Ah, summertime. The sun is out and we’re all lying around the beach indulging in glamorous champagne picnics. Or, maybe we don’t live in The Great Gatsby and/or Narnia, so maybe our summer outdoor dining experiences don’t involve butlers and buckets of perfectly chilled bubbly. Booo.

But hey, we don’t need all that. What we do need is excellent company, a venue relatively free of mosquitoes, and delicious, portable food. I’m sure you’ve got the first part covered, so I’ll help out with the third. (And uh, throw me a line when you’ve got the second part figured out because that one I’m still struggling with. *slaps mosquito*)

This luscious bean and chicken salad makes use of the in-season pole beans springing up in gardens and markets everywhere, and it has the added bonus of being more refined than hastily assembled sandwiches. The beans are barely cooked through so they stay nice and crisp, and the garlicky aioli adds a nice kick and binds everything together. The bits of roasted chicken tucked inside… well, who doesn’t love roast chicken? (If you have someone in mind, don’t trust that person.)

The whole thing is light enough to where you can still participate in a game of ultimate frisbee afterwards (or participate in the watching and mocking of ultimate frisbee, as the case may be, *coughs*), but filling enough to where no one will get the hunger rage. That’s the sort of thing we want to avoid in large gatherings, thanks.

Plus, if you pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shred it, the most work you’ll have to do is whisk together a few things for the aioli. Picnic dishes should be easy, and this one is just that. Easy to assemble, easy to serve, and easy to eat. Who wants to toil away in the kitchen when the point of a picnic is to play? You know what, let’s bring that $5 bubbly to the park after all. We deserve it.