Hot Dogs and Beans! A Winning Combo!

July 13 was National Beans and Franks Day. Today, July 15, is National Hot Dog Day.

Hot dogs are a camping and backyard grilling classic. They’re also a beloved protein of just about every kid I know.

In the summer, we’re probably grilling dogs at least once a week either in camp or in the backyard. In the winter, I’ll slice them in half lengthwise and fry them for a sandwich or a bowl of ramen or I’ll serve them alongside a pile of macaroni and cheese. I don’t know where I learned that but I love those two side by side; however, I’ve never mixed them together. I might have to try that!

Speaking of mixing together, two things that go really well when combined are hot dogs and beans. I remember eating a lot of beans and wieners on camping trips as a kid. The easiest way to make them is to open a can of your favorite baked beans and add sliced hot dogs to them and heat them together. It’s a tasty, hearty meal that is super simple to make and is easy on the budget. It makes a winner dinner for a beginning grub master. This is a great meal for a Friday night roll into camp because you can have dinner on the picnic table in less than 30 minutes. It also uses only one skillet for easy cleanup.

If you want a little more control over the ingredients, beans and franks are also easy to make from scratch. Again, it’s simply a can of beans and some sliced hot dogs and then the fun begins as you dress it up any way you like. Here’s one of my favorites. It is sweet and savory, and has complex flavors. Every spoonful is a little different.

This recipe is easily scalable. Cut the recipe in half for 2 or scale it up for as many as you need to feed (and your skillet can hold)! We use all beef hot dogs and, depending on the size of your hot dogs, you may want to halve or quarter them lengthwise before you slice them. I use a 4-ounce can of fire roasted diced green chiles, but you could substitute something fresh and as mild or as hot as you like. I use red bell pepper and yellow onion because we almost always have those on hand, but you could substitute to your liking. For some additional heat and flavor, you can add a splash of your favorite hot sauce or some red pepper flakes.

Ingredients
4 bacon strips, cooked and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 all-beef hot dogs, sliced
1/2 cup diced bell pepper (red, yellow, orange or green)
1/2 cup onion (yellow or white), diced
1 tablespoon spicy mustard
1/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
30 ounces Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup (4-ounce can) fire roasted diced green chiles, mild or hot

Prep
Slice the hot dogs, and dice the bell pepper and onion. Pop the top on the can of diced green chiles or, if you’re using fresh, dice those. In a small bowl, combine the mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, black pepper, and salt. To this, you’d add your splash of hot sauce or red pepper flakes, but that’s optional.

On medium heat, warm a large skillet or cast iron pan. Fry the bacon to your liking, remove, and set aside on a paper towel. Drain off any excess bacon grease, but leave enough to sauté the hot dogs and vegetables. To the skillet, add the bell pepper, onion, chiles (if using fresh), and sliced hot dogs, stirring until the hot dogs are browned and the vegetables are soft and caramelized. Slice bacon and add to skillet along with Great Northern beans, chiles (if using canned), and sauce. Continue to heat and stir until all ingredients have combined and sugar has fully dissolved. Serve hot with a cold potato, pasta or green salad on the side.

Serves about  4.

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Fractured Tacos

If you’re cooking for picky eaters or you’re having to work around a lot of allergies, setting up any kind of build-your-own bar makes meal times easy and hassle free. Campers can go through the chow line and pick what they want to eat, so there are no excuses not to like what they’re eating. Fractured tacos is a perfect BYO dinner or lunch and it is fast and easy to get onto the picnic table.

At home, fractured tacos is a quick and easy meal that can be thrown together on the fly. We almost always have all the ingredients in the house, so no run to the grocery store is needed.

I believe the name “Fractured Tacos” comes from taco shells that broke before they could be used, but because it was camp and it was all we had, we used the broken pieces and ate our tacos in a bowl. Taco shells never seem to survive the ruggedness of camping without breaking so, eventually, we gave up using them. Instead of taco shells, we now use chips, and if the chips get broke, who cares?

For that taco shell flavor, you can use straight corn tortilla chips. For a little added zing, you could use nacho cheese chips. For something different, you could use corn chips. Set out all three and give your campers more choices. Whatever doesn’t get used can be snacked on throughout the campout.

At home before you go, you can prep a lot of the ingredients for the bar. I usually survey my campers in advance to determine what they want, and then I build my bar so that there is something for everyone. For example, if no one wants guacamole then I don’t bother bringing it; or, if only a few people want it then I bring a smaller amount, and if everyone wants it then I bring a lot.

At home, vegetables can be shredded, sliced and chopped. Dry seasonings can be pre-mixed. Ranch dressing, guacamole, salsa, picante sauce, and pico de gallo can be made at home if you are making from scratch.

In camp, the only thing to cook is the protein choice and maybe heat up some refried beans. You could brown ground beef, pork, or turkey. If you have the time, in a Dutch oven, you could slow roast beef, pork or chicken and shred it. If I want to keep it simple and fast, I just brown ground beef. I season it with my own taco seasoning (see recipe below).

When it’s time to eat, I set up the taco bar on a serving table. I set bags of chips at the front and at the end because some people like to put chips on the bottom like nachos and others like to break up chips on top like croutons on a salad. Some will even put their chips on the side and use them to dip into all the goodies. Below is a list of possible ingredients for your taco bar, and below that is the recipe for my taco seasoning.

Taco Bar Ingredients
Tortilla Chips, Nacho Cheese Chips, and/or Corn Chips
Refried Beans
Protein (Beef, Turkey, Pork, Chicken, Plant-Based or a Combination), ground or shredded
Shredded Cheese (I use a shredded Mexi-Blend)
Shredded Lettuce
Chopped Cilantro
Sliced Olives
Salsa, Picante Sauce or Pico de Gallo
Guacamole
Sliced Jalapenos or Something Hotter
Ranch Dressing and/or Sour Cream

Taco Seasoning
(This is for 1-pound of ground protein)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cumin
2-3 tablespoons water
3-6 dashes of Tabasco sauce

Prep
On a camp stove, on medium heat, brown ground protein and add seasonings, water and Tabasco. The Tabasco will add a little heat and will combine with the water to give it a little sauciness and help distribute the seasonings; otherwise, the ground protein is very crumbly.

Serves 4-6

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Ramen Remakes

 

I may be going out on a limb here, but I believe most adults and youth know how to make ramen. Many of my backpacking buddies and scouts rely heavily on ramen because it is lightweight and cooks quickly in boiling water. In college, many of us lived on ramen (if we couldn’t afford mac & cheese). Some adults still live on ramen. Just sayin….

And, while we all love ramen as a quick, simple meal, it’s not a very well-rounded meal. That being said, it is a blank canvas for creating a great, nutritious, well-rounded meal.

For the photograph featured in this blog, I went to my kitchen to see what I could find. From the pantry, I pulled out a package of chicken ramen. I always have a bottle of sesame oil sitting on the counter. In the refrigerator, I found romaine lettuce, red bell pepper, baby carrots, green onion and a piece of leftover grilled chicken. I sliced the romaine and green onion, julienned the pepper and the carrot, and chopped the chicken.

I started the pan of water and added the seasoning packet and a couple dashes of sesame oil. From the fridge, I added a dash of lime juice, a dash of soy sauce, a dash of sriracha (okay, I’ll be honest; it was half a dash of sriracha). I also added a heaping teaspoon of miso paste and a little minced garlic. The leftover grilled chicken was heavily seasoned so I didn’t feel I needed to add any other seasonings. When the water came to a boil, I added the noodles, vegetables, and chicken, and let it all cook for 3 minutes.

As you can see from the photograph, I loaded my bowl. It was an awesome lunch for a typical cold, rainy Northwest day. For the first time in my life, I wanted to drink all the broth after I fished out all the goodies.

For my ramen fans, this would be so easy to do in camp and campers could even customize their bowls. At home before you go, prep a variety of vegetables (dice and julienne small so they will cook quickly), and decide on your flavorings and your protein (because they will influence each other). Pre-cook and dice your protein.

You could also make and pre-cook meatballs for a fun way to add protein to your ramen bowl. For meatball ideas, please see my blog post, “Make Your Own Meatballs.” Eggs are also a great protein to add to your ramen bowl. For ways to add an egg to your ramen bowl, please see my blog post: “Add an Egg to Your Ramen Bowl.”

In camp, set everything out and make your broth. You could further enhance your broth by using beef, chicken, or vegetable broth in place of the water. Each camper throws whatever they want into their bowl, including a package of noodles (folks will need good-sized bowls or you can break the ramen to make it fit). Get the broth up to a good rolling boil and then add a generous amount of broth to each bowl, cover the bowl, and let rest for 3 minutes. Done!  Such an easy lunch and it is nutritious and will sustain you until dinner.

For backpacking, you could use freeze-dried and dehydrated meats and vegetables. Some of the flavorings like soy sauce and sriracha can be found in single-serve packets. We also found powdered sriracha in the spice section of our local grocery store.

Below is a list of ideas. Mix and match to your liking.

Protein
Beef
Beef Jerky
Chicken
Egg (hard-boiled, soft-boiled, poached, fried, or drop)
Hot Dog
Pork (ham, bacon, etc.)
Tofu

Flavorings
Lemon or Lime Juice
Miso
Rice Vinegar
Sesame Oil
Soy Sauce
Sriracha

Vegetables
Bamboo Shoots
Bell Pepper
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrot
Celery
Corn
Edamame
Green Onion
Mung Bean Sprouts
Mushroom
Onion
Peas
Radish
Romaine
Snow Peas
Spinach
Water Chestnuts

Seasonings
Black Pepper
Garlic
Ginger
Salt

Ramen may be one of the cheapest foods in the grocery store, but with a little imagination, it can be one of the most versatile staples in your home and camp pantry, and makes a great launching point for some fast, easy, nutritious meals.

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Miso Noodle Soup with Meatballs

Want to wow your campers? Serve this savory miso noodle soup with meatballs. This soup is perfect for a cool or cold evening when you are wanting a hot meal, but on the lighter side. It brings a mild, subtle heat and folks can add more or less heat by how they garnish with the red chiles. Both my son and daughter like this soup and they are on opposite ends of the heat scale.

While this soup isn’t difficult to make, it might not be suitable for young chefs. This soup is a bit more sophisticated. It’s a far cry from chili and macaroni and cheese. This is also not a good soup for a large group because you need at least a quart of volume per person. We make this for the 4 of us and I use a 6-quart Dutch oven. I might be able to make this in a 4-quart, but I like having the extra room for stirring and to prevent boiling over.

You could double this recipe in a 12-quart stock pot to serve 8 and even triple it in an 18-quart stock pot to serve 12, but serving might become challenging trying to evenly divide all the noodles between 8-12 bowls. We use tongs to grab the meatballs and noodles and, when you get down to the last few noodles, you’re kinda fishing for them.

Be careful when you’re ladling the broth into the bowls because this soup is hot (boiling) and, if you’re holding the bowl while you are ladling, the bowls heat up really fast and get really hot. Even the heavy ceramic bowls we use at home quickly get too hot to hold.

For photographing, I sliced the red chiles to make it look pretty, but we actually prefer to dice them so we get a little heat with every bite. I also removed the seeds, which is where a lot of the heat is.

We did not use the sambal oelek (ground chili paste) because it contains seafood oils and we have allergies in the household. Instead we used sriracha, which is a straight across 1:1 substitution. So, if you can’t find the sambal oelek or, like us, have allergies, sriracha is a safe alternative without sacrificing flavor.

We find our soba noodles in the refrigerated section. The package has 3 6-ounce pouches and we use all three pouches because we love noodles. We find the fresh mung bean sprouts in the produce section. The bean sprouts add a bit of crunch and freshness to the soup.

Our chop stick skills are not the greatest so we serve this soup with forks, for the meatballs and noodles, and large spoons, for slurping the delicious broth, but you could forego the spoons and just drink straight from the bowl. It’s good to the last drop!

So, if you’re wanting something different or cooking to impress, this makes a great lunch or dinner soup for a small group.  Serve this with an Asian salad and you have a perfect soup and salad combo!

Equipment
6-quart Dutch oven or stock pot, medium bowl, measuring cups and spoons, and tongs and ladle for serving.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 cup green onions, sliced diagonally, and divided in half
9 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
64 ounces chicken stock
18 ounces soba noodles
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste) or Sriracha
16 ounces lean ground pork
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons miso paste (fermented soy bean paste)
2 cups fresh mung bean sprouts
3-4 red Fresno chiles or red jalapeño chiles, sliced or diced

Prep
Slice the green onions and red chiles, and mince your garlic if you’re using whole fresh cloves. In a medium bowl, combine honey, sambal oelek (or sriracha), ground pork, salt, and pepper. I gloved up and dove in with my hands to mix it all really well. Shape pork mixture into 16 meatballs. Assemble all your ingredients. Now it’s time to put flame to your pot.

In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the sesame oil. Add ½ cup green onions, garlic, and ginger, and sauté 1-2 minutes. Add chicken stock, increase your heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 8 minutes.

To the stock mixture, stir in miso. By hand, one at a time, carefully drop in the meatballs and cook 6 minutes or until done. Add noodles and cook 2-3 minutes more (depending on your noodles). Divide soup between 4 deep soup bowls (minimum 18-ounce bowls) and sprinkle with remaining green onion, mung bean sprouts, and red chiles.

Serves 4 perfectly. Each person gets 4 meatballs and 4-5 ounces of noodles, and lots of yummy broth.

For more ideas, check out these blog posts: Ramen Remakes, Add an Egg to Your Ramen Bowl, and Make Your Own Meatballs.

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Pizza Pasta One Pot

Our family loves pasta and we love pizza so this was a lot of fun to make. And, just like pizzeria pizza, this pasta dish could be customized to your personal taste. Make it like your favorite pizza. You could use gluten-free pasta or a whole wheat pasta. You could change up the meats, add some vegetables like bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives, or make vegetarian pizza pasta.

This pasta dish really did taste just like a pizza and everyone loved it. Another great thing about this dish is that it is a one pot recipe. One-pots are great for camp because you’re only using one pot and one burner, making for less mess and less cleanup. And, this meal goes together fast. We were able to get dinner onto the picnic table in less than 30 minutes, which makes this recipe great for a roll-into-camp night or an evening meal after a busy day of outdoor activities.

Serve this with a salad and some bread sticks and you’ll feel like you’re sitting down to eat at your favorite pizza place.

Equipment
Large skillet with lid or 12-inch Dutch oven, cutting board, knife, measuring cups and spoons.

Ingredients
2 tablespoon olive oil
16 ounces Italian sausage, casing removed, mild or spicy
1 cup mini pepperoni or regular pepperoni quartered
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
16 ounces rotini pasta
12 ounces hot water
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Red pepper flakes for serving
Parmesan, grated, for serving

Prep
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat. Stir in half of the pepperoni and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Stir in tomato sauce, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, pasta, and 12 ounces hot water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until pasta is cooked through, about 12-14 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure pasta is absorbing the liquid. Add more water if needed.

Reduce heat; top with mozzarella and remaining pepperoni, and cover until cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

Serve immediately, garnished with parsley. Serve with red pepper flakes and Parmesan just for fun.

Serves 10-12

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Sausage and Kale Soup

Last week, around dinner time, I received a text from the mom of one of our Boy Scouts, a scout who is close to Eagling I might add. She sent a picture of her youngest son Nathan standing at the stove, stirring a pot. She wrote, “Sausage and kale soup from scratch! The Cooking Merit Badge is the best thing that ever happened to me!” I couldn’t be more proud or thrilled.

This is one of those moments when you dust off your hands and walk away saying, “My work here is done!” Nathan has embraced what he’s learned from a merit badge and he is applying it to his everyday life. His cooking skills will continue to grow and he’ll use them his whole life. And, just at look at that smile. He’s so proud of himself and his smile could light an entire city!

So, after the rave reviews from his family, we had to make the soup ourselves (and so I could photograph it). This is an easy soup to make in camp. It has a little prep and could easily be gotten onto the picnic table in about 30 minutes, making it a great meal for a Friday night after rolling into camp and setting up.

If you are a kale fan, you should like this soup. It’s warm and filling, but not heavy. We served it with our favorite cornbread. You could also make a crusty artisan bread. Any bread would go nicely.

For the sausage, Nathan used turkey sausage. We used a hot Italian pork sausage. Choose your sausage according to your likes and go as mild or as spicy as you want. The recipe calls for wine, which you could omit and just add more chicken stock. I opted to include the wine and used a chardonnay. For the kale, strip the leaves off the stocks and discard the stocks. The leaves just need a rough chop.

Equipment
6-quart Dutch oven or stock pot, knife, cutting board.

Ingredients
20 ounces sausage, ground or links (remove casings)
1 medium onion, diced
8 cups kale, fresh, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine
3 ¼ cups chicken stock
1 (15-ounce) can white kidney or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
¼ teaspoon pepper

Prep
Chop the vegetables, drain and rinse the beans, and get everything measured out and ready. Once you start cooking, this one moves pretty quickly. In your Dutch oven, over medium heat, cook the sausage and onion until the sausage is no longer pink. Remove and set aside. Add the kale to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add wine and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the sausage and onions, and the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15-20 minutes or until kale is tender.

Serves 8

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Chipotle Chili

Chilis are great because they are easy to make and hard to mess up. You can easily adjust the spice level to your liking or just add a dollop of sour cream and you’re good to go. Chili is solid camping food. Pair it with chips and/or a cornbread and you have a great meal.

The chipotle chili and adobo sauce in this chili brings a nice mellow heat, strong enough to taste and warm your belly, but not so hot that it lights your nose hairs on fire.

It has three kinds of beans, giving each bite a slightly different flavor. However, if you’re partial to a particular bean, you could use all the same beans and this chili would still taste great.

Start to finish, this takes about 90 minutes to get this chili on the table, which means plenty of time to make a cornbread to go with it.

Equipment
6 quart (12-inch) Dutch oven or pot

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced (1 cup)
1 red bell pepper, diced (1 cup)
2 carrots, diced (1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 can (28 ounces) crushed or diced tomatoes
2 cups water
1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, minced
2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the jar of chipotles
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 can (15.5 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15.5 ounces) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15.5 ounces) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Prep
Heat the oil in large pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrots, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the ground beef; raise the heat and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes, water, chipotle and adobo sauce, oregano and salt and pepper. Simmer, partially covered, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook, partially covered, 20 minutes longer. Season to taste, with salt and pepper.

Serves 8 (1 1/4 cup servings)

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Vegetarian Three-Bean Chili

A couple weeks ago, my daughter and I taught outdoor cooking to some amazing Girl Scout adult volunteers and teens. This vegetarian three-bean chili is one of the things we made. I promised them I would get it posted to the blog and here it is! We also made Cookie’s Cornbread and Granny Apple Crisp.

This is a hearty chili that brings some nice welcomed heat on a cold, rainy day. We played it safe and used a mild salsa; however, you could up the heat by using a medium or hot salsa. You could also switch out one of the green bell peppers for some jalapenos or spicier chilies. So, if you like it hot, this chili could be easily modified to a 5-alarm fire chili! And, if it ends up being too hot for some, they can always cool it down with a little sour cream. Serve it with a good cornbread (I highly recommend mine!) and/or a nice salad with some cooling Ranch dressing. And, don’t forget the tortilla chips!

It occurs to me that if you wanted more of a creamier chili, you could also add a can or two of vegetarian refried beans. We may have to try that the next time we make this.

Equipment
6-quart stock pot or 12-inch Dutch oven

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small white onion, diced
2 large green bell peppers, diced
1 teaspoon cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz can diced tomatoes
2½ cups vegetable stock
1 cup mild to hot red salsa
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ salt
½ teaspoon pepper
30 oz kidney beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz black beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz pinto beans (vegetarian), rinsed and drained
1½ cups corn kernels

Prep
In a 6-quart stock pot or 12-inch Dutch oven, heat oil. Add the onion and bell pepper, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, vegetable stock, salsa, and remaining spices. Simmer, partially covered, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and corn, and cook, partially covered, 20 minutes longer. Adjust your seasoning as desired.

At home, you could also make this in a 5-quart slow cooker. Add everything to the slow cooker and stir gently to combine. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 7 on low.

Ladle into bowls and top with green onion, cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Serves about 6.

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White Bean Chicken Chili

Last month, our Boy Scout troop was camping on the White River and one of my soon-to-be-eagle scouts made this soup for his patrol, the Screamin’ Eagles. The weekend was all about camping and working on the Cooking Merit Badge so our dinner Saturday night was served potluck style, which meant everyone got to try every dish. This soup was such a hit. I blinked and it was gone. I was grateful for the small cup I managed to get before it disappeared. And the scout, being the humble guy that he is, gave all the credit to his mom’s recipe. I reminded him; however, that he was the one who executed the recipe and he did a fantastic job.

I have to admit that I was a little concerned at first when I saw and smelled the amount of cilantro that goes in because I’m not a big cilantro fan. But after simmering 30 minutes, the cilantro really mellows out and provides the signature flavor of this dish. I’m not sure what it is about white beans, but for me, they are a comfort food. This is such a satisfying soup but it is also light so it’s perfect for a cold winter or warm summer night. When I made this a couple weekends later, I served it with my cornbread.

For the cornbread recipe, please see my blog post: “Cookie’s Killer Cornbread.”

It took me about 20 minutes to get everything prepped and then it was everyone into the pool. Bring it up to a boil and then turn the heat down and let it simmer for 30 minutes. It is that simple to make. Serve with cornbread, quesadillas, a cheese scone or biscuit, and a salad and you’ll have a great meal.

Equipment
4 quart Dutch oven or stockpot, strainer, cutting board, knife, stirring spoon and/or ladle, measuring spoons and cups.

Ingredients
2-2½ cups of chicken, cooked, fresh or 2 (13oz) cans (drained), diced or shredded
3 (14.5 oz) cans of white beans, drained and rinsed
2 (14.5 oz) cans of chicken broth
½ cup carrots, finely chopped
½ cup celery, finely chopped
½ cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
½ cup onion, finely chopped
¼ cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

Prep
Prep all your ingredients. It took me about 20 minutes. Combine all the ingredients in the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Makes about 8 1-cup servings

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Chili Quick and Simple

Yesterday was National Chili Day! We love chili and this chili goes together fast and easy. It would be a great meal for a Friday night after you’ve rolled into your site and set up camp. It’s also a hot, slightly spicy, hearty meal. You can get this on the picnic table in about 30 minutes, which should leave plenty of time to eat, clean up, and get started on the evening campfire.

It has nice, fresh tomato flavor with just a little kick from the green chiles and chili powder. I prefer to use petite diced tomatoes. Our protein of choice was ground beef and we chose to use kidney and black beans. We used a can of tomato sauce, but if you prefer a thicker chili, you could use tomato paste instead.

If you’re home, you could also make this in a slow cooker. Brown the meat on the stove top before adding it and the other ingredients to the slow cooker. Cook the chili on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

In camp, if you have a little more time, this would be great to start a little earlier and let it simmer for an hour or two. We made my awesome cornbread to go with it. If I wasn’t crunched for time, I would probably start the chili and then make the cornbread, which bakes for an hour, and let the chili simmer while the cornbread bakes.

For the cornbread recipe, please see my blog post: “Cookie’s Cornbread.”

For a fully loaded, awesome, rich flavor, 4-bean, slow-cook chili, please see my blog post: “Cookie’s 4 Bean Chili Con Carne.”

But if you’re looking for a tasty and fast to the picnic table meal, this one is a winner.

Equipment
4-quart pot or 10-inch Dutch oven, cutting board, knife, colander, tablespoon, stirring/serving spoon.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (or protein of choice)
2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 (15 ounce) cans beans, drained and rinsed (black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, or a combination)
1 small white onion, diced
2 tablespoons chili powder

Prep
In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, over medium-high heat, sauté the onions in a little bit of butter and then brown the ground beef, stirring frequently. Drain any excess grease. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the onion is cooked and softened to your liking. Serve with shredded cheese, chopped green onions, sour cream, cilantro, etc. Serves 4-6.

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