By Rachel Rappaport of Coconut & Lime

To me, warm weather means one thing: picnics! Or if not an actual, sit on the ground on a blanket picnic, at the very least a cook out or a meal served outside on a picnic table. Not only is a great change from from the months of eating in doors during the winter months, it is a great excuse to make 2 perennial favorites, deviled eggs and dips. I know on my own food blog, deviled egg recipes are some of the most popular recipes out of the 900 or so I’ve posted over the years. I think it is because even though they are simple to make, deviled eggs seem festive. Not to mention bite-sized. Who wants to share at a picnic?

My personal favorite is the spinach deviled egg or at least it was my favorite before seeing all of these other clever deviled eggs. Nami-Nami has these Estonian deviled eggs which sounds both a bit exotic and tasty-they call for butter and red currants! Kalyn has these chipotle-lime deviled eggs that combine two of my favorite ingredients in a fresh, new way. Going along the citrus theme, these lemon, horseradish-mustard bacon deviled eggs sound both sinus-clearing and yummy. The very devilish sounding Diabolically Deviled Eggs from Gluten-free Cooking School are made with Southern favorite pimento cheese spread. Rookie-Cookie has some avocado-cilantro deviled eggs that look so good, I almost forgot my general aversion to cilantro. Last but not least, check out these mushroom deviled eggs from Yulinka Cooks, which, since they don’t have mustard aren’t technically deviled eggs but looked so tasty, I had to include them.

Moving off of deviled eggs, dips and spreads are another food that screams warm weather to me. Perfect for outdoor parties they can go from upscale like this crostini with artichoke spread to the more down home but equally tasty French Onion Dip. Bean dips are also popular, you can find everything from cannelloni dip to Tuscan “Hummus” to fava bean dip if you are looking for a heart-healthy alternative to some of the creamier dips.

Speaking of creamy- Jalapeno Popper Dip is creamy and spicy. Or maybe this creamy Mexican Cheese dip (made without Velveeta) is more your style. Personally, like many a Baltimorean, a party just isn’t a party without a crab dip made with lots of Old Bay.

Dips aren’t just for chips, try this pineapple-habanero dip with coconut shrimp for a sweet & spicy appetizer.

Looking for more picnic-perfect deviled egg or dip recipes? You can find plenty of them on the FoodieView Recipe Search Engine.

Rachel Rappaport is a food writer and recipe creator who lives in Baltimore, Maryland. You can check out over 600 of her original recipes at her award winning food blog, Coconut & Lime.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 10:12 am and is filed under Recipe Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.