Cooking Tips From the Campground - Chef Lindsay

​My husband and I just got back from our Summer vacation- a three-week road trip that took us through the California redwoods, the city of Portland, the Olympic national park in in northern Washington and down the entire Oregon Coast. We stayed with friends and family along the way, but we also did about a week and half’s worth of camping. One of our goals for any vacation we go on is to eat as well as we can (and we certainly did a lot of that in Portland!) So I take my camping meal prep seriously. It has to taste great of course, but it shouldn’t be to hard to cook or clean up after (I mean, I am on vacation here!). So, I put together a quick list of some tips to help you execute some great meals during your summer camping trips. 

Photos:  1- candlelight dinner in the olympic National forest
2- steak with seared mushrooms, pasta with local Oregon pink shrimp
3- filet mignon, local  heirloom potatoes with bacon and onions,  easy salad kit slaw

• Purchase a large, heavy duty storage box with a tight flitting lid. Use this to transport all your kitchen essentials- a few pans, a pot, utensils, cups, dishes, stove, Ziploc bags, plastic wrap and foil.
• Speaking of aluminum foil-don’t forget it. You can use it to wrap up leftovers, cover meat while it’s resting or ball up and use to clean a dirty grill in lieu of a grill brush.

 

• Wrap prep and steak knives in kitchen towels and secure with rubber bands. Stick these in your kitchen box.

 

• Buy disposable dishes that are compostable and made from recycled material. Better for the environment and easy cleanup.

 

• For the dishes that you do need to wash, Dr. Bronner’s soap makes great camp soap. It’s all purpose, all natural and biodegradable. Not only is it great for washing dishes, but hands and dirty faces too!

 

• I like to wait and buy meat and seafood that is locally sourced from the nearest town I am camping in.

 

• Same goes for produce- extra points if you can visit a farmer’s market to get some great local, in-season fruits and vegetables.

 

• Prep sauces and marinades at home and package in Tupperware and Ziploc bags. When you purchase your meat, you can toss in the Ziploc of marinade and you have a tasty sauce handy to jazz up any meal.

 

• We have a salad with pretty much every dinner. But when camping, it’s kind of difficult to prep and toss a salad together. So, I like to purchase a few salad kits from the grocery store. Dressing and toppings are included and you can toss the salad right in bag it come in.