One pan food ideas for someone without a kitchen?
Discussion
Apologies to all the foodies on here for asking for advice on food you probably wouldn't give to your dog but I'm stuck in a bit of a food rut at the moment and need some inspiration.
I've been on a bit of an extended road / camping trip for the past couple of years travelling ultralight so all I have for cooking is a single gas burner and a pot with a lid that doubles as a griddle pan.
Australia and New Zealand were great for stocking up on things like tinned chili and tortilla wraps for a few days at a time but now that I'm in South America the supermarkets aren't exactly stocked with such luxuries and I have no way of keeping things refrigerated so anything from the chiller section isn't really a viable option.
At the moment I'm mainly living on tinned tuna, pasta & honey mustard for sauce which is nice enough but is starting to get a bit repetitive. Ideally, I need dry foods that need only a little water or oil to cook and all the water is absorbed during cooking due to occasionally being without a supply of fresh water for several days at a time and limited by what I can carry.
I've had a look at camping recipes online but they all assume there's a massive supermarket a mile down the road from the campsite, you have a four ring burner and brought half your kitchen with you.
Oh yes and if everything I carry could all fit in a bag the size of a typical supermarket shopping bag and won't break (eggs) or get squashed (fruit) that would be handy.
Lentils?
Herbs?
Spices?
Veggies?
Anything else?
I've been on a bit of an extended road / camping trip for the past couple of years travelling ultralight so all I have for cooking is a single gas burner and a pot with a lid that doubles as a griddle pan.
Australia and New Zealand were great for stocking up on things like tinned chili and tortilla wraps for a few days at a time but now that I'm in South America the supermarkets aren't exactly stocked with such luxuries and I have no way of keeping things refrigerated so anything from the chiller section isn't really a viable option.
At the moment I'm mainly living on tinned tuna, pasta & honey mustard for sauce which is nice enough but is starting to get a bit repetitive. Ideally, I need dry foods that need only a little water or oil to cook and all the water is absorbed during cooking due to occasionally being without a supply of fresh water for several days at a time and limited by what I can carry.
I've had a look at camping recipes online but they all assume there's a massive supermarket a mile down the road from the campsite, you have a four ring burner and brought half your kitchen with you.
Oh yes and if everything I carry could all fit in a bag the size of a typical supermarket shopping bag and won't break (eggs) or get squashed (fruit) that would be handy.
Lentils?
Herbs?
Spices?
Veggies?
Anything else?
Couscous
Tinned tomato
Tinned chick peas
Dried kabanos type thing - pepperoni/chorizo? - as in the full-sausage, airtight, sealed pack rather than deli slices?
Herbs/spices/favouring
No oil required, just water
Put the couscous in last with enough water to absorb/cook into it. If you cook the sausage first the fat/oils in it should melt out and add to the overall flavour.
Incidentally the chickpeas, sausage and couscous all are decent sources of protein.
Tinned tomato
Tinned chick peas
Dried kabanos type thing - pepperoni/chorizo? - as in the full-sausage, airtight, sealed pack rather than deli slices?
Herbs/spices/favouring
No oil required, just water
Put the couscous in last with enough water to absorb/cook into it. If you cook the sausage first the fat/oils in it should melt out and add to the overall flavour.
Incidentally the chickpeas, sausage and couscous all are decent sources of protein.
Edited by ReaderScars on Friday 13th June 20:18
Biryani- http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4686/chicken-bi... could replace chicken with chickpeas or veg if no fridge.
Pasta, pasta sauce and chorizos
Stir fried veg with garlic and chillies, then add noodles.
Pasta, pasta sauce and chorizos
Stir fried veg with garlic and chillies, then add noodles.
Buy some plain flour and powdered milk and you could make a white sauce once you make up the milk. Use the oil for the fat or margarine.
Powdered eggs and make yourself some scrambled eggs.
Pasta and pesto make for a nice meal.
Spam/ ham with a key on the tin to open it will keep until the next nuclear holocast
Powdered eggs and make yourself some scrambled eggs.
Pasta and pesto make for a nice meal.
Spam/ ham with a key on the tin to open it will keep until the next nuclear holocast
I'd take the chance when it arises to get your hands on some dried ground spices like cumin, coriander, garlic, pepper and salt. I'd then be making buttery dhals from small split lentils which don't need soaking and using the resulting dish as a vehicle to poach meat, fish and veg in if available and eaten plain if not.
Highly nutritious, keeps well and tasty. Quinoa also.
If you can buy powdered stocks then do.
Sounds pretty primitive where you are. Good on you for following your dream. If there's anywhere I can send you some basics let me know and I'd gladly do that for you.
Highly nutritious, keeps well and tasty. Quinoa also.
If you can buy powdered stocks then do.
Sounds pretty primitive where you are. Good on you for following your dream. If there's anywhere I can send you some basics let me know and I'd gladly do that for you.
I'd take the chance when it arises to get your hands on some dried ground spices like cumin, coriander, garlic, pepper and salt. I'd then be making buttery dhals from small split lentils which don't need soaking and using the resulting dish as a vehicle to poach meat, fish and veg in if available and eaten plain if not.
Highly nutritious, keeps well and tasty. Quinoa also.
If you can buy powdered stocks then do.
Sounds pretty primitive where you are. Good on you for following your dream. If there's anywhere I can send you some basics let me know and I'd gladly do that for you.
Highly nutritious, keeps well and tasty. Quinoa also.
If you can buy powdered stocks then do.
Sounds pretty primitive where you are. Good on you for following your dream. If there's anywhere I can send you some basics let me know and I'd gladly do that for you.
All tried and tested on a Trangia:
Risotto - nice and simple one pot, just keep stirring.
Jambalaya - another rice based one pot treat, but you get a lot of the flavour from the chorizo.
Pad Thai - if you can get your hands on 'straight to wok' noodles, tofu will last ages without a fridge as well.
As others have suggested, dhal, quinoa, bulgar wheat, just add whatever veg and spices you can pick up.
Risotto - nice and simple one pot, just keep stirring.
Jambalaya - another rice based one pot treat, but you get a lot of the flavour from the chorizo.
Pad Thai - if you can get your hands on 'straight to wok' noodles, tofu will last ages without a fridge as well.
As others have suggested, dhal, quinoa, bulgar wheat, just add whatever veg and spices you can pick up.
Paella-a-like.
Fry off some chorizo in olive oil until the paprika stains the oil red. If you have some smoked paprika you could add that. Add chopped onion, garlic, chillies.
Pour in a mugful of rice. Coat the grains thoroughly with the oil. Add 1.2 mugfuls of stock or water. Cover.
Simmer for ten minutes. Now add raw prawns and peas. Stir through the mostly cooked rice. Cover.
Heat gently until the prawns and peas are cooked.
You could eat it right out of the pan but to be civilised you could serve it in a bowl.
If you've got chicken thighs you put those in at the same time as the Chorizo and give it fifteen minutes head start on the rice to make sure the chicken is cooked through.
I like to use some shell-on prawns as well as the shelled sort.
Just one pan. The rice and the cured chorizo sausage keep well. Admittedly you'll need to buy the prawns/chicken that day. It isn't real Paella but it's good and my Mrs who won't eat fish is OK with it because Prawns aren't seafood apparently.
Fry off some chorizo in olive oil until the paprika stains the oil red. If you have some smoked paprika you could add that. Add chopped onion, garlic, chillies.
Pour in a mugful of rice. Coat the grains thoroughly with the oil. Add 1.2 mugfuls of stock or water. Cover.
Simmer for ten minutes. Now add raw prawns and peas. Stir through the mostly cooked rice. Cover.
Heat gently until the prawns and peas are cooked.
You could eat it right out of the pan but to be civilised you could serve it in a bowl.
If you've got chicken thighs you put those in at the same time as the Chorizo and give it fifteen minutes head start on the rice to make sure the chicken is cooked through.
I like to use some shell-on prawns as well as the shelled sort.
Just one pan. The rice and the cured chorizo sausage keep well. Admittedly you'll need to buy the prawns/chicken that day. It isn't real Paella but it's good and my Mrs who won't eat fish is OK with it because Prawns aren't seafood apparently.
Pferdestarke said:
Sounds pretty primitive where you are. Good on you for following your dream. If there's anywhere I can send you some basics let me know and I'd gladly do that for you.
I'm in a small town in Argentina where most of the shops are like Arkwright's store in Open All Hours plus one small supermarket about the size of a typical Tesco Express so I'm not inundated with choice and there certainly isn't the amount of easy to cook processed foods like we get back home so it's time to start putting a bit more thought into what I cook rather than heating up a tin and chucking it in a wrap. They do seem to have the basics covered though.Thanks for the offer to send me stuff but it seems Argentina is one of the most difficult countries in the world to receive a parcel so I've been waiting for 11 days now for a new rear hub for my bike to clear customs and until it does I'm stuck at a backpacker hostel indefinitely.
smack said:
Tell us a bit more about your trip?
I left the UK in March 2012 to cycle around the world and have so far crossed Asia to Indonesia, Australia from Perth to Sydney, New Zealand from Queenstown to Auckland and most recently Santiago to a small town in Argentina called Cafayate. Now I'm heading up to New York via Vancouver and should be home in time for Christmas next year.There's a thread running in the Pedal Powered section that I started two years ago after blagging some passenger laps of Spa & the Ring including an M600 lap driven by Chris Harris. I keep updating it every so often.
My Round The World ride (inc top blagging at Spa & The Ring)
As mentioned, I also have a Facebook Page on the go: I Were Right About That Saddle Though
and a Twitter feed: @neilchurchard which is pretty much the same as Facebook for those that only do one or the other.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Keep them coming as I'm in a hostel at the moment so have time to practice in a kitchen before I'm in the middle of Salar de Uyuni wondering what "....next step, poach in liquid nitrogen" means when I don't have an internet connection to look it up. 
As this is the food section, here's probably the place to post up the most bizarre meal of the trip.
Kangaroo Roadkill.
As cooked by the guy from Wolf Creek who I met at a caravan rest area on the Nullarbor Plain one evening.
As this is the food section, here's probably the place to post up the most bizarre meal of the trip.
Kangaroo Roadkill.
As cooked by the guy from Wolf Creek who I met at a caravan rest area on the Nullarbor Plain one evening.
neilski said:
I left the UK in March 2012 to cycle around the world and have so far crossed Asia to Indonesia, Australia from Perth to Sydney, New Zealand from Queenstown to Auckland and most recently Santiago to a small town in Argentina called Cafayate. Now I'm heading up to New York via Vancouver and should be home in time for Christmas next year.
There's a thread running in the Pedal Powered section that I started two years ago after blagging some passenger laps of Spa & the Ring including an M600 lap driven by Chris Harris. I keep updating it every so often.
Ah yes, I remember reading that thread with the Spa and Ring laps now, have to go and catch up with it all now There's a thread running in the Pedal Powered section that I started two years ago after blagging some passenger laps of Spa & the Ring including an M600 lap driven by Chris Harris. I keep updating it every so often.
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