Good weather is often enough to make your summer picnics pop, but focusing on a theme may be just what you need for an extra jolt of excitement. Hosts of home parties often create food based on theme, but it's an easy add when you are out and about "on location," too. Such simple — and economical — care to detail makes an immediate impression.

Here are a few "tastes" of examples:

—Beach Blanket Bounty: Prepare tuna, mock crab and canned wild salmon tiny tea sandwiches. All are usually available in the canned meat aisle of the supermarket, often also in vacuum packs that remove the mess of much of the water that's in cans. To create the seafood sandwich fillings, use one-quarter low-fat mayonnaise (or vegan mayonnaise) and for the rest, fresh lemon juice, vinaigrette dressing and spicy mustard.

—"Zoo-licious": Take whole-wheat hamburger buns and have kids "paint" with food coloring like the coats of zebras, giraffes, leopards and tigers. Fill with vegetable burgers and "jungle vegetation," such as washed beet, celery and carrot tops. Use hummus or cold cuts that are made without preservatives if you want to go with cold fare as the filling.

—Treasure Chests of "Jewels": Cut oranges in half and shave off bottoms slightly so halves sit flat. Scoop out insides so shells are clean and dry. Press in thin layer of dried cherries, chicken salad you've mixed with mandarin orange sections and a bit of their juice, and a small amount of plain Greek yogurt spread across thin seedless watermelon slices.

—Ballpark Bistro Dessert Bar: In a large bowl, combine bite-sized pieces of soft pretzels, roasted peanuts, kettle corn (the whole-grain food that is somewhat sweet but usually has much less sugar than caramel corn) and very small dashes of freshly ground black pepper and prepared mustard powder. Eat as is, or use as topping for sugar-free chocolate and vanilla frozen yogurts.

—Asian Tour: If you give your picnic an Asian flair, outdoor meal favorites, like plain potato salad, can come along for the fun:

MIRIN-MISO POTATO SALAD

Potatoes:

1/2 gallon water

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup miso

1/2 cup mirin (see Note)

1/2 cup soy

1/2 cup rice vinegar

2 pounds multicolored fingerling potatoes, washed

2 cups snap peas, blanched

1 1/2 cups carrots, julienne, blanched

3 scallions, chopped

3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Dressing:

1 tablespoon miso

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/2 cup homemade or store-bought vinaigrette

Garnishes:

Togarashi, to taste, optional (See Note 2)

Sesame seeds (preferably black), to taste

Mustard seeds, to taste

Yields 8 servings.

To prepare potatoes: Combine all ingredients listed under potatoes in a heavy-bottomed pot and bring to gentle simmer. Once it reaches simmer, turn down heat until there are just very small bubbles in the pot. Cook until potatoes are tender. Cool potatoes in their cooking liquid in a shallow pan. Once cool, cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Set aside cooled carrots and sugar snap peas.

To prepare dressing: Create an Asian flavor base from the miso, vinegar, mirin and sesame oil, and add this to the vinaigrette. Taste the dressing and adjust the seasoning as needed.

To prepare salad: Mix the potatoes with the carrots, snap peas and dress with the Asian vinaigrette. Season to taste and garnish with togarashi, sesame seeds and mustard seeds.

Note 1: Mirin is a Japanese cooking wine sweeter than sake.

Note 2: Togarashi is a Japanese seasoning also known as shichimi togarashi or seven-flavor chili pepper.

—Created by the Culinary Institute of America as an industry service to the United States Potato Board/www.PotatoGoodness.com

Fun fare like this also proves food preparation can be easy, nutritious, inexpensive, fun and fast. They take just 10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare. The creative combinations are delicious proof that everyone has time for creating homemade specialties and, more importantly, the healthy family togetherness that goes along with it!

Another benefit: You effortlessly become a better cook, since there are no right or wrong amounts. These are can't-go-wrong combinations, so whatever you — or your kid helpers — choose to use can't help but draw "wows" from family members and guests.

Photo courtesy of Culinary Institute of America/United States Potato Board/www.PotatoGoodness.com

Give your picnic an Asian flair with potato salad flavored with miso and mirin.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "Cooks' Books" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.