“Meals on Wheels” Van Cooking - Part 1
Journal Entry #13
November 3, 2021
A reader asked me to share some of our recipes and approaches to cooking on the road. While we enjoy meals out on occasion, especially when visiting larger towns/cities, living on the road full time means cooking for ourselves most of the time. I will say that I am lucky to have a very nice set up for cooking in our van. A well equipped kitchen was a priority for me as someone who loves to cook. Some of our friends who have seen the van have said jokingly that it is more of a kitchen on wheels than anything else! The kitchen is equipped with an induction cook top, an oven that is both convection and microwave, a generous pantry for dry goods and a large range of spices, a good sized refrigerator and ample counter/prep space (for a van!)
We also invested in a really high quality induction cookware set that is a joy to work with; the non stick sauté pan is a regular go to for almost everything we do on the induction stove top. I also bought a “mini” 3 quart instapot (another go to, but I will share a recipe using the instapot in a later cooking entry)
I thought I would start with a dish that is fairly easy for road living; mostly a one pot meal that can be “riffed” in a number of ways.
Tzatziki Yogurt Dill Pasta & Meatballs
Ingredients:
1 lb of beef or lamb
In these pictures it is beef because I didn’t have ground lamb but lamb would be preferred. I like the grocery, vacuum packed, square sealed blocks of meat because they store and keep easily in the fridge. If you aren’t a meat eater, you could leave out the meatballs, making a very easy pasta dish. You could also substitute ground chicken or cubes of firm tofu.
3/4 box of pasta (any type- we used penne)
Pint Container of Greek yogurt tzatziki sauce (you could make your own but the premade sauce works well for all sorts of cooking- super versatile and a space saver!)
Fresh dill/or dry dill if no fresh
Fresh Garlic/or Garlic salt if no fresh
Penzey’s Krakow Nights Seasoning
We love Penzey’s- both their spices and their politics- so we use their seasonings often. The blends help with space and storage. Krakow Nights is a Polish style seasoning that includes salt, black and white pepper, sugar, coriander, garlic, mustard, marjoram, mace and savory.
Box of baby spinach (you could sub in other green veggies if you wanted)
1/4 cup Breadcrumbs (or a piece of bread torn into pieces and soaked with milk or half and half until mushy)
Pepper and salt to taste
Directions:
Boil pasta (or cook pasta using instapot- 4 minutes is all it takes in pressure cooking mode) drain, leaving a bit of pasta water.
Put ground meat in a bowl, add 2-4 cloves of chopped fresh garlic or 1/2 tsp of garlic salt. It’s up to you how garlicky you like it!
Add 1/3 cup chopped fresh dill or heaping tablespoon of dried dill or some of both fresh and dry to the meat mixture
Add soaked bread or 1/4 cup breadcrumbs to meat mixture (some people might add an egg to bind- this is fine, but optional)
Add generous 1/2 tsp (or more) of Krakow Nights seasoning
Hand mix meat mixture and form into a dozen or so small meatballs.
Sauté meatballs on medium high heat with a touch of olive oil until browned on all sides - we have found that our dinner plates are the perfect splatter guard!
Add spinach to meatballs to cook/wilt the spinach.
Add container of Tzatziki sauce to meatballs and spinach. Stir on medium low heat.
Add cooked pasta to sauce/meatballs, including a few tablespoons of pasta water. Stir until all mixed.
Add chopped fresh dill, if you have it, and cracked pepper and salt to taste.
Delish!
This makes 4 generous servings. We eat half of this hearty dish makes a great post hike reward! We store the other half in a container in our refrigerator for a future meal or late night snack- it’s easy to reheat in our microwave.
For those of you van-folk who are reading this, what are your favorite recipes?