Whether you’re backwoods hiking or glamping in a fancy yurt with several close friends, hunger will find you. And when it does, you’ll be way ahead of the game if you have a tasty meal ready to prepare.
Need ideas? Here’s inspiration from two experts at adult camping and cooking.
Credit: Pexels
Credit: Pexels
Chicken Campfire Tacos
The genius of these tacos is that at the end of a day spent in green spaces they transport easily and are filling, according to business and life coach Kara Kemp. She hosts Wellness Weekend retreats and an Adult Summer Camp weekend off the grid in Historic Rugby, Tennessee, near the Big South Fork National Park.
“Tacos are good at any occasion, and when you’ve worked up a hunger by hiking and setting up camp, you want to spend more time taking in the scenery and less time preparing a meal,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This recipe is easy to prep in advance and pack into the backcountry. To decrease clean-up time, put them in aluminum foil and just throw them on the fire.”
The ingredients are also open to tweaking.
“The Cotija cheese, for example, is hard and packs easily for adventures,” Kemp said. “But you can use any shredded cheese you like. You can also use smoked meat or even grilled shrimp, depending on what you have on hand.”
Ingredients
- 2-3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken with Mexican seasoning
- 1 cup Cotija cheese
- 1 small jar pico de gallo
- ½ cup guacamole, or a few small individual packages of premade
- Non-aerosol olive oil spray
- 4 large flour tortillas
- Prepped toppings: chopped cilantro, sour cream and lime wedges, optional
Instructions
- Divide the chicken, cheese and pico among the four tortillas. Fold them over and place them in a plastic container or bag for the hike.
- Heat a pan over a medium-hot campfire or a grill pan on a gas grill.
- Lightly spray each side of the tortilla and cook until the surface is lightly browned, about one minute per side. Or, spray the sides of the tortilla with the oil, wrap each in its own foil packet, and cook directly on the grill grate or in low heat coals for a few minutes, turning halfway through.
- Serve with optional toppings.
Credit: Courtesy of Lexy She/She Craft Co.
Credit: Courtesy of Lexy She/She Craft Co.
She Craft Con-Fusion Baked Beans
This recipe is from Lexy She, co-owner, recipe developer and co-cook for Tyrone-based She-Craft, which she established with her husband Adam She in 2018. It provides a framework for making beans in a cast-iron skillet or pot that can be altered to your preferences and what you’ll have on hand.
It’s ideal to start the first day of a cabin getaway and savor throughout the weekend or to cook at home and bring along to reheat over the campfire.
“We all love the real deal cook-all-day baked beans,” Lexy She told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I make them for grill outs/barbecues all the time and I’m always changing and adding bits as I go. This recipe includes an Asian(ish) element to complement the depth of flavor with all of Adam’s smoked meats. It’s very much on-brand of our lives as a couple and family: SoutheShern Girl meets Chinese and Korean Family — what Adam lovingly calls our Asian Con-fusion food.”
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry Great Northern Beans, covered with water and soaked overnight
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 large piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut in chunks
- 1 whole pepper of choice, such as jalapeño
- 1 pound smoked pork belly, chopped, or thick-cut bacon
- 2-3 pork bones, if available
- 3-4 cups vegetable stock or reconstituted bouillon
- 2-3 cups of liquid saved from soaked beans
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ cup hoisin
- ½ cup ketchup
- ¼ to ¾ teaspoons 5-spice powder
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- 1½ teaspoons instant espresso granules or freeze-dried coffee, optional
Instructions
- Drain beans and save three cups of the soaking water
- Preheat the oven to 250 F.
- Heat a large cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven with a lid over medium heat, and add butter, pork belly, onion, and white pepper if using. Saute for 5 minutes.
- Add drained beans and stir to combine.
- Stir together sugar, molasses, hoisin, and ketchup in a small bowl and add to pot, stirring to combine.
- Stir espresso into the broth if using. Add first the broth and then the water from the soaked beans until the liquid covers the beans by an inch at the top.
- Bring to a boil on the stove over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for five minutes.
- Place the lid on top and cook for seven to eight hours in a 250 F oven until the beans are tender and the broth-sauce mixture is a rich light brown color. Check the pot at least once every two hours, topping with more bean liquid as needed to keep the bean mixture covered.
- Beans will darken and soften in the last hour of cooking. Be patient for the color to come out. When the beans are the right shade and consistency, fish out the ginger chunks and dispose of them. Stir in spices to taste.
- Serve immediately or let cool, store in a refrigerator for up to two days, and reheat on a campfire or grill, slowly warming to the desired temperature over medium heat.
If you’re going to grill your own meat onsite to serve alongside the beans, you may want to pack a meat thermometer, according to Adam She.
He smokes the lunch and dinner restaurant’s pulled pork himself, a process that takes eight hours.
“When you’re cooking — in general smoking, but especially when you’re grilling or barbecuing — it’s all about the temperature of the fire or grill and knowing when it’s done,” he said.
“A lot of cooks really get into the rub recipe, and a lot of passion does go into that decision. But most everyone needs to start with a meat thermometer to know when the meat is done. Keep in mind that the cooking time can change so quickly outdoors, even just based on the way the wind is blowing.”
Benefits of camp cookery
Although these recipes are specific to camping, the act of eating outdoors anytime can be a healthy measure according to research.
A March 2022 University of Colorado at Boulder study indicated people who spent the most time in green spaces had a lower incidence of depression and anxiety within the first year of the quarantine caused by the pandemic.
The immersion in nature can also encourage better eating habits, according to licensed psychologist Gia Marson and psychological scientist Danielle Keenan-Miller, co-authors of co-authors of “The Binge Eating Prevention Workbook.”
“If you’re looking to improve your eating habits in 2022 then getting out into nature is a great place to start,” they wrote in a blog for Psychology Today.
“Studies have shown that being outdoors can reduce stress levels and a range of problematic symptoms related to depression, anxiety, and physical health. When your emotional and physical health are better, you’re more likely to eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full.”
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