Easy Vegetarian Camping Recipe: Curried Grilled Cheese

I was standing by the camp stove one day with a nearly-full bottle of curry powder in one hand and a crusty, old spatula in the other. "Want a curried grilled cheese sandwich?" I asked my seven year old. "OK," he said. "But just a little curry, OK?" "Sure," I said."Just a little." and then I dumped about a truckload of curry onto his sandwich.

You can guess the rest! He loved it! He loved his yummy, weird, super-curried grilled cheese sandwich! And I got to eat the crusts.

The secret to this festive and slightly fancy sandwich is that curry, while flavorful, isn't very hot-spicy. And melted cheese - delicious, bland melted cheese - is the perfect vehicle for the curry.  It's personality without the aggression. And really, what's better than that?

Curried grilled cheese every day! And twice on Sunday!

From The Real Family Camping Cookbook:

Grilled Cheese and Curry

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread - any kind will do. In fact, any kind will be perfect.

2 slices of cheese – a bland, white cheese is a nice foil for the curry. A vegan cheese works great here, too, as long as it's the kind that melts.

curry powder

butter or vegan butter

salt & pepper

Preparation:

1.  Melt 1 T. of butter in a skillet, and add one slice of bread.

2.  Lay both slices of cheese on the bread.

3.  Sprinkle the cheese with 1 tor 2 t. of curry powder.

4.  Butter the 2^nd slice of bread, and lay it butter-side down on the sandwich in the skillet.

5.  When browned on the bottom, flip the sandwich. Cover the skillet and let the sandwich brown and the cheese melt.

Variation:

•  Try with sliced tomatoes or thinly sliced scallions. Very nice indeed.

Classic Camping Recipe (and Vegan, too): >>Veggie-Potato Foil Packets

photo: Annie Shapiro

From The Real Family Camping Cookbook:

Veggie-Potato Foil Packets

We make these every time we go camping to get a veggie or two into the kids along with all the biscuits, S'Mores and whatnot. Kids like to assemble the packets (which we usually do at home, then label with a sharpie) and then watch over them in the fire.

Serves:  4

Ingredients:

4 small potatoes, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 cup of string beans with the ends snapped off

any other kind of veggies you like

olive oil

herbs - I only pack a few when we're camping, like basil & oregano

salt & pepper

Preparation:

1. Tear off 4 rectangles of aluminum foil and fold them in half to make double thick squares.

2. Let the kids assemble their own packets with the potatoes, carrots and string beans. 

3. Drizzle olive oil over the veggies. Season with herbs, salt & pepper.

4. Wrap up the foil packets so the contents are snugly wrapped, but not too tight.    

5. Place the packets directly on medium coals or on the hot part of the grill.

6. Turn them every 5 minutes or so, and cook them for about 20 minutes, or until everything is cooked through.  

7. Serve with salt & pepper

TIP:

•  When making this for a group, put everything in a large aluminum pan and cover it with foil. (Or use a Dutch Oven.) Cook it on a hot grill or in the coals for about 45 minutes, stirring every 5 or 10 minutes.

“Potatoes served at breakfast, At dinner served again; Potatoes served at supper, Forever and Amen!” - Pennsylvania prayer

Vegetarian "Meatball" Wedges

Yummy.

Friends and readers regularly ask me for vegetarian recipes, so on our camping trip this past weekend  I substituted vegetarian "meatless" meatballs for the real thing in my meatball wedge recipe. 

The vegetarian version was a big hit - the kids ate them all up.  But first they asked, "What kind of meatballs are these?"  "Pork," I said.

Vegetarian Meatball Wedges

Adapted from The Real Family Camping Cookbook.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

16 frozen vegetarian meatballs – I used Trader Joe's meatless meatballs.

1 jar of spaghetti sauce

4 hamburger rolls – you can use hero rolls, but I never remember to buy them.

½ lb. of Mozzarella cheese or vegan cheese

salt & pepper

Preparation:

1.  Empty the jar of spaghetti sauce into a skillet and bring it to a simmer.

2.  Add the meatballs and return to a simmer.

3.  Place two slices of Mozzarella cheese on each roll and grill the roll until the cheese melts.

4.  When the meatballs are heated through, spoon 4 meatballs with sauce onto each roll.  

5.  Serve with extra sauce for dipping.

P.S. Vegetarian "meat" keeps well, making it an ideal camping food.

 “Miracles are like meatballs, because nobody can exactly agree on what they are made of, where they come from, or how often they should appear.”  - Lemony Snicket

Vegan Fried Rice Noodles

I love rice noodles because you don't have to boil them - they cook in a bowl of hot water! So it's that much easier at the campsite.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

8 oz. rice vermicelli (can be found in the Asian section of the supermarket)

1 T. oil, we only bring olive oil when we camp

1 small head of broccolli, cut into small florets and peeled stems cut into sticks (about 2 cups)

1/2 lb. carrots, cut into sticks (about 2 1/2 cups)

1 clove garlic,  minced

3/4 c. vegetable broth

3 T. soy sauce

1 t. sugar

2 scallions (green onions) thinly sliced (1/2 c.)

Directions:

1.  Soak the noodles in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes until al dente, then drain.

2.  Saute the garlic in the oil being careful not to burn it. 

3. Add the veggies and saute for about a minute.

4.  Mix in the broth, soy sauce and sugar and simmer 2 or 3 minutes.

5.  Add the noodles and simmer another 3 minutes.

6.  Top with the sliced scallions.

7.  Yum!

July 4th Main Dish: Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

(From the 4th of July Camping Menu)

This is a simple and fun cookout dish. The catsup, tomato sauce, brown sugar and soy sauce combine to make a yummy, tangy barbecue sauce and you'll be surprised at how enthusiastic people get about it, especially since it's so easy (and *shh* vegetarian).

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes 

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

1 large, yellow onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3 T. olive oil

2 packages (12 oz each) TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein) – I like

MorningStar Farms Recipe Crumbles*

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

4 T. tomato paste

2/3 c. catsup

1/3 c. brown sugar

3 T. soy sauce

8 hamburger buns

Directions:

1. In the bottom of a pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until soft.

2. Add the frozen TVP and sauté until lightly browned.

3. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, catsup, brown sugar and soy sauce.

4. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the flavors are well combined.

5. Toast the hamburger buns and dish out a large spoonful onto each bun – about half a cup.

6. Bon Appetit!

*Because MorningStar TVP has egg whites in it, this is not a vegan dish. For a vegan version, try Bob's Red Mill TVP.  @brianelgin suggests using 1/2 t. of bullion with 1T. of  peanut oil when rehydrating the Bob's TVP for great ground beef replacement. Thanks, Brian!

Return to the 4th of July Camping Menu.

Grilled Corn: A Husks-On Approach

(From the 4th of July Camping Menu)

 From The Real Family Camping Cookbook:

Besides being the most delicious thing in the world when it's in season, corn keeps well, making it a great camping food.

We like to cook it with the husks on (minus the silk).  It's fun to prepare and soak the corn and it always turns out perfectly.

Serves:  4

Ingredients:

4 ears of corn, with the husks on

butter

salt & pepper and hot sauce

Preparation:

1.  Leaving the husks on, remove the floss or silk from each ear of corn.

2.  Fold the husks back around the corn and submerge the corn in water to soak. After they have soaked for about 15 minutes, retrieve the corn from the water, wrap the husks around them more tightly, and place them on the grill, over medium heat, for 5-10 minutes.

3.  Remove the husks and serve the corn with butter, salt & pepper and hot sauce.

Variations:

•  You can also take the whole husk off before grilling and wrap each ear in foil spread with butter or cream cheese.  These can go right on the coals, but keep an eye on them so they don't turn into ashes!

TIP:

•  We put the ears of corn in a big pot of water and hold them underwater with a skillet, but you can also place them in a plastic bag and hold it underwater with a rock, especially if you’re camping near a stream.

“Plough deep, while Sluggards sleep;  And you shall have Corn, to sell and to keep.” - Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac

Return to the 4th of July Camping Menu.

Grilled Asparagus

An easy recipe for grilled asparagus from my new cookbook, The Real Family Camping Cookbook. Enjoy!

Grilled Asparagus

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs. of asparagus with the bottoms snapped off
olive oil
salt & pepper
skewers

Instructions:
1.  If you use wooden skewers, soak them in water first so they don’t burn up on the grill.

2.  Lay 4 or 5 asparagus spears down next to each other and skewer through all of them with 2 skewers.

3.  Repeat with all of the asparagus.

4.  Brush the asparagus skewers with olive oil and lay them on the grill.

5.  Sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

6.  Grill until the asparagus is tender, 5-10 minutes, turning often.

7.  Serve with salt & pepper.

“Asparagus inspires gentle thoughts.” – Charles Lamb

You may also like:
Grilled Corn, a Husks-On Approach
Bread Salad, or Panzanella
Classic Camping Recipe: Veggie Foil Packets