Category Archives: Main Dishes

Spaghetti Squash Enchiladas

Ingredients for Cilantro Pesto sauce

Ingredients for Cilantro Pesto sauce

When my friends and I go away we pair up for meals. Each pair is responsible for breakfast, dinner, and dishes for one day of the trip. When your day is over you can kick back and relax for the remainder of the trip.  As you can imagine, this method of dividing into cook teams has become a fierce competition.  At the end of the week we vote for who made the best meal.  Last trip the spaghetti squash enchiladas won hands down.  Jeannie Wall came to the table with this winner — darn her for being good at everything!  We are just glad she shared the recipe.  It is ridiculously good.

Ingredients

3 cups cooked spaghetti squash
2 peppers
2 onions
20 mushrooms
1 large or 2 small zucchini
10 whole wheat tortillas (you could use flour or corn tortillas too)
2 cups divided Swiss cheese (or cheese of your choice)
1 jar salsa (or homemade if you have the time)

Cilantro Pesto:

1 bunch of cilantro (about ½ cup), chopped
1 jalapeno, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp lime juice
½ cup roasted peanuts, chopped
Salt

Thai Sauce:

1 Tbsp each hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

Method

Toss peppers, onions, mushrooms, and zucchini with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, until tender.  Combine with cooked spaghetti squash.  And since it is corn season when this post is going up, I added fresh corn right off the cob.

Combine ingredients for cilantro pesto and stir together.  Combine ingredients for Thai sauce and stir together.

Pre-heat over to 350 degrees.  Coat 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray or rub with oil to prevent sticking.  Heat tortillas and spoon in squash mixture. Add one tablespoon of each sauce plus cheese (make sure to have enough cheese left to sprinkle on the top). Set stuffed tortillas in pan.  Once all tortilla are made, cover with salsa, more cheese, and tin foil. Cook for 30 minutes, then remove foil and cook 10 more minutes until top browns.

Bring It!

Bring already cooked enchiladas in pan and re-heat when you get there.  Or, if not eating that day, bring items in tupperware and assemble when ready to cook. Oh, and if there is any sort of a competition, you will win.  If there is no competition – start one!

Roasted veggies mixed with spaghetti squash

Roasted veggies mixed with spaghetti squash

 

Dutch Oven Enchiladas

Dutch-Oven-With-Flowers

You can really eat anything when you are camping as long as you don’t have to carry it in a backpack (wait until I get to my dehydrated chicken stew for what to carry in a backpack!).  When we camp, we bring our Dutch Oven (DO) everywhere we go – on raft trips, back country ski trips, and camping from our car.  I cook all sorts of dinners, cakes, breads, and desserts in it. I brown meat, sauté sausage and bacon, and fry fish in it.  I keep pancakes, garlic bread, and anything else warm in it.  The DO is used at ninety percent of my meals and I never stop finding new ways to use it.  And, the bonus, you just wipe it out to clean it (that is my favorite part!).  Below is a recipe for DO enchiladas, but remember, anything is possible. Just think of it as an oven in the woods!

Ingredients

2 cans enchilada sauce
6 tortillas
1 bag rice and beans
1 can black olives
1 bag shredded jack or cheddar cheese

Method

Cook rice and beans according to package.
Wipe inside of DO with oil.
Place a light coating of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the DO.
Place one tortilla in the bottom of the DO.  Top with rice and beans, olives, and cheese. Top with enchilada sauce, repeat process until DO is full.
Cook at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes (read your DO instructions to know how to cook at 350 – I generally use 10 coals on bottom and 12 on top).
Let cool for 5 mins, cut, serve

Top with avocado and cilantro if available at Chez Camp Site.

Pre-cooked enchiladas

Pre-cooked enchiladasch

Dutch Oven at 350 degrees

Dutch Oven at 350 degrees

Bring It!

Normally I would cook the rice and beans from scratch and not buy the prepackaged cheese, but when camping, you want to make it as easy as possible so pre-packaged/shredded is the way to go.  Also, there are plenty of good recipes for enchilada sauce, but again, canned works great when camping.

 

 

Moosewood Ratatouille

Eggplant simmering in pot

Eggplant simmering in pot

I went to school in Ithaca, NY, home of the Moosewood Restaurant. This was in the early 80s when Molly Katzen was relatively unknown and vegetarianism was not so widespread. My roommates and I decided to try the restaurant one night and sheepishly walked into the small dining room wondering if we had accidentally walked into someone’s living room. There was a chalk board in the corner with 3 dinner items, 2 soups, and a salad listed. I didn’t know what any of the dinner items were, but the description of the ratatouille sounded okay so I decided to go with it.  I was blown away. It was unbelievably good. I later bought the cookbook so I could make this dish for myself and my friends. That was over 30 years ago and I’m still making the Moosewood Ratatouille on a regular basis. As far as tailoring the recipe, I always add cubed tofu or beans (any kind of bean will do). Also feel free to throw in any veggies on hand – mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, etc… it all works. It is great served with brown rice or crusty bread and a green salad.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium  bell peppers, cubed
2 small zucchini, cubed
1 small eggplant , cubed
4 cloves crushed garlic
2 medium tomatoes, in chunks
1 bay leaf
1 tsp each basil, marjoram, and oregano
Dash of ground rosemary
3 Tbsp dry red wine
½ cup tomato juice
2 Tbsp tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup olive oil
Fresh chopped parsley

Method

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy pot.  Crush the garlic into the oil. Add bay leaf and onion, salt lightly.  Saute over medium heat until onion turns transparent.  Add eggplant, wine, and tomato juice.  Add herbs.  Stir to mix well, then cover and simmer 10-15 minutes over low heat.  When eggplant is tender enough to be easily pricked by a fork, add zucchini and peppers. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper, tomatoes and tomato paste.  Mix well.  Continue to stew until all vegetables are tender (How tender is tender?  Molly Katzen says do a taste test and decide what seems right to you).

Just before serving, mix in fresh parsley. Top with grated cheese and chopped black olives.

Ratatouille on plate v2

Bring It!

This is ideal to bring in a crockpot so all you need when you get to the dinner party is a small bit of counter space and an outlet.  If you don’t own a crockpot, you should strongly consider buying one.  These are critical to the Bring It mentality.  Short of that, if you can bring it in a pot so you can heat it when you get there, that is great.  Or put it in a serving dish and pop it in the microwave to heat before serving.  NOTE: ask the host if you can heat on the stove or microwave when you get there so they are prepared.  Some people don’t have microwaves (yes it’s true – my friend Edie is one of them!), so definitely check before you go.