserve to be fed well. I hope you're lucky enough to have such wonderful company to go along with these three great recipes. They're not my original recipes -- a first here at Smart Green Gourmet -- but are being posted by popular demand. All can be made in advance, and each in 10-25 minutes. So you'll have plenty of time to get on with the other business of your day.