By Russ and Tiña De Maris
While traveling does bring out quite an appetite, once you land in camp at the end of the day, who wants to fiddle around with a lot of meal prep hoopala? It’s so much easier to cruise into a McDoogies, but the nutrition is so questionable. Go some place with better nutrient values and less fat, you’re apt to spend a bundle. What to do? Pull out the barbee, the tinfoil and let the meal almost fix itself.
A couple of our favorite foil-wraps can be prep-worked before pulling out, then on arrival fire the grill and toss a packet on. Go about the rest of your set-up business and in a short time the appetizing aromas will signal the meal is ready. Best of all, cleanup is easy!
Foil Wrapped Burger Bundles: Toss a burger patty in the middle of a square of aluminum foil. Top it with slices of onion, potato, carrots and chunks of celery. Dab on a small pat of margarine, season with a pinch of garlic powder, and (if you have it) a few drops of “liquid smoke.” Fold up the aluminum “bundle” to seal in the food good and tight. Poke the pack once with a fork and toss on the grill over medium heat. Cooking time will vary with the size and thickness of the hamburger patty: check it out at about 20 minutes but it may take longer. When the spuds can be poked easily, it’s chow time. Alternatives? Ground turkey is a hit.
Painless Foiled Fish: This is one of our favorites when traveling through native fishery areas when fresh salmon is sold by the roadside. Starting with a good sized chunk of foil, lay the fish on the foil, skin side down. Butter the fish as you would a piece of toast and dash on lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Wrap up the tin foil and fold over tight. Poke once with a fork and toss on the grill, medium fire. Thickness of the fish determines cook time: 10 minutes per inch at the thickest point is a good starting point.
Alternatives? Forget the butter! Layer on mayonnaise instead. Wow!
Clean Up: Toss the “pan” in the trash!
