Mexican Quinoa Salad. [Photograph: Katerina]

Last week in on our Weekend Cook and Tell challenge we asked all of you to break out the picnic baskets and share your favorite take-alongs for dining al fresco. What are your best room-temperature recipes? The no-fuss ones that should be enjoyed while lazing on checkered blankets and taking in the scenery. As usual, our Cook and Tellers were ready with plenty of picnic-perfect ideas; here's a look at some of favorites.

KarmaFreeCooking takes most of her picnics beachside and caters them with an assortment of vegetarian fare including Rosemary Almonds to snack on, Asparagus Sandwiches, and Veggie Dip Sandwiches.

lemonfair is a picnic purist and believes that everything tastes better outside than it would in the house. lemonfair's picnic must-haves are watermelon (for seed spitting contests, of course), orange or grape soda, and potato salad.

Katerina mixed up a Mexican Quinoa Salad kicked up with Mexican oregano and hot smoked paprika and cooled with avocado and jack—it has outdoor fiesta written all over it.

Even better at room temp than straight out of the fridge: pasta salads! theindolentcook dressed noodles with this Sweet Savoury Spicy Peanut Sauce for an Indonesian gado-gado-esque dish.

Picnic season or not, dbcurrie loves a pasta salad any time of year. Here's a summer version loaded up with tomatoes, zucchini, olives, and feta.

A big thank you to everyone who shared their dining out of doors recipes for this week's Weekend Cook and Tell challenge. Be sure to head over to Talk and read about next week's challenge: Soda Fountain.