Fast and Light Cooking

Most of the recipes in my “Fast and Light” tramping food cook book have been designed for simple cooking systems, using just a single gas burner or for cooking on top of a log burner. Many of them are able to be cooked in just one pot, further reducing the need for extra cooking equipment. This is particularly useful when you want use any other pots you have with you for other uses, like making hot soup or a cup of tea.

While some of the meals, especially those in the tramping “fast food” section can be prepared by just using a plastic bag to mix and cook, thereby reducing the need completely for pots and pans to clean up afterwards. These recipes, like Instant Moroccan Couscous and Fruit and Nut Quinoa, only require hot water to be added to the dry ingredients and let them stand for a few minutes. You can even eat them straight out of the bag, no mess, no fuss. These types of meals are very useful for a quick early breakfast when you want to get on your way or that lunchtime snack when time is limited.

I am also a great fan of camp cooking with a frying pan. Even on quite long trips I’ll still pack a small light weight frying pan, as they are so versatile. They can even replace one of your cooking pots and the frying pan will extend the range of meals you can cook considerably. You can have pancakes for breakfast, fritters for lunch and rice risotto for dinner, all just using one frying pan.