It sounds delicious and I wish you lived closer Linda. I have a ton of Sungold tomatoes I would donate for your trip!

Teresa

Just the thoughts of shrimp in a back pack makes me nervous....outside of that is sounds fabulous.
Hoa about marinated mushrooms instead of the shrimp? Or perhaps canned smoked oysters?
Linda C

What if you put the shrimp in a baggie and then put that baggie in a larger baggie filled with ice? I would add some celery sticks and bell pepper strips.

Teresa

The way I read it, the food will be carried in a cooler, not a back pack. It's a canoeing trip. The shrimp will be fine and I approve of the menu.

Jim

No back packs. We don't "rough it" at all, other than tent camping.

All food will be in coolers as will the beverages. We drive up to our campsite which is in a state forest in Wisconsin on the MN border. We are close enough to a small town that we can run for more ice (and booze, heheehee!) if necessary!

LOL, Teresa! I would gladly take you up on the tomatoes if I could! I do have a Sungold plant but as yet all of the tomatoes are still green! They are good producers, aren't they?

Marinated mushrooms might be a good addition....

Linda

I take / serve your Antipasta often on our sailboat after racing to our crew. It is one of the most popular dinners I serve. The shrimp will be fine in a cooler. If you have a Trader Joe's near you - their Hummus travels well, is in small containers and is always gobbled up & the flavors go with your theme. Their pita chips are perfect & also in small bags that withstand the humidity here & on the water.
I include marinated mushrooms often and fancy olives from the deli.

Great idea on the Taco salad - I am going to steal your idea if you don't mind this Friday! Chicken strips for Taco salad is also a good substitution. When I make my taco salad - I use Kraft Catalina Dressing. Now I use the Fat free of low fat. It comes in a large plastic bottle with a flip top - easy for a boat trip.

Your trip always sounds like so much fun!
Good menu!

I second MRivergirl's suggestion of hummus. Or spinach dip or eggplant dip. I can get all of those at my local deli. They all go good with bagel chips, OR, pita chips which you can now buy although I make them by toasting pita triangles. I serve antipasti all the time on picnics, sailboat or canoe trips, etc. Something else that I like but others seem to hate--smoked oysters. I also know people who will eat tinned sardines, mackerel or tuna in oil. They do make seasoned versions of all those. I had a colleague who used to routinely bring these kinds of things for lunch at work. My other colleague complained she stunk up the breakroom, lol! I have also bought marinated feta cheese cubes when I had more moolah. I like stuffed grape leaves but they are not a popular item on my antipasti trays, I have noticed. But hummus usually is. It goes good with carrot sticks, which is what some folks like instead of bagel or pita chips.

Drive up to campsite and a liquor store close by: sounds like my kind of camping lol

The first thing I thought of was some kind of dip since it's a "snacky" kind of lunch. The hummus idea above sounds good. Or something creamy with the usual crudite, especially cucumbers.

Have fun!

Hummus is much better if you make it yourself, and it is extremely easy. I personally do not like TJ's hummus because it has cumin in it, and I always omit cumin when I make hummus - leaving it out gives it a fresher and cleaner taste. Cumin competes too much with the other flavors. However, my niece makes it with cumin, but I won't eat hers either.

I was thinking some sort of eggplant or babaganoush would be good, or maybe canteloup with prosciutto. BTW, you list includes most of the ingredients for the Salat Aus Antipasti that katefisher posted on the Exchange side. Grilled marinated mushrooms are one of my favorites.

Lars

Lars, I agree, I don't care for cumin in my traditional hummus, although I do have an edamame version that's good with cumin.

I also make my own because I can control the amount of garlic and lemon, so many commercial version have so much garlic I'm sick for a day or so much lemon juice it doesn't taste like anything else.

I also like to toss a couple of strips of roasted red pepper into hummus.

Linda, your antipasti sounds good to me, and I tend to like snacky small things in place of a huge meal, especially in the middle of the day.

Annie

Oh yes...Hummus! Great idea, I'll add to the list. I have never made it because I can only seem to find tahini in huge jars here and I have no clue what I would do with that much tahini!

Lars, would you share your recipe, please? Thanx!

Magothyrivergirl, steal away! Taco Salad will be a cinch for a camping dinner or a boat dinner!

Linda

You make more hummus with the rest of the tahini....silly!...Once you make your own you will never be without a bowl of it in the refrigerator.
Linda C

Yikes, Linda! I have only seen tahini in something like 20oz. jars. At only a few Tablespoons of it per recipe I'd have to eat an awful lot of hummus all by myself! (Tim won't eat it...)

Maybe I'll venture into Minneapolis on my day off net week and see if I can find a smaller jar.

Linda

Buy some Sabra. I like it better than my own hummus. Keeps longer too.

I put about 1/4 cup of tahini in a batch of hummus....that's 4 oz or a 5th of a 20 oz jar....and it keeps for months in the refrigerator.
And I LOVE cumin in hummus!
Linda C

I know you'll have fun whatever you serve! Tonight 4 of us had dinner and I brought prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe for an appetizer. The melon was so sweet and I had picked up the nicely sliced prosciutto at Whole Foods. Gluten free and added some protein to our meal!

Yes, tahini lasts nearly forever. I get mine at the mediterranean Market in Grand Rapids and a 16 ounce plastic container costs less than $3 and lasts a long time.

I also use in in baba ganouj and I make a sauce for broccoli with 1/3 cup of tahini, juice from half a lemon and about a tablespoon of chili paste. elery loves it, although it's a bit fiery for me.

Annie

People who like cumin in hummus can always add that to a separate batch, but you cannot remove it once it has been added. Here's my recipe:

Lars' Hummus

Ingredients

1/2 pound (1-1/3 c) dried garbanzo beans, (about 3 to 3-1/2 cups cooked)
1/3 to 1/2 cup lemon juice (or juice from two lemons)
3-4 medium cloves of garlic (more if small)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup toasted sesame seed oil
1/2 cup tahini (toasted, if available)
2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
1-1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
1-2 tbsp water, if needed

Directions

Cook beans according to package instructions. I generally boil them for two minutes in a large pan, with triple height of water. Then I turn off the heat and soak for 1 hour covered and then wash them. Garbanzos will require about 2 hours to cook, after being soaked. After cooking, I rinse them twice with cold water to remove the cooking water. They will cook in about one hour if you add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the cooking water.

Put the drained beans in a large food processor with the peeled garlic cloves (coarsely chopped) and the rest of the ingredients. Process until smooth. If it is too thick, thin with water, a tablespoon at a time.

It is difficult to find tahini made from toasted sesame seeds, and this is why I add the toasted sesame seed oil.

I make this recipe almost once a month, as Kevin likes it a lot. It's better when I have Meyer lemons to use, but they are not in season in my yard in late summer. I store tahini upside down in the refrigerator, so that the oil will be on the bottom, making it easier to stir together. It's very bad about separating. If you don't love garlic, you can reduce the amount of that.

Lars

Thanks, Lars! I will definitely try that recipe! If my canoe partner agrees on the antipasti lunch I may make it for the trip!

Okay, so you all convinced me to buy a big honkin' jar of tahini! LOL

Linda