This attitude is very common among outdoorspeople. Most of us have been going out there to find seclusion and ourselves for a long time. We all want others to experience this, in theory, but not in the same place we’re doing it. Wes and I had this discussion as we slowly trolled through the first-come, first-serve campgrounds looking for a place to sleep. It is often hard to find a site, but it was ridiculous this time. And the worst part of it was that some of the people we spoke to were actually quite rude. We witnessed arguments, park rangers regulating improper parking, wildflower crushing, and frowny faces. Camping is supposed to bring out good vibes and connection! What was this all about? Don’t these people know the rules??

We ended up backcountry camping, which is an option most people don’t know about (or maybe aren’t comfortable with), and it was one of the most relaxing nights we’ve had in the park. Sunset fading to a full moon, quiet, and our own personal field of untrampled wildflowers. We cooked these hearty mushroom french dip sandwiches, adapted from this recipe, on the grill at a day use area before heading out so we didn’t have to carry much with us (since we didn’t even bring real packs).

When more people want to spend time outdoors, the need to protect more places for all of us to fit in will increase. This is a good thing! But let’s all do our best to communicate the important outdoor ethics that we know, and learn the ones that we don’t so we can keep these places wild. They belong to us all.

This dip is inspired by a recipe on one of my favorite blogs, 101 Cookbooks. It is actually very similar to our Chunky Roasted Red Pepper Dip, but it’s smoother and a little tangier thanks to tomato paste and the pepper varieties. I tried a version with the heirloom bell peppers shown here, and another one with shishito peppers. Both were fabulous.

I recently got this Hydro Flask Food Flask, which is an awesome container for picnics and day trips. It kept the dip cool in 100 degree weather until we were ready to eat it, and is durable and leak proof, compared to the plastic storage containers I usually try to awkwardly jam into backpacks. Stanley and Klean Kanteen both make these in different sizes as well.

The original recipe calls for Pomegranate Molasses, which I didn’t have on hand, so I used a combination of balsamic vinegar and honey instead. Pita chips are my dippable of choice, but crackers or fresh campfire-warmed pitas drizzled with olive oil would also be lovely.

Fritters are always fun in the summer. This recipe, another great one thanks to Bryant Terry’s Vegan Soul Kitchen, uses black eyed peas and peanuts as the base. These are fun ingredients that are easy to work with and less perishable than a lot of other options, which is wonderful for camping recipes. I prepared the mixture and put it in a zip-top bag before my trip. Then I fried the fritters in a cast iron skillet at camp. The leftovers took the place of falafel when combined with pita bread and hummus the next day. Thank you again to our friend Ryan Miller, who took this beautiful photo.

Did you get out for National Trails Day last weekend? If not, you’ve got National Get Outdoors Day to look forward to this coming Saturday. Find an event near you and go play!

Maybe it’s old school, but we have loved making cheese fondue for a while. We’ve made several different variations to one recipe, but it always includes mustard, garlic, beer or wine, and gruyere cheese. This is a recipe that can be made low and slow in a crock pot at home or dutch oven at camp. It can also be made rather quickly in a cast iron skillet for an appetizer or full-on meal.

This is a nice recipe for camping because it really is a one pot meal, with no need for any other dirty dishes. We do basically nothing to the dippers, besides chopping and blanching the vegetables. The dishes they sit in are very easy to clean in the end.

Another bonus is that a cast iron skillet retains heat beautifully, so the fondue actually stays warm for longer than you might think.

Beer Cheese fondue is a fun meal that will bring your whole group together to eat. There are a lot of possibilities for a second round meal with the leftovers as well. We’ve done some awesome grilled cheese sandwiches, but mac ‘n cheese or a broccoli cheese soup would be super easy as well.

Thank you Ryan for the beautiful photos! We learned a lot about food styling and outdoor lighting in one little afternoon in the mountains. Here are some things we learned:

1. Try to even out harsh mottled light by holding a scrim or light diffuser over the subject. We’re thinking a tent may work for this in a backcountry situation, but haven’t tested that out yet.
2. Ryan swears by his apple box as a multipurpose tool to help stand over your subject.
3. The wilderness is full of beautiful background props, so use what you can find (while practicing Leave No Trace techniques, of course), but Ryan brought a few boards with him that were beautiful and natural for times when we couldn’t find something big or flat enough.
4. Slow down, focus, and take your time styling the food on the table. It will make a difference.

All photos by the talented Ryan Robert Miller.

To figure out how to make my own Pimento Cheese, I did some research and quickly realized that I would probably never have made it if I had just seen a recipe and not tasted it. The basic version has loads of cheese and mayo, which just sounds heavy and unappealing to my palate. But somehow it all works!

This Smoky Cheese and Pepper Spread is made, not with pimentos, but roasted red bell peppers. I used three different kinds of cheese: Provolone, Smoked Gouda, and Sharp Cheddar. Try varying the proportions of cheese or even changing them up altogether if you like. A pickled serrano chile adds some heat, and a touch of beer adds some extra oomph. And since you need only a little bit of beer, there’s nothing left to do with the rest of the bottle except drink it!

Smoky Spicy Black Bean Dip

Dips are always welcome around camp, and many can be made at home before the trip. Offer this as incentive to get the campfire started. It’s fine straight out of the cooler, but gets much better with a little smoke and warmth.

• 2 pasilla peppers
• 1 jalapeño
• 2 15-oz cans black beans, one can drained
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon chile powder
• pinch salt & sugar
• ¼ cup cheese, diced into cubes

Char peppers, discarding skin, seeds and stems, and add to the bowl of a food processor. Add black beans and remaining ingredients, except for the cheese, and blend in a food processor. Pack the bean dip and cheese in separate containers. Once at camp, pour the bean dip into a pot – preferably one that can go over the campfire. Stir in cheese and heat. Do not overstir – you want to get little cheese pocket surprises throughout the dip. Serve with tortilla chips.

Salad in a Jar

Salad is a perfect first course, and goes great with a summer cocktail. Light crunchy vegetables are easily jazzed up with a spicy tangy vinaigrette. Store personal sized jars cold in the cooler until just before serving. They’ll only need a shake to be ready to eat.

• 1 cucumber
• 1 jicama
• 1 small watermelon
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup Olive oil
• 1 jalapeno, sliced
• 1 teaspoon pico de gallo seasoning
• Salt and pepper

Slice cucumbers and jicama into matchsticks, and watermelon into small triangles. Mix lemon juice, jalapeno, pico de gallo, salt and pepper together. Add olive oil, stirring to combine. Divide vinaigrette between four jars. Layer in jicama, cucumber, and watermelon in that order. Chill until ready to eat. Just before eating, shake jar to coat the salad in vinaigrette.

Campfire Roasted Edamame

These little bean pods are the perfect camping snack. We usually steam them at home, but if you’ve got a fire going, they’re delicious roasted in a cast iron skillet. Throw the shells into the fire after eating for zero cleanup.

• 1 pound frozen edamame, defrosted
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• red chile flakes, to taste
• salt, to taste

Heat a cast iron skillet on a grate set over a campfire. Add the oil and garlic and saute for a few seconds. Add the edamame and cook, stirring frequently with tongs, until you see little blackened spots and the edamame are cooked through. Season with chile flakes and salt.

A Couple Old Goodies

Though we plan to create and test new recipes on every camping trip, we often find ourselves secretly perusing the Dirty Gourmet archives for our favorites of the past. These two recipes have made appearances on quite a few trips.

Roasted Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers– switch out the sweet peppers for jalapenos to make a
campfire poppers. Feel free to wrap either kind of pepper in bacon.

Soyrizo Stuffed Mushrooms– Meat lover or veggie lover, you will love this recipe. There has
never been a quicker and easier stuffed mushroom.

Post in partnership with REI and Emily is an employee. All opinions shared here are our own.

With a butternut squash sitting on my counter that had yet to find a purpose, the Butternut Squash Tahini spread recipe caught my attention. I was also on the hunt for a snack to bring along for a quick weekend camping trip and this seemed to fit the bill.

I cut off the skin of the squash, cubed it and threw it into a foil packet along with some olive oil, salt and cinnamon per the recipe. An alternative for cooking the squash could be to half the squash, wrap it in foil and throw it into the campfire if you are doing it all at camp. Once the squash is cooked – it’s simply a matter of combining all remaining ingredients in a bowl and mashing it together with a fork.

The result – a mix of sweet, savory, creamy flavors that keep your taste buds guessing. I was really impressed and honestly surprised by it – I half expected not to like it because I typically find butternut squash too sweet. This wasn’t the case. It’s a hearty snack best served with pita chips or bread and a fresh salad.

We went to our favorite shop, The Cheese Cave, and got plenty of cheese (they recommended 7 lbs, so I got 11) to go with Aimee’s amazing Hazelnut Raisin Crisps. We found really great castelvetrano olives, and I wanted to do something a little more interesting to them than just put them out plain.

We’d been to a little tapas restaurant near us that makes excellent paprika olives, so we just made up a sauce recipe similar to what we had there. It turned out perfect without requiring too much effort. This recipe would be perfect on a day trip or picnic, and easy to make for a glamping party. I call castelvetranos “the gateway olive,” because they are buttery and salty, rather than the typical briny taste. See if you like them, even if you don’t think you like olives.

Potatoes were an easy choice for the wedding meal. There’s never been a potato-hating human that I’ve ever heard of, they’re easy to make ahead, and they pair well with sausages. But we’ve been trying to come up with a fancy enough option. We found this recipe first, and thought it was unbeatable. Until I made these olives. We tested them as an appetizer, and they were delicious, but they shriveled too easily in the oven. I can’t be worried about watching them while also getting pretty on wedding day, so I’ll have to do something different with olives. But using the same recipe on fingerling potatoes produced the best potatoes I have ever eaten. Super flavorful! Almost like salt and vinegar, but with more interest and a little more kick. These are perfect. Now, I just have to find bulk fingerling potatoes, and remember to buy twice as many as I think we’ll need. They’ll make a perfect midnight snack.

We experimented with this using pomegranate juice first, and that was actually quite good. I wanted to remake it and happened to have a kitchen full of oranges, so that’s what I used here. The orange juice seemed to have an easier time thickening up than the pomegranate juice, so that was a plus. I also liked having some zest to add.

I took this on a climbing trip recently, and my friend Samantha helped me style the photos and test the recipe. We’re so lucky to have so many volunteers willing to sacrifice for our cause.