We’re headed to a vintage trailer rendezvous—also called a rally in some circles. Everyone spends hours looking at the attending trailers, chatting with the owners, and admiring all the restoration work and darling decorating touches.

But perhaps one of the best parts of these gatherings is the pot luck dinners that top off the evenings. Since vintage trailer kitchens are definitely on the small side, they can be a little challenging to work in. So many folks prepare their potluck offerings at home and keep them well-chilled until time to serve. Or they bring the fixings for an easy one-pot dish and whip it up on site.

I personally don’t care if my little trailer kitchen is small. I love working in it, so I’m one of those folks that like to prepare my potluck dish after arriving. Cooking in this darling space is half the fun.

But I do try to come up with ideas that save time and call for a minimum of steps. That generally means a one-pot dish. If you like cooking at camp as well, then you might like these one-pot ideas. While Dutch oven cooking is always popular and the traditional one-pot approach, if you’d like to try something a little different, and do have a trailer kitchen (of course the camp stove works too), you might want to consider these ideas:

STIR FRY: Bring all ingredients pre-prepped and simply combine at camp. We serve this over noodles that were cooking in the trailer oven in a pot of water.

ONE POT CHICKEN PILAF: This is similar to stir fry. I cook and cut up my chicken breasts at home, then at camp I cook the rice, sautee veggies, and toast some nuts. Once the rice and veggies are cooked I add the chicken pieces and toasted nuts.

STUFFED HOT DOG BAR: This idea combines roasting weenies with an array of fillings that you prepare in your little camp kitchen. Mashed potatoes, chili, sloppy Joe filling, grated cheeses, chopped onions and bell peppers, etc. Lots of things sit well in a roasted and slit hot dog.

Then there’s always Sloppy Joes, one of the easiest one-pot dishes to whip up. I use a combination of ground beef and ground Italian sausage for extra kick. I add lots of sautéed onion, diced bell pepper, and some shredded zucchini (from last year’s garden). The thing that makes this entrée special though (because let’s face it, sloppy Joe recipes are a dime-a-dozen) is the simple touch of serving the filling on chewy chiabatta rolls. This makes all the difference.

Finally, another dish that wins raves is sautéed zucchini with mint, basil, and walnuts. Usually everything but the walnuts comes from our garden for this recipe. It’s delicious, has a pretty presentation, and since it’s unusual for a camping meal, it’s fun to serve. The original recipe is for a small side dish which only serves 4, so I always double it.

Whatever cooking approach you take, have fun and enjoy camp cooking at its finest!

SAUTEED ZUCCHINI WITH MINT, BASIL, AND WALNUTS (serves 4)

1 pound zucchini (or any summer squash), sliced into 12/-inch rounds

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

3 small cloves garlic

10 fresh mint leaves

6 fresh basil leaves

1 heaping tablespoon capers, rinsed

2 tablespoons walnuts or pine nuts, lightly toasted

1 to 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Sea salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Additional mint and basil, torn, for garnish

Ricotta

Favorite bread for serving (optional)

1. Heat half of your olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add half the zucchini and sauté, flipping and turning every few minutes, until golden brown, about15 minutes. Don’t salt them yet!

2. While zucchini cooks, chop together the garlic, mint, basil, and capers so that they intermingle and turn into a sort of pesto.

3. When the zucchini is golden, remove it from the pan and cook the remaining zucchini in the remaining oil, just as you did the first batch. Then add the first batch back into the pan, along with the herb-garlic mixture and the vinegar, to taste. Taste for salt; add a good pinch, plus a few cracks of pepper. Toss well.

4. Scoop everything out onto a serving plate. Right before serving, sprinkle on the nuts and extra herbs as a garnish. I like to carve out a corner of my serving dish, dollop on a big pile of ricotta, and serve everything together with thick slices of crusty bread. It also makes for some mean crostini!

Add Recipe to Cook'n