HOW TO

Master Your Beach Picnic

4 cooking apps. 5 recipes for a sand-and-surf day.

You’re not a kid anymore—and your summer vacation isn’t so much a three-month idyll as it is a long weekend. That doesn’t mean you can’t make every moment in the sun count. A little advance cooking, a big blanket, and unbreakable plates are all that stand between you and an easy and elegant beach bash.

Perfect your pasta salad

Step one: The night (or two) before your outing, swing by the supermarket to pick up some fixings. Forget those frumpy pasta salads from the potlucks of your childhood. Jazzed up with briny capers and fistfulls of fresh herbs, NYT Cooking’s Pasta and Zucchini Salad from London’s star chef Yotam Ottolenghi is an entirely different beast.

Pack a salad and sandwich

For a twist on a picnic classic, try the protein-packed Chickpea Pan Bagnat Sandwiches from Yummly. The best thing going for them? They’re even tastier the day after they’re made. Same goes for Panna’s tangy, grain- and fruit-flecked Lentil and Piquillo Pepper Salad—an inspired side dish from Brooklyn chef Sohui Kim. Prep them a day ahead so when you’re beach-bound they’ll be as ready as you are.

Sweeten up

Of course, every meal needs something a little bit sweet. Epicurious’ Chocolate Brownie Cookies may not have broken the internet like those chocolate chip shortbreads you see on social media, but it’s only a matter of time. Part fudgy brownie and part crackly chocolate chip cookie, their petite, portable size makes them the perfect easy, breezy nibble.

Epicurious’ Chocolate Brownie Cookies are perfect for a weekend beach picnic because they can be cooked three days in advance and stored airtight at room temperature.

Quench your thirst

Feeling thirsty? For maxium decadence, wash it all down with Food Network in the Kitchen’s tart, juicy, and fruity Watermelon and Mint Agua Fresca. Put it in a tall, frosty thermos to keep it cool in the heat.