Camp Stove Cooking: Miso Sweet Potato Power Bowl

By Julia Barton DIGITAL PRODUCER

I often feel ravenous returning to camp after a long day outdoors, like I could eat anything and a lot of it. Camping classics like bagels, hot dogs, chips and s’mores can be delicious, but don’t always make my body feel its best afterward. In an attempt to find something tasty and re-energizing, I came up with a camping-friendly recipe for a power bowl that’s filling and full of healthy protein.

This warm, sweet potato and chicken power bowl with miso sauce and other veggies tastes like it’ll cost you $20 at a bougie café but is easy and cheap to make at camp. The recipe is adaptable to flavors that you prefer and can easily be made vegetarian. I added chicken here for extra protein, but that can be substituted for another protein or taken out altogether if bringing raw meat to camp isn’t your thing.

I typically make the miso sauce at home before heading out to camp and store it in my cooler to make things easier. This recipe is most simple to make on a two-burner camping stove rather than a backpacking stove, but it could certainly be done on either.

The ingredients below will feed three to four people—depending on how ravenous they are.

Miso sauce

4 tablespoons miso paste

2 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

1 clove garlic, chopped

Juice from 1-2 lemon slices

Power bowl

9-ounce instant rice packet (This can be any type of rice; I like to use a brown rice and quinoa blend. If you’re not taking these packets with you camping already, you’re missing out.)

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into bite-sized cubes

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, sliced into small pieces

1 bell pepper, chopped

½ red onion, chopped

1 avocado, mashed

2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pan and cook chicken until lightly browned and cooked through, stirring frequently; remove chicken from pan and set aside in your mess kit.
2. Add chopped bell pepper and red onion to pan and cook over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes; add chicken back to pan and remove from heat. Cover to keep warm.
3. In a separate pot, bring water to a boil and cook cubed sweet potatoes until soft, about 12 minutes; remove from heat and set aside in pan with other veggies and chicken.
4. Warm instant rice packet with a splash of water in pan over medium heat until warm, about 3 minutes.
5. Scoop rice into your mess kit, add chicken and veggies, top with mashed avocado and a healthy drizzle of miso sauce. Serve and enjoy!