Camping is synonymous with getting back to basics, and there’s nothing more basic than a meal comprising only three ingredients. The trick is making sure there's some nutrition thrown in (sorry 2-minute noodles).
These easy dinners strip back all the frill of the dining room, and also help to free up your mental capacity when you’re cruising the aisles of the local grocery store. If you’ve got four things in your trolley, that’s too many items.
We haven’t included salt and pepper in the ingredient list, but this is a staple you can always sprinkle on with reckless abandon.
Baked Potato
Three Ingredients:
Potatoes
Cheese
Tin of beans
Kicking off our easy-as list is the humble baked potato which is versatile, nutritious and delicious.
Firstly wrap all potatoes in aluminum foil and stick your little moon rocks into some preheated coals, or roll them onto a covered barbecue. Leave them for about 45 minutes, or until crisp on the outside and cloud-like on the inside.
Once you have your cooked potatoes, cut them in half without slicing all the way through. Then do the same again cross-wise so you have four quarters of your potato canvass ready for topping delights.
Douse in grated cheese then upend your tin of beans over the top of each one. If you’re not a bean fan, you can easily swap this ingredient out with chopped ham, capsicum, tomatoes, or all of the above and call it a six-ingredient-recipe.
This recipe is also a great way to use up any left over potatoes you have on hand. Whether mashed, fried, or chipped, throwing some delicious toppings over your potato base works every time.
Macaroni cheese
Three Ingredients:
500g macaroni pasta
1.5 litres of milk
200g cheese
An estimated 924,000 Australians have osteoporosis; enter mac and cheese to up your dairy levels.
To make this dish that will satisfy your rumbling tummy and ensure your thigh bone stays connected to your hip bone, you will need a large pot and heat source like a camp stove.
Pour your milk into your large pot and bring to a boil.
Add in your pasta and stir constantly until the pasta is cooked. This will take about 10 minutes.
Turn off your camp stove and add in cheddar by the handful. Stir until the cheese is melted over your delicious, delicious pasta.
Eat and think of how much you’ll smash your next bone density scan.
Chicken Salad
Three Ingredients:
Cooked BBQ Chicken
Packet of green leaves
Cherry tomatoes
Healthy and satisfying, this simple salad will counteract the calories you may have consumed from last night’s three-ingredient mac-and-cheese.
This salad is extra easy if you use a pre-cooked BBQ chicken from the local convenience store, but you can also cook your chook from scratch.
Once you have your cooked bird, shred the meat and mix through in a big bowl with your assortment of leaves and tomatoes. If you have oil or dressing on hand, feel free to slather it on at this point.
Other additional ingredients that will take you over your three ingredient limit but will make for a delicious salad includes grated cheese, boiled eggs, or any other veggies of choice.
Dinner tonight is as easy as 1, 2, 3.