Trail Angel Dinner – Help me with Dinner Ideas

Would be easy and very yummy. And of course beer. Fresh fruit is also a big hit.

Since you're driving out in your truck, why not do most of the prep at home? Then just reheat and serve.

Wow John, if I came across your magic on the PCT I'd have a hard time resisting staying the day. What a menu! One thing I thought of was the Taco Salad served by the Anderson's at Casa de Luna. It's pretty simple and could for the most part be prepared in advance. Heating beans and the the burger mix wouldn't take to long. Lot's of recipies on the internet.

Pulled pork sandwiches would go down a treat.
The pork could be cooked the day before in a crock pot.

It would go well with some store bought potatoe salad.

The easiest way would be to cook the meals at home. Go to a Party store and get the large aluminum trays with foil lids. Cook your dishes and then stack the meals in a large cooler. This will keep everything warm for a very long time.

There are plenty of dishes that can be oven baked to further reduce your workload. Rice/Risotto dishes and Polenta work great. Even BBQ meats will stay warm a long time in an ice chest.

I applaud you efforts Mr. Trail Angel!

John,

Trail-angel to trail-angel, that's all wonderful stuff that you're doing. If I was to tweak it at all for a higher impact/effort ratio or to reduce costs, I'd consider:

Breakfast: French toast, especially if there is a day-old bakery outlet near you. The drier bread soaks up more egg-milk. I find bacon kind of a pain to prepare (but much appreciated by carnivores). Pre-cooked sausage patties, allowed to thaw in advance, could be tossed in a pan and toasted/warmed up very quickly with less effort.

Lunch: Hard to beat hot dogs for calories + protein / dollar. Maybe the PCT cures vegans, but slices of zucchini, eggplant or portobello mushrooms grilled off to the side of the tubesteaks (they should be cooked a little slower), would make you god among the goddess worshippers. Splash a little soy sauce on them for salty flavor and to moisturize them. Then served in the same buns with the same condiments.

For mass-feedings at dinner time (I catered 160 cavers for 3 days in a campground, once), a pot of soup is cheap, and super easy to keep warm and serve as people arrive. #10 cans of anything are cheap. Even cheaper is buy a rotisserie chicken, pick the meat off, boil the carcass in 3 gallons of water to make stock, add meat back in, add onions and carrots plus potato cubes or rice or noodles. Vichyssoise soup is way cheap being based on potatoes, if you mostly use onions instead of leeks. I bet the salad is really popular. Any free veggies available? Often people are struggling to give away their zucchini, etc. Slice, toss in olive oil, sauté in a fry pan and sprinkle with parmesan, salt, pepper, and herbs.

Yes, kabobs are going to be labor-intensive. Spaghetti is the classic easy, cheap meal. Lasagna probably more appreciated. Simple noodles, tossed in butter and sprinkled with parmesan would be popular. A pot of marinara alongside could be another offering to serve on the noodles.

Frozen chicken breasts are pretty cheap in bulk. Thaw, slice, sauté in a pan of hot oil. Serve in a make-your-own pocket bread sandwich bar (lettuce, cheese, condiments). Even cheaper than pita bread are tortillas. Grilled / sautéed chicken breasts and cheese, lettuce, salsa, onions, sour cream in a roll-your-own burrito bar. That way, you only prep the ingredients, the hikers assemble their own dinners.

I would bet that fresh veggies and fruit would be welcome, so salads and fruit like melons, apples, bananas, berries and grapes would be easy. Fresh gourmet bread, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, roasted corn, teriyaki meatballs and rice, quality grilled sausage and rolls with onions and kraut, baked beans, hearty soups or stews all come to mind.

Spaghetti and other pastas would be easy on a camp stove, but a little too close to dehydrated dinners, but it's hard to imagine that any free food not hauled on your back would be welcome.

A stroll through Costco should give good inspiration.

Now I'm hungry!

Are west coast through hikers picky eaters?

ON the AT any old thing does the trick…

Burgers & beer… hot dogs & beer… chili & beer… stew & beer…

Hey, I think I'm beginning to discern a common denominator!

THANKS!…..All great ideas.

@Don A.
Thanks for the compliment. We did have around 6 or 8 hikers take a zero day with us. I remember one petite woman named Peanut. She and her boyfriend came in the first evening and left two mornings later. She must've ate 12 hotdogs, along with eating all the leftovers.

+1 on the taco salad, especially if you have a big enough cooking area that you can enlist hikers to help.

Only thing I'd say about that is that you're likely to get sick of it pretty quickly if you're eating it yourself…I don't think there's anybody in the world who hates taco salad more than Terrie Anderson at this point.

Also, as a (hopefully only) temporarily downed PCT hiker this year, thanks for doing this.

We found cheese and beer were mega popular!