If there's any mantra for campfire cooking, it's these three words: Keep it simple. Growing up off the grid in Colorado, Chris Waldhaus learned how to do that early on. He spent part of his childhood living on a Ute reservation outside of Durango before moving with his family to their own space.
These days, as the co-founder (with Marisa Mendoza) of Cascade Trails Mustang Sanctuary & Campground in Joshua Tree, Waldhaus spends most of his time focusing on horses, a lifelong passion. He still finds himself sleeping — and cooking — under the stars. When he does, he knows that campfire meals have to be easy. Easy to source, easy to prepare, easy to cook, and easy to clean.
"My mom always had us foraging," Waldhaus says. "She's been a forger and a gatherer since I can remember, so she always had us picking and gathering. We didn't have access to electricity or running water, so everything we did had to be very easy and simple."
That means a lot of foil packet dinners. "You would put the food, whatever it was — your meat, vegetables, fish — in a piece of foil, wrap it up, and throw it in the fire. Foil doesn't get really hot, but it's a very good heat conductor," he says.
Below, Waldhaus shares one of his favorite camping recipes that’s a go-to win for both flavor and function.
Wrapping food in aluminum foil packets is an easy way to cook food without relying on heavy cookware. Photo via Shutterstock
Chris Waldhaus's Perfect Foil Packet Campfire Dinner
Waldhaus’ favorite protein is salmon and his favorite vegetables are carrots and asparagus, but he says, "You can do this with anything. Onions, tomatoes, potatoes, anything."
He's also pretty freeform about the spices. The emphasis here is on personal preference. Love garlic? Add more garlic powder or use fresh garlic. Want it spicy? Add chili flakes or cayenne pepper. You can make your spice blend before your camping trip then put it in a baggie or other container and take it with you.
Ingredients
- 1 roll of aluminum foil
- 1/2 - 1 lb. salmon
- 1 16-oz. bag of mini carrots
- 1 bunch of asparagus
- Olive oil
- Butter (optional)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
- Oregano
- Lawry's Seasoned Salt (optional)
- Lemon Pepper (optional)
- Cayenne, paprika, other spices and herbs (optional)
Instructions
You're going to put your vegetables onto the fire before the salmon because the veggies will take longer to cook.
- Set up your campfire. You don't want the flames to be roaring, because then it's going to burn your food. You want to let your campfire blaze up and then die down to where it's consistent, and it's more like a searing heat than like a blazing heat. If you're cooking it on a grill, preheat the grill by keeping it on the flames.
- Lay out three large pieces of foil. Each piece should be big enough to fit the carrots, asparagus or salmon while having several extra inches of foil all the way around.
- On each piece of foil, fold all four edges up to turn each one into a tray.
- Put the carrots on one of the foil "trays," the asparagus on another and the salmon, skin side down, on the other.
- Drizzle a little olive oil on the carrots, asparagus and salmon. If you want, add a few pats of butter to each.
- Using whatever combo of herbs and spices suits your palate, sprinkle your seasonings onto the carrots, asparagus and salmon. With the salmon, make sure to season both sides and leave it skin side down on the foil.
- With each foil tray, fold the foil over the top of the food, creating a packet so everything stays in.
- Set the foil packets containing the asparagus and the carrots on a grill above the flames or directly onto the fire. Cook them for approximately 10 minutes.
- After your vegetables have been cooking for approximately 10 minutes, add the foil packet with salmon to the fire. Cook the salmon for another 8-12 minutes. You can peel back the foil on any of these packets and peek inside to see how they're coming along.
- Remove all foil packets from the fire. Carefully open them and let off some heat. Eat and enjoy!
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*REMEMBER: Cooking with live fire is an inexact science. The timing depends on what you're cooking and how hot the fire is. Dense foods, like potatoes, will take longer. More delicate items, like mushrooms, will take less time. It's also a matter of taste. Some people like their veggies soft, others prefer them al dente.