Things have been crazy around here. That's why I haven't written. Boyfriend and I took a couple days off and had an extra long Memorial Day weekend camping in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. I also have a job interview in West Virginia in a couple weeks which has had my mind working overtime.
Anyway, while we were camping I made a tasty campfire stew that I want to remember the recipe for. I'm naming it Campire Quinoa Stew, and here are the ingredients:
- Half of a large sweet onion, diced
- Half of a bell pepper, diced
- A large carrot (or a bunch of baby carrots, diced
- a cube and a half of vegetable bouillon
- 2 tblsp olive or sunflower oil
- 1.5 c of water
- 3/4 c uncooked quinoa
- a big handful of uncooked lentils
- diced roasted red tomatoes (I bought the Kroger brand because it featured a pop-top can lid, requiring no can opener.)
Clearly these ingredients are pretty flexible, but I chose veggies I'd be using in other meals as well and other stuff that would be easy to handle while camping. It would be delicious with any bean but I didn't want to take a can opener so I used lentils instead since they can be cooked pretty quickly. The campfire smokiness is what made the stew special but I'm still going to cook something similar at home, I'm sure. My recipe yielded 3-4 servings and it's more filling that you'd expect.
In a campfire-safe soup pot, sautee the onion, carrot, and pepper in olive oil until they start to become tender. Throw in your veggie bouillon. Throw in your quinoa. Stir it all up and let sautee for a couple minutes.
Add water and canned tomatoes. Add lentils. Stir. Once the soup starts boiling, move it to a cooler part of the fire, cover, and allow to simmer. How long the soup needs to simmer depends on your fire. Mine simmered for 30-40 minutes and I just checked it every 10 mins until the lentils were tender.
I think this meal will go into our regular gourmet camping dinner rotation. It's healthy, filling, and highly nutritious. Like every other meal I make while camping, it took forever to cook! Get started early because it takes a good hot fire to get the veggies sauteed and the liquids boiling.
I will post more about the trip soon. It was fun but Boyfriend had a nasty cold so we sort of took it easy. Saw lots of beautiful things though and came home feeling refreshed.
