Outdoor picnics. They’re romantic, tasty, and an excuse to look at your date in a bathing suit. Here are a few suggestions for a simple but delicious picnic menu that might help get you lucky.

Just one warning: Evanston beaches are windy, which means sand will probably find its way into your food. To avoid this, package and portion everything individually. For the salad and pasta, pick up four of those white takeout containers from restaurants such as Cozy Noodles. Or a Ziploc bag might do just fine, especially if you’ll be feeding them to each other.

Spinach and pear salad

This salad blends clean and fresh flavors, and it’s wonderfully speckled with the bright colors of spring.

• Two handfuls of baby spinach leaves
• One Bosc pear, peeled, and sliced into sixteen slices
• One 11 oz. can of mandarin oranges, drained
• ¼ lb. of domestic blue cheese, crumbled
• ½ cup of walnuts, lightly toasted and crumbled
• ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup of white wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• 1 teaspoons of Dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Once up to temperature, toast the walnuts on a baking sheet for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
3. Place one handful of spinach leaves into each of the two containers. Top each container with eight pear slices, half of the mandarin oranges, 1/8 lb. of crumbled blue cheese and half of the walnuts. Seal the containers and place in your picnic basket.
4. To make the dressing, place the honey and mustard in a medium-sized bowl and whisk to combine. Add the vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper. Continue to whisk and slowly blend in the olive oil. Pour the dressing into a separate container, such as a leftover water bottle, to keep the salad crisp.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

This salad is as delicious at room temperature as it is hot. And because it’s mayonnaise-free, it’s perfect for picnics.

• 1/3 lb of penne rigate pasta
• A handful of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• ¼ cup of basil leaves, chopped finely
• 1 cup of Kalamata olives, pitted
• 1 cup of mini mozzarella balls, halved
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice
• ½ to ¾ cup of extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Prepare your salad ingredients first: tomatoes, basil leaves, olives, mozzarella.
2. Cook the pasta in generously salted boiling water, according to the package’s directions.
3. While the pasta cooks, prepare the dressing by whisking the olive oil into the garlic, lemon juice, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. Once the pasta is cooked, quickly drain the water and place half of the batch into separate containers. Immediately toss each container with half of the tomatoes, basil leaves, olives and mozzarella. The heat of the pasta will blend the flavors together and start to melt the cheese.
4. Next, pour half of the dressing over each container and toss to combine and coat.