Cooking at a campsite: the healthy way
Cooking at a campsite doesn't need much time or equipment. With just a few tricks, you can make dishes that are tasty and healthy.
Cooking when camping
After an adventurous day on holiday, the fast food option from the campsite restaurant will often feel like the most tempting alternative to cooking, washing up and tidying up. However, as soon as mouth-watering cooking smells from the campers next door start wafting in your direction, it's easy to regret your decision. So how can you cook good campsite food with little effort?
Cooking healthily at the campsite
What's healthy at home is good for us at the campsite too. This includes using rapeseed oil or olive oil as an alternative to cooking with butter. The unsaturated omega-9 fatty acids in these oils have an anti-inflammatory effect and are valuable for our blood lipid levels and cardiovascular system.
It’s all in the preparation
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Pack staple ingredients
We all remember from our schooldays: good preparation is half the battle. This doesn’t only apply to the kitchen at home, but to camping life too. With a good store of staple ingredients, you’re well prepared for a range of meals without having to go shopping.
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Herbs and spices
Dishes always taste better with the addition of herbs and spices. Make sure your store includes salt, pepper, stock cubes, paprika and dried herbs of your choice. In terms of food, the following staples are worth taking: whole wheat pasta, whole grain rice, ready-made sauces (e.g. pesto), canned pulses (e.g. chickpeas), dried fruits, antipasti, olive oil and vinegar.
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Pre-prepare your meals
Many meals can also be pre-prepared at home. If you like baking bread on an open fire, for example, you can mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and take your own prepared mix to the campsite.
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Take containers for storage
When packing cooking equipment, it’s easy to forget to take along a few empty containers and bags for storing food. These are extremely important, even if they at first appear to be a waste of space, for they allow you to eat any leftovers the next day – which saves cooking time and avoids food waste.
Storing food properly when camping
If you're travelling with a caravan or camper van with a good fridge, then you don't have to worry about keeping food cool. The only concern is the space in the fridge. This means that it’s more sensible to go shopping more frequently and buy smaller quantities. Certain vegetables that we often put in the fridge at home don't actually need to be cooled. These include aubergines, tomatoes and bell peppers.
How it works when camping in a tent
When camping in a tent, food storage is another matter. Many campsites offer the chance to rent a fridge in which to cool food. As an alternative or addition, you could take an electric coolbox with you and cool it using the power source next to your tent.
But be careful: on really hot days, the cooling capacity is insufficient. In such an event, it helps to put the food in the coolbox already pre-cooled, not to pack the box too full and to cool it with additional cooling elements.
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