Celebrate Litha: Easy Midsummer Recipes for Your Holiday Outing

A great way to celebrate Litha is with a Midsummer picnic. What better way to celebrate the Summer Solstice sabbat than with a day out on the beach or at a park, soaking up the warmth and basking in the light.

Not a cook? Not a problem! These recipes are easy and delicious, taking short cuts that don't cut out the flavor, and can be prepared the night before.

Pulled Barbecue Chicken

Mix approximately 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of paprika, ½ teaspoon of chili powder, ½ teaspoon of cumin and ½ teaspoon of onion salt. Alternately, use your favorite barbecue spice blend. Sprinkle liberally over 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Put them in the oven at 350 degrees and bake until the internal temperature is 160 degrees. Try to avoid overcooking.

Take them out of the oven and let them cool for 20 minutes. Put them on a flat platter or tray, take a fork in each hand, and begin shredding the meat. Place the shredded chicken into a bowl.

Squirt in your favorite barbecue sauce and stir well. You want it coated nicely with sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve it hot or cold; scoop it on a plate, or onto a nice bun.

Crisp Summer Bruschetta

Boil some water in a small pot. Put a tomato in it for a few seconds till the skin begins to crack, then remove the tomato. You'll need 2 large slicing tomatoes, or about 4 plum tomatoes. Peel off the skin, cut them in half, scoop out the seeds and discard, then dice the tomatoes. Put them in a storage container and set them aside.

Peel a cucumber. Slice it in half, lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out and discard seeds. Dice it finely and mix it with the tomatoes. Throw in a handful of chopped basil if you like, or a sprinkle with a pinch of oregano. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour in and mix just enough olive oil to coat. Close the container and store it away.

Slice a loaf of Italian bread into thin ½ inch slices. Brush each side with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a little garlic powder. Put them on a tray on the top rack in the oven and turn on the broiler. Watch them'" they will burn quickly! You can even keep the oven door open; as soon as they have toasted on top, turn them over and let them toast on the other side.

To serve it, put a healthy spoonful of the veggies on top of a toast chip.

Mango Cole Slaw

Throw a bag of your favorite cole slaw mix into a bowl. Add what you like: shredded pepper, carrots, onion, sprouts or chopped fresh chives. Dice a mango finely and drop it in. If you can get your hands on fresh stevia leaves, slice them and put in a handful'" they add a lovely fresh sweet flavor to it. You can also add some chopped cashews or slivered almonds'" whatever flavors you like!

Wisk together about 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of ½ lime. Pour it over the slaw, mix and salt and pepper to taste. If you prefer, you can simply add your favorite bottled cole slaw dressing.

Melon Lime Fizzy Soft Drinks

Ball a honeydew melon and freeze them; or, buy frozen melon chunks.

Cut the rind off a seedless watermelon and juice it. If you don't have a juicer you can put chunks into a blender and puree, then pour it through a strainer. Refrigerate the juice and a bottle of sparkling lime flavored water.

To serve, throw some chunks of honeydew in the glass like ice. Fill half-way with sparkling water and top it off with the watermelon juice and a lime wedge. It looks so pretty, too.

Raspberry Lemon Layer Cake

Make two boxes of instant lemon pudding and chill it until it's set.

Take a beautiful pound cake (either home-made or store bought). Slice it length-wise into three layers of equal thickness.

Put the first layer on a plate and spoon on about 1/3 of the pudding. Spoon on half a pint of raspberries (you can also use defrosted frozen raspberries or mixed berries). Cover with the middle layer, spoon on 1/3 more of the lemon pudding and raspberries. Cover it with the top layer of cake.

Mix the remaining pudding with about an equal amount of whipped topping and stir to incorporate them for a lemony whipped cream. Top the cake with it, sprinkle on some more berries and some lemon zest.

Slice it up for refreshing, summery, fresh Litha flavors.