LET'S HAVE A PICNIC

If the sun is shining, there's nothing better than a picnic, whether it's in the garden, park or by the sea - these delicious al fresco ideas will inspire you

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Cucumber, rice & egg salad

Rice needs to be kept well chilled, so pack it with plenty of cooler blocks, or save this one for a garden feast at home.

Serves 4 Prep 25 mins plus chilling Cook 12 mins VEGETARIAN

1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp mild curry paste (we used korma paste)

1 tsp ground turmeric

300g basmati rice

50g raisins

1 vegetable stock cube

3 eggs small bunch of coriander, leaves picked

30g flaked almonds, toasted

2 carrots, grated or finely shredded

1/2 cucumber, sliced

1 Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion for 8-10 mins until soft and just turning golden. Boil the kettle. Stir the curry paste, ground turmeric, rice and raisins into the onions. Crumble over the stock cube and pour over enough boiled water from the kettle to cover the rice by 2cm (about 1 litre). Season with salt. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover, reduce the heat to its lowest setting and cook for 2 mins more. Without taking off the lid, remove the pan from the heat and leave to steam for 15 mins. This will give you perfectly fluffy rice.

2 Meanwhile, bring another pan of water to the boil and cook the eggs for 7 mins. Plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process and leave to cool. Drain, peel and halve.

3 Tip the rice into a container and chill for at least 1 hr. Will keep chilled for up to two days. When ready to serve, scatter over the coriander and flaked almonds, and top with the carrot, cucumber and eggs.

PER SERVING 491 kcals, fat 15g, saturates 2g, carbs 70g, sugars 15g, fibre 5g, protein 16g, salt 1.3g