One-pot meal
 

About to go on my first bike camping weekend with some friends. Anyone have any recommendations for good, easy one-pot meals? I did a search, but couldn't find anything relevant.

Thanks in advance.

Boil rice for 15 minutes with a little salt... Throw in a can of beans... Add olive oil, garlic and tabasco if you want to be fancy...

Quick, easy, nutritious, cheap... I basically eat this meal every evening on tour Variety? White beans, black beans, kidney beans, chick peas etc etc... :D

Boil pasta, drain the water, stir in a can of chili or something similar and heat again. Season. Enjoy with bread.

I like to cook eleborate meals even on short trips, so I always carry a two-pot nesting set. The second pot doesn't take up any measurable space or add much weight at all.

BTW...Brooklyn rocks. Out local Philly club rides from New Hope to B. Heights every year.

I second the rice idea. I usually buy the Lipton flavored rice dishes. You can add things to them or eat as is. Mac-n-Cheese is always at the top of my list too.

Look for backpacking recipes. I have a book but don't recall the name of it.

Here is a PDF from scouting that will give you some basics and here is another website called one pot wonders.

Aaron :)

box of elbow macaroni & a can of tuna

I just did a 5 day backpack trip (bike touring without the bike - ha!) and I wanted very easy meals so I grabbed some Mountain House freeze dried meals. I heated the 2 cups of water for them with a little Esbit tablet stove. It worked out great!

If you chop up a green chili pepper, it'll add a bit of zip to what might otherwise be a rather bland meal. And if you want to take the trouble to carry eggs, you can drop a raw one into a pot of boiling rice to add a bit of protein.

I like pasta + canned meat + instant gravy + vegetables. You use the water left over from the pasta to make the gravy, and the formula gives you a lot of variety if you vary the kind of meat (tuna, sardines, chicken, etc.), gravy (country, chicken, brown, etc.), and vegetables. Sardines and country gravy is surprisingly good. Avoid vienna sausages, they're possibly the worst thing I've ever eaten that wasn't a dare.

As for vegetables, get what you can locally. Broccoli, snow peas, and green beans travel well, so you can use the leftovers the next day or two if you have more than you want to eat in one meal. Broccoli and snow peas are also good to snack on during the day. Asparagus can be really good, but travels poorly and becomes slimy if left in your pannier on a hot day.

Check out http://www.trailcooking.com/. Lots of good recipes there, as well as thoughts on dehydrating and freezer bag cooking.

We cook pasta or rice, then tip it into our bowls along with the water to complete cooking and keep it hot while we cook up some veges in a pasta or curry sauce. The rice or pasta stays hot and completes cooking while the sauce mix is heated. This way, you don't need two pots and don't have the problem of the pasta or rice burning on the pot bottom while trying to heat up the veges or sauce together.

Pasta of your choice and a can of chili,always good.

easy tuna casarole:

1 box mac 'n cheese + 1 can tuna (drained)+ 1 can peas(also drained)

after mixing the cheese packet to the mac 'n cheese, stir in the tuna and peas thuroghly. top with crumbled saltine crackers.


chili mac:

cook mac'n cheese but dont mix in the cheese, instead mix in a can of chili.

those are just off the top of my head.

A gazillion one-pot recipes here: http://www.trailcooking.com/

You can just put whatever vegetable you want in with the pasta as it cooks - broccoli, green beans, zuccini, crookneck squash, spinach.... drain, put in some olive oil, red pepper flakes, a can of tuna or salami - or if you are close to camp when you shop, you can get ham, turkey, whatever from a deli counter at the grocery if you're lucky. I always carry olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Parmesean cheese stays good in your pannier for a long time, too - especially if you buy a block, not grated.

A useful reference is Harriett Barker's, The One Burner Gourmet. I picked this up years ago for kayak adventuring.

you could make tacos or burritos. those are easy. make rice, add canned chicken, season and stick in a tortilla. heck, you could make spaghetti.

as an after thaught, is it going to be just you eating what you make, are you cooking for everybody, or will it be a pot luck kind of thing?

ramen + can of soup + season to taste

Couscous anyone?

I like Ramen/chicken/salad soup. I buy a bag of salad and a couple pieces of cooked chicket at a grocery store, along with some Ramen. Chop the chicken into bits. Throw it in the water along with 1/2 the salad. Bring to a boil. Toss in the noodles. (I crumble them first.) Boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the seasoning, and enjoy. It's better than it sounds.

If you are not used to camping, you don't want too many surprises. If you have some easy good one pot meals that you make at home, why not use that?

How much work do you want to do? Heating a can of beef stew might be simplest for someone that does not camp very much and wants an easy meal.

If you get a pre-packed rice meal, look at the instructions first because some need to simmer for a long time while others only need a short simmer. When I am camping and hungry I want the shortest simmer possible. But, I usually take the time to dice up some onions and peppers.

+1 on the 'avoid surprises' thing. Tired and hungry and miles from a store is no time to discover that the lightweight dehydrated cook-in-the-bag meal is nowhere near as appetizing as the picture on the packet suggests.

(He said, knowingly)

Muesli. But you need milk and/or yogurt, plus fruit, which does not always travel well. But if you pick up the ingredients you need...

In a bowl, soak rolled oats in milk or yogurt while you do the following:
Chop up fresh fruit.
Prepare handfuls of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.
Stir everything together, and it's done. (10 minutes of soaking should be OK.)

Ah, a subject need and dear to my heart...FOOD.

Being single a lot of my meals are 1 pan.
I find the heat source and pan to be very important to what can be cooked.

For the most simple adventure and the least amount of cleaning and least control over the heat source, I suggest a boil water backpacker meal. 2 servings = 1 meal. I then eat out of the bag and have no dishes to do.

For something a little more complicated, you can do rice, beans and canned meat. I am not a big bean fan so.... Soak the beans for a day (zip lock baggy/container), add the rice, beans, water, canned meat and spices (I like Cajun). Bring the mixture to boil then let cook for 30 minutes on low heat.

These require fresh or frozen supplies:
I can pan fry chicken or beef with potatoes if I have a good frying pan with a lid. I usually only spice with black pepper.
I can pan fry chicken or beef or shrimp with stir fried vegetables if I have a good pan with lid. I usually try to spice with soy sauce.
I have eaten just fried fish for several days while fishing. This requires a heavier frying pan, Crisco to cover bottom of frying pan, corn meal/flour/spices coating, wood fire and of course fresh fish.

One that's somewhat simple:
Boil up some rice. Add a small can of chicken, some mixed vegetables, a small carton of yogurt. Season to taste with your favorite curry powder blend, and a touch of honey or sugar (to take the edge off of the curry) if desired.