Camp Recipe: Camp Nachos

Okay, so it's not really a recipe...I'm mostly just pointing out that Nachos, a favourite of kids everywhere, can be made while camping.  It's not something I really thought about before, and once I did, I was kicking myself for taking so long.  This is a super easy lunch or appetizer that your kids will love. It can be as simple or as complicated as you like depending on how you many ingredients you like adding to your nachos.

To start, you'll need some disposable round cake pans.  I bought some at the dollar store in a package of three.  Layer some tortilla chips in the pan and add whatever ingredients you like.  At the very least you'll need cheddar or Tex Mex cheese.  We usually add chopped peppers, maybe some pickled jalapeno slices...but you can also add things like sliced olives, pre-cooked taco beef, shredded chicken...anything you like.  When I made these recently at Bon Echo, I took a can of white chicken meat and mixed in about a tablespoon of taco seasoning and sprinkled that onto the chips.

Once you've got all your toppings on, cover with foil.  We cooked ours on our portable BBQ, but I'm thinking it would work if you put them on the grate over your fire...as long as the flames aren't too close to the food.  A good bed of coals would give off enough heat to melt the cheese, and really, that's all you need.  On the BBQ it only took about 5 minutes.  All that's needed is some salsa for dipping, but you could also bring a small container of sour cream if you want.

If you have your toppings prepared ahead of time and in your cooler, you can get this on the table very quickly, which can be a huge bonus with hungry kids who want to eat and head back to the beach, or who swear they'll die of starvation before dinner is ready.

If you don't want to get the cake pans, you can always make a pouch with foil. I found the pans to be easier for serving, and I ended up reusing the sheet of foil for two batches of nachos.

This would be best as a car camping meal or snack.  The bag of chips would take up a lot of room in a food barrel or pack.