Healthy Picnic Ideas for Summer   We all love the picnics during the summer – however traditional picnic foods like pies, crisps and potato salads can wreak havoc on your diet. The good news is that with a little tweaking, you can enjoy a picnic without compromising your waistline. Here are some healthy picnic food ideas that will hopefully delight everyone.   Crisps can be a tempting and convenient grab for the basket, but the calorie and salt content of these snacks can easily add up to staggering amounts with every handful. For this reason, it may be best to skip the chips entirely and replace them with wholemeal pita breads, a nice way to serve these is to toast and cut them into small triangles. Raw veggies, including carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, also make a great crunchy chip alternative. For healthier dips, choose hummus, salsa or black bean, guacamole varieties over creamy, fatty dressings such as sour cream and herbs.   When you're picnicking without a bbq, try picking up a roast chicken from your local grocery store to serve as a main dish. Roast chicken meat also pulls off the bone very easily, allowing you to serve portions with a fresh, fruity side, such as mango salsa. Or, if your picnic is more of a walking, talking affair, stuff the meat in a whole wheat pita for better portability.   Create heart-smart, on-the-go fillings for your picnic by packing lean proteins such turkey and chicken, low-fat cheeses, tuna in brine/water, wholegrain bread/wraps, and healthy additions such as lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado and peppers.   Salads are a healthy and filling option for a picnic, as long as they're done right. Start with freshly washed, leafy greens, then add fresh veggies and light dressing (but wait to toss in dressings until you're at the picnic site, so the lettuce doesn't get soggy). You can also turn a tossed salad into a main dish by adding proteins such as chickpeas or boneless, skinless chicken breast that you've baked and diced prior to leaving the house. Use your summer flavours - fresh herbs straight from the garden, or your local market, add an extra pop of colour and flavour to your summer salads. The extra flavour isn’t the only reason to add herbs. Many herbs contain antioxidants and other compounds that give them nutrition benefits. So add summer herbs for your health and the flavour.   Pasta, potato and egg salads are usually full of calories and fat, especially those that use ingredients such as mayonnaise, sour cream and cheese. You can lighten up traditional recipes by replacing the starch with wholemeal pasta, or healthy, alternative grains such as couscous or quinoa. To give your new dish some substance, steam and dice vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, courgette and squash, and add them in generous amounts. Avoid using mayonnaise -- which spoils quickly in heat - flavour your side dish with light vinaigrettes instead or a simple olive oil and lemon dressing.   Complex carbohydrates such as grilled/bbq vegetables can make for a filling and healthy side dish. Try preparing a mix of bbq favourites, including summer squash, courgette, peppers, onions and mushrooms, brushing them lightly with olive oil and seasoning them with pepper to taste. Slice up the veggies ahead of time for simplicity, and make clean-up a breeze by wrapping them up in foil before barbequing. If you're headed to a picnic without a bbq, no worries: Just roast the veggies in the oven beforehand and wrap them up to go. They'll taste good cold, too.   To finish, create sweet and healthy kebabs by cutting up a variety of fresh fruit, such as pineapple, mango, apples, peaches, strawberries and bananas. Keep the chunks around cubic inch or less in size, and stack them on skewers, alternating among the different types of fruit as you go.