Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve eaten many weenies roasted over a campfire, perfectly blackened in the flames. And loved every bite. In fact, I would even say I excel at weenie roasting. But, sometimes I prefer real food, even when I’m camping.
The view from my campsite, if you tilt your chair back and look up.
I went camping this week at Silver Creek Falls, in Oregon. You’d think camping would lend itself to a pretty healthy diet. The cavemen probably didn’t suffer from obesity. I imagine they ate a nice low-carb diet, full of lean protein with the occasional handful of berries and greenery. I’m pretty sure there are a couple of fad diets going around very similar to that at the moment. I’m guessing the cavemen didn’t stock their picnic baskets with cookies, mac salad and hot chocolate either. Too bad for them.
This time around, we kept the cookies and mac salad for lunch (gotta have standards), had lots of fresh berries for snacks and dessert, and for dinner one night I made some delicious foil packet dinners. I threw them together before I left, stuck them in the cooler, and then onto the fire they went when we were ready. And they were AWESOME! While I would consider this perfect camping food, I’ve also done the exact same thing in the oven or on the grill in the backyard.
Dinner cooked on fire. No bun necessary.
Campfire Foil Packets
For each packet:
Aluminum foil (I used the heavy duty “for the grill” foil)
1 chicken apple sausage (I like the Aidell’s brand, they have several different flavors), cut into 3 or 4 pieces
Portobello mushrooms slices
A handful of fresh green beans
A few slices or wedges of red bell pepper
3-4 small red potatoes, cut in wedges
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
Lay out a large square of foil. Put the potatoes and sausage in the center first, and then top with the veggies. Lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Keep everything in a fairly small area in the center so you have plenty of foil left for wrapping it up securely.
Making the packets. Feel free to vary the ingredients to your tastes.
Bring two ends together over the top, fold several times and crimp to make sure it’s well sealed. Do the same thing with each end, making a somewhat flat rectangle. Pile them in the cooler until you are ready to cook.
Make sure you have a decent fire going, but not huge flames, you don’t want to flash fry them. Set the packets on the grate and let them cook for about 30 minutes, flipping and repositioning every 5 minutes or so.
Cooking dinner! Make sure you play “musical packets” and switch them around so they cook evenly.
Be very careful when you open the packet! They are full of steam and it can burn you if your fingers are in the way when it escapes. Carefully open one, make sure the potatoes are cooked all the way through (throw it back on the fire for a few minutes if they aren’t), add extra seasoning if it needs it and then eat!
Top off your happy belly with a cup of hot cocoa by the campfire. I forgot my marshmallows. Darn it. I guess I’ll have to go back.
Relaxing by the fire after dinner. So nice!
3hungrymonkeys 