I keep hearing that people don't like to cook in the van. It would be so difficult and complicated. People prefer to go out to eat. That's why here are a few very simple recipes for on the road. With an absolute guarantee of success.

We like to cook ourselves in the van. Because I much prefer to eat alone on a beautiful beach than in a restaurant with lots of other people. And with our great fold-out outdoor kitchen, cooking is just fun.

However, cooking has never been really easy for us, but always a special challenge. Because I don't eat meat, and Marc is a carnivore. I like to cook Marc his goulash, I just don't like to eat it. I don't like meat. Actually, meat has never tasted very good to me. But I have always eaten it. Because that's the way it used to be. There was no discussion, but ate what came on the table. Today I cook vegetarian or often even vegan, and Marc grills himself a steak to go with it. Or I fry him extra bacon for the soup. And I often hear that my soup without meat tastes no worse than his.

I learned to cook from my dearest great-grandmother, grandmother and mother. To whom I am infinitely grateful. Good German home cooking. And that's exactly how I still cook today: simple, delicious and with little effort. With simple ingredients that you can get at any market. Or simply replace them with something similar.

Sorry that I have no beautiful great pictures to my recipes, but the idea for this post came once again quite spontaneously here in Crete, and I so rarely photograph our food. And either I implement my spontaneous ideas immediately, or never.

And another sorry that there are no quantities on the recipes. I cook 'us de la Meng'. Quantities are determined by eye, pot volume, or purchasing units.

For questions & suggestions feel free to write me in the comments. Our kitchen accessories I have not described here again. You can find everything on our Campfire packing list.

I have been ordering all my spices from Bremer Gewürzhandel for many years. Fun fact I carry a year's supply of spices in my van: My beloved Kampot pepper, smoked salt, paprika, curry, lovage, Thai basil and more. Here I am sure that the spices contain only what is supposed to be in there. Controlled ingredients, completely without flavor enhancers, without artificial additives, without fillers or anti-caking agents. Because I do not want to eat all that.

And I'm also doing something good with it. Because the Bremen spice trade donates 5 cents per product sold to social projects. That doesn't sound like much at first. But so far, more than 141,400 € have been donated. Isn't that incredible?

If you're nearby, you can of course also store at the store in Bremen. And another tip: Look forward to the great Advent calendars now. But don't be too late, because they sell out very quickly. It's best to sign up for the newsletter so that you don't miss the start of sales.

Use coupon code "Genussleben" to get 5% off your order, except books and coupons.

Yogurt preferably organic with fat, because fat is a flavor carrier. All low-fat foods must add some sugar substitute for flavor. Contradicts my appetite for healthy, unprocessed foods, without unhealthy additives, new German Clean Eating. Marc takes a little honey for more sweetness.

As a topping there are all kinds of nuts or seeds: Almond, cashew, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, peanuts and walnuts, chia seeds, linseed, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or even coconut flakes. Depending on what the local supermarket in Spain, Italy or Greece just so gives. 

Main meal

We eat our main meal between 5 and 6 pm. Depending on the weather, we have bowls, warming soups or the dishes listed below. Gladly low carb.

Between these two meals, we actually eat nothing most of the time. That works very well, as long as a nice-smelling bakery doesn't get in our way. Or the dear neighbor offers us a chocolate bar.

Here are our favorite dishes:

Buddha Bowl

As a basis we love rice or couscous. Then add lettuce or seasonal vegetables briefly blanched. We love broccoli, red pointed peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and carrot. For protein we like to use chickpeas, tuna, feta or mozzarella. For toppings, a few nuts, seeds and parsley.

Marc is our dressing king, he's much better at it than I am. And with us, everyone does what they're good at. So we are a super team. He doesn't reveal the exact recipe, but it always includes olive oil, balsamic vinegar, orange juice, soy sauce, jam and some kind of pesto. Of course, it also tastes great without rice or couscous, so just with salad. If you ask often enough, he may reveal the exact recipe.

Grandma Gille rice

Basmati rice
Olive oil
Garlic
Vegetable broth
Bay leaves
White wine

Briefly toss garlic in hot oil. Add the rice. Stir well so that the oil coats each grain of rice and prevents it from sticking. Sprinkle vegetable broth over and deglaze with wine and water. Use exactly as much wine and water as rice, so 1 cup of rice and 1 cup each of wine and water. If you don't have wine, you can just use water. Add bay leaves and push them a bit under the rice, otherwise they will float on the surface. Bring to a boil briefly and simmer gently without a lid for about 20 minutes, until the water boils away and the rice is cooked. DO NOT stir during this process. Be careful that it does not burn. If necessary, lower the flame. If you push the rice carefully with a small knife to the side, you can see best whether there is still water in the pot.

Prawns on pea puree

Gambas
Peas (frozen)
Onion
Oil
Garlic
Coconut milk
Salt

Sauté onion in oil, add garlic and peas, lightly roast, and pour in coconut milk, salt, cook until soft. Puree with a magic wand. Done. It really couldn't be simpler. We had this as a 3rd course at Christmas.

By the way, I rinse the wand by mixing water with detergent. If you do it immediately and nothing has dried yet, it works wonderfully.

Basil pesto

Basil
Garlic
Salt
Parmesan cheese, fresh, grated
Pine nuts or other nuts
Good olive oil

Roast the pine nuts in a pan without oil. Pay close attention. Because felt first long nothing happens and then they are burned in no time. Put everything in the order given above in a tall narrow container and puree with a magic wand. Done. By the way, I always buy fresh parmesan pieces and grate myself. I don't like eating grated cheese out of a plastic bag. Very old school. In spring you can also use wonderful wild garlic.

In another pot, sauté onion with curry paste in oil. Add garlic, ginger, carrot, and broad leek and brown lightly. Sprinkle broth and deglaze with water. Season. Add celery a little later because it has a shorter cooking time. Add the lentils. Of course, this also works with canned lentils. Sprinkle parsley over the plate. Classically, potato also belongs in a good lentil soup. We leave it out because of low carb. And we do not miss the potato for the good taste of the soup. For meat lovers, there are crispy fried bacon cubes in addition. 

Vegetable pan

Onion
Oil
Regional seasonal vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, carrot
Salt, lovage

This is my easiest and favorite dish to make, and we have it at least once a week. Wash and chop the vegetables. Sauté onion in oil. Add the vegetables. Brown lightly and cook on low heat. Marc likes to have a steak with it.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Onion
Oil
Carrots
Red and yellow peppers
Celery
Garlic
Tomato paste
Tomatoes, fresh and strained
Red wine
Broth or lovage
salt and pepper, bay leaves, paprika powder edelsüß, vegetable broth
Honey
Parmesan or pecorino

Sauté onion, garlic & vegetables in oil. Deglaze with wine. Add all ingredients. Simmer for a long time, the longer the better. Add broth if needed. Like to prepare a day in advance and let it sit overnight. If you like, fry 500g of minced beef and add it. Serve with pasta. Grate cheese over the plate.

Bolognese is a very grateful food. You can wonderfully use leftover pesto or ketchup in it. Or a red wine that has been up too long.

In our garden in the southern part of Cologne we had a large herb bed with a huge lovage plant, it was almost as high as Marc, almost 2 meters. It was on our plates almost every day. So I could keep Marc's Maggi consumption at least something in check 😉

By the way, the art of feeding men healthy food is to be faster than them. I have to serve Marc the raw kohlrabi faster than he can get the salami out of the fridge. Because Marc loves kohlrabi, but would never think of cutting it himself. The same goes for oranges, by the way. And apples. Oh, actually for almost all kinds of fruit 🙂

Tomato mozzarella

Southern Europe has some great tomatoes. They taste wonderfully of the sun. I had almost forgotten in Germany that tomatoes can taste of more than just water. With mozzarella or feta, red onions and basil very tasty. Light dressing with viiiiieeel balsamic.

Pumpkin soup with prawns

Hokkaido squash
Carrot (amount: slightly less than pumpkin)
Gambas
Ginger
Onion
Olive oil
Vegetable broth or lovage
Can of coconut milk
Curry paste
Salt and pepper, Soy sauce, Lemon

Cut pumpkin, carrot, onion and ginger into pieces. Sauté onion and curry paste in olive oil. Then fry the pumpkin and carrot in it so that roasted aromas appear. 

Sprinkle with vegetable broth and deglaze with water. Do not use too much water, because the coconut milk is still added. Cook until soft. Wash the prawns, score the back and remove the intestines. Puree soup with a magic wand or in a blender. Add coconut milk. Season. Toss prawns briefly in a pan with oil and garlic. Serve as an accompaniment to the soup.

Goulash

500g goulash (beef)
much onion
Oil
Curry paste
Carrots
Red bell bell pepper
Celery
Garlic
Tomato paste
Red wine
Broth or lovage
Salt and pepper, bay leaves
Chili, paprika powder sweet

In a pressure cooker, sear meat in hot oil in batches. Set aside. Then fry onion and curry paste. Add carrots, bell bell pepper, celery, garlic and tomato paste. Let everything brown nicely. Add broth, salt, bell pepper, paprika powder and bay leaves. Deglaze with red wine. Add the meat again. Cook for half an hour until tender. Take out bay leaf. If the sauce is too liquid, puree a small portion of the vegetables with a magic wand. The roasted flavors are really important here, otherwise it tastes only half as good.

Add garlic, ginger, cauliflower, carrot and broad leek and brown lightly. Sprinkle broth and deglaze with water. Add celery and spices. Cook until desired consistency of vegetables. Sprinkle parsley over the plate.

Spinach with fried egg

Leaf spinach, fresh or frozen
Onion, garlic
Olive oil
Coconut milk
Salt & Pepper
Tahine or unsweetened peanut butter to taste
fresh nutmeg
Eggs

Sauté the onion in olive oil. Add the garlic. Wash and chop fresh spinach. Add spinach to the pot. Allow to cook over low heat. Add coconut milk. Add peanut nut or tahini to taste. Boil eggs or fry fried eggs. Done. Only on the plate grate the nutmeg freshly over it.

Here in Greece there is such wonderful peanut puree at the market in Kalamata. Is filled from a large pot at will.

Otherwise, Marc likes to eat leaf spinach best when you replace it with a steak just before eating it.

Thai curry cashew with rice

Vegetables of choice: carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, pak choi, whatever the market offers
Oil
Onion
Garlic
Curry paste
Coconut milk
Salt & pepper, vegetable broth or lovage, Thai basil leaves, soy sauce.
Tahine or unsweetened peanut butter to taste

Sauté onion and curry paste in olive oil. Wash and chop the vegetables. Cut the vegetables with the longer cooking time smaller. Add vegetables and garlic to onions in pot. Sauté briefly. Deglaze with coconut milk. Simmer gently over low heat until desired consistency. Add tahini or peanut butter. The more, the more creamy the curry will be. Seasoning.

These are the recipes that come to mind spontaneously. Feel free to ask if I have forgotten something or described something unclear. And now have fun cooking on the road and bon appétit.

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