I love camping. I go camping as often as I can. Sometimes my partner and I head up on the mountain with nothing but the truck and sleep in the back over night. Other times we take a tent and camp out under amazingly tall redwoods. If we plan it out right, we’ll head up to his family’s little cabin. Now, none of these excursions include hot water, or electricity. Thankfully the cabin has running, although not potable, water.

When I go camping I like to keep things healthful; however, I’ll readily admit to eating far too many chips and cookies because it’s camping. Who wouldn’t want to indulge? Still, I endeavor to pack a good dose of healthy vegetables. One way I can do that is through chili. While I don’t usually do a pot of chili for just my partner and myself, it’s a good choice for feeding a crowd of campers.

One thing about chili is that it doesn’t have to be fancy, and it doesn’t even have to really be measured out. Some precooked beans, or canned beans, are a good place to start. Now, I know some people will shame me for putting beans in chili, but it’s the way I like it. Sauté some chopped onion and ground beef in a large pot. Then, add in some deseeded chili peppers if you like it hot, dump in the beans and some canned diced tomatoes (or fresh), toss in some chopped vegetables (e.g. zucchini, bell pepper, yellow squash, celery, mushrooms), pour on the flavor with a bit of chili powder to your liking and season to taste with salt and pepper. That’s chili. Not fancy. Not completely a recipe, but it never ought to be something you think too hard about. Serve grated cheese, sour cream or yogurt, and minced onions on the side.

Oh, and if you like it, make up some gluten free corn bread to sop up anything that’s left in the bowl. If there is. Chili-cheese cornbread is quite delicious, but so is some sweet cornbread with honey. Some people, like my partner, prefer tortilla chips to satisfy the desire for a bit of crunch. As stated before, don’t fret about it much. Just put it in a pot. Heat it up, and eat it up.

I just published a blog post about camping food. I published it separately since it wasn't so much about gluten-free recipes but more about a cooking method. But it's still related to this thread, so here it is!

Camping with Gluten Free! Actually, just an excuse to have that kind of “camping food” that makes camping fun! This doesn't mean healthy. This means especially tasty.

One of my favorite recipes combines two of my favorite foods - and they have no gluten in them! The first and best ingredient is my favorite - and easily the best part of the whole dish - bacon. Who doesn’t like bacon?

Comedian Jim Gaffigan once commented that bacon is so good that to improve the taste of other foods, we wrap them in bacon. Um...yes.

As a fan of the whole barbecue experience (and flavor) we wrap fire-roasted chicken breasts wrapped in strips of bacon.

Ingredients:

Whole, boneless chicken breast (though any chicken parts of your choice will do)
Raw bacon (1 lb)
Spices (if desired, though we tend to marinate the chicken in a sealed plastic bag pre-trip)

If you choose to marinate, we prefer italian dressing in a sealed plastic bag and shake

Steps:

Start fire
Remove raw chicken from either the plastic bag (marinated) or season as desired
Place open skillet or cooking rack on the fire to warm.
Wrap raw chicken in bacon
Place covered in the skillet/rack , cook until chicken is finished

Don’t worry about the bacon. It actually won’t over cook. I recommend the skillet, because you can play with the grease if you want to it, or dispense with it as desired.

An alternative method is to wrap the chicken and bacon into tin foil. We’ve found this makes it take longer and is harder to cook, but it is is an option.

Happy bacon tasting!!