The Happy Camper: First Night Recipes
The further you go on a trip, the more challenging it is to cook a meal with fresh ingredients.
In short: the more days, the more dehydrated components. That’s why you should indulge on your first-night dinner. Night-one meals should be elaborate, like a feast before the famine. Here are three of my favourite.
Parsnip & Pancetta Pasta
Ingredients
1-2 medium sized parsnips (peeled, quartered, cored and cut crosswise into small pieces)
6 slices of pancetta
2 cups of water
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil
Handful of fettuccini
1 tablespoon of dried (or fresh) parsley
¼ cup of Parmesan
Directions
Step 1: Fry pancetta until brown; take out of pan.
Step 2: On medium heat, add butter or oil to frying pan and cook parsnips until lightly browned (approximately 12 minutes). Remove from heat.
Step 3: Boil pasta in a pot of salted water and then drain pasta—keeping one cup of the water.
Step 4: Add pasta and a half-cup of water to parsnips. Mix in chopped up pancetta and parsley and place on moderate heat for one minute. Add more water if necessary.
Step 5: Top with Parmesan cheese
Thai Coconut Chicken
Ingredients
2 cups of Jasmine rice
3 cups of water
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 pieces of frozen boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of curry powder
6 asparagus sprouts
1 cup of snow peas
½ cup of shredded carrots
1 red onion
1 can of coconut milk
(*Everything except the coconut milk can be dehydrated for a meal later in the trip.)
Directions
Step 1: Boil rice in water and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Step 2: Place chicken and curry powder in a zip-lock bag; shake to coat chicken.
Step 3: Cook chicken in oiled pan over medium heat for four to five minutes. Then mix in the chopped up asparagus and onion, shredded carrots and snow peas; cook for another three minutes.
Step 4: Pour in coconut milk and continue cooking until the sauce has heated up and the chicken is cooked through.
Step 5: Serve on a bed of rice.
Lobster Pasta
Ingredients
1 large can of lobster (*you can bring a whole frozen lobster if you like)
4 tablespoons butter
1 medium white onion
3 garlic gloves
1 can (28 oz.) of diced tomatoes (you can substitute with dehydrated tomatoes)
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 large pinches of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1 cup of white sauce (3 tablespoons white flour, 1 tablespoons powdered milk and 1 cup water)
2 handfuls of dried spaghetti
1 tablespoon dried parsley
Directions
Step 1: Boil the frozen lobster in pot of water for six to eight minutes. Or, if you have a can of lobster, add that to a large frying pan in three tablespoons of butter and place on medium heat, adding two garlic gloves and chopped onion.
Step 2: Boil another pot of water, with added salt, for the spaghetti. Cook until tender (approximately eight minutes) and drain.
Step 3: Add tomatoes to the frying pan and increase heat for the juice to boil. Then add the olive oil, salt, pepper and cinnamon.
Step 4: Cook for five to seven minutes, stirring constantly, and then slowly stir in white sauce for another two to three minutes on low heat.
Step 5: Stir in leftover butter and garlic to spaghetti and pour on lobster and sauce; garnish with parsley.
