Recipe Runner: Campfire Nachos, "PBR"-Pineapple Beer Rice, and Banana/S'mores Dessert Pouches

CAMPFIRE NACHOS

These campfire nachos are an easy “mix it and forget it” meal. The campfire smoke adds that little bit of something special. Ideally this is made with a campfire, but can be adapted to a backpacking stove. You will need:

• Tortilla Chips of your choice

• Shredded cheese or cheese substitute

• Can of beans or chili of your choice (we prefer Amy’s medium organic chili)

• Trader Joe’s “Everything but the Elotes” seasoning

• Onion

• Avocado

• Sweet corn

• Lime

• Garnish as desired (with car camping, you can add sour cream)

• Aluminum baking pan and sheet of aluminum foil

Directions:

1. Build fire and allow it to burn down to coals (if using a BBQ grate, you can speed this up by dragging some coals under the grate).

2. Evenly distribute chips in pan. Pour chili on chips, top with onion and cheese.

3. Place foil on top of pan, put the pan on grate. See, I told you it was a “mix it and forget it!”

4. Cooking times vary due to the nature of fire, allow the cheese to melt but be careful not to let your chips burn (unless that is your kind of thing, no judgement.)

Food for thought-I have also made this in a backpacking stove once when camping on a very windy beach where a fire was not safely possible. For a no-mess version, create a “pocket” out of aluminum foil to heat your chili and cheese in. Place the packet inside of your backpacking stove. This is particularly helpful when avoiding dishes with wastewater that may smell like food to bears or to alligators on the beach.

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PINEAPPLE BEER RICE

This recipe was born out of a failed campfire and plans to make kebabs. The great thing about this recipe is that it can be made on a backpacking stove and does not require refrigeration for any ingredients if you sub out diced chicken for canned chicken or packets of chicken. You will need:

• Pineapple

• Zucchini

• Summer Squash

• Onion (sometimes you can find a pre-cut kebab kit with these items included)

• Mushrooms

• 2 chicken breasts (fresh for car camping, canned or in packets to avoid refrigeration)

• Beer (I used a dark bock from a local brewery, lending a slight caramel flavor)

• ¾ cup rice

Directions:

1. Slice onion, pineapple, zucchini, and summer squash. As I said above, originally these ingredients were meant to go on a kebab so they were cut quite thickly.

2. Place ¾ cup of rice in a backpacking pot with one can of beer, bring to a boil.

3. Once beer is boiling, add in chicken, veggies, and pineapple. Reduce to simmer. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent rice and pineapple from sticking to the pot. Season to taste (we used Trader Joe’s “Everything but the Elotes” as it was what we had on hand.)

Food for thought-If you do have a campfire available, this would be delicious with the pineapple first roasting over the fire and added into the PBR at the end of cooking. Next time, I would like to bring one of those little backpacking friendly packets of teriyaki sauce that you can get from takeout restaurants.

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BANANA / S’MORES PACKETS

S’mores just happen to be one of my favorite foods, so I try to incorporate them as dessert both when camping and at home. This “recipe” is more about technique. To make a mess free version, try making a s’mores packet! For the version in the photo, I was camping on a pier where I obviously could not have a fire, and did not want to deal with the hassle of cleaning out my pot. To fix this, I took individually wrapped stroopwafels (to avoid carrying an entire box of graham cracker on my kayak), mini marshmallows, and hersheys kisses. I’ve also made versions of this where I swapped out the stroopwafel for banana, which starts to caramelize in the heat. Wrap your treats of choice in a packet, creating a rounded “onion” shape with a little handle on top. Drop into your backpacking pot and you are good to go!