No, Chef!
+ two recipes that don't require you to turn on your oven
Welcome to Let’s Get Lost! I’m Rebecca, a recipe developer, food photographer, passionate people watcher, and chaser of new experiences. You might know me from my recipe websites, Of Batter and Dough and A Little and A Lot.
My husband and I are nomads without a home base but with many modes of transportation, namely an RV, a motorcycle, and a sailboat. I write recipes and stories for curious people who believe experiences are more important than things and who want more adventure.
Get every issue and recipe directly on rebeccablackwell.com.
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I have such a treat for you today, friends.
The piece below, No Chef!, was written by Wendy Hawkes, who I met last year at a book proposal workshop. What you really need to know about Wendy is that she lived for years on a boat and is now slow-traveling around the world with her husband.
Um, also, she survived a class 5 hurricane in the Bahamas while living on her boat.
So, she’s a badass. Obviously.
We live in an RV and occasionally on a sailboat with a cabin that provides us with about 150 square feet of living space, so we are used to moving about the world while living in small spaces. As you might imagine, I spent a fair amount of time drooling over the comparatively massive size of Wendy’s boat.
However, Wendy and her husband Christopher now live out of a suitcase, which really just puts my whole minimalistic-nomadic life in perspective. Honestly, I’m not sure I could do it, but she inspires me to think I might (someday) want to try.
This piece arrived in my inbox on Thursday morning as I was starting to work out some details for a couple of long-ish sailing trips. The article includes a couple of recipes that are perfect for small spaces with limited refrigeration and no oven. So, her timing is impeccable. I made them both and they are DELICIOUS.
Not only are they the perfect thing to make when you are short on space, time, or major kitchen appliances, they are perfect for hot days when the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. Those days are coming (for some of you, they’ve already arrived), so Wendy’s timing is impeccable for you too.
Enjoy.
xo
-Rebecca
PS. Even yachtlings (Wendy’s word) come with one-butt galleys.
P.P.S. Subscribe to Wendy’s newsletter now and thank me later.
No, Chef!
I met Rebecca last summer during the Dream to Deal Book Proposal Workshop. Though we worked in slightly different disciplines—me prepping to query my travel-survival memoir while Rebecca designed her narrative cookbook like the powerhouse recipe developer she is—the uncanniness of our nomadic lifestyles practically demanded we become friends, at least virtually. I had recently sold my boat and transitioned from four years as a full-time cruiser to full-time globetrotter. Conversely, professional RVer Rebecca had just purchased her sailboat, moving aboard during the eight-week workshop. Kismet.
When Rebecca invited me to write a guest post for Let’s Get Lost, I was simultaneously honored and terrified. My newsletter, Moving Forward, focuses on resilience, going with the flow, and finding equanimity when faced with inevitable changes and challenges through the lens of my off the beaten path, carpe-the-damn-diem life. What could I bring to a culinary ‘stack? I’m no cook. I was raised on frozen fish sticks, canned veg, and ’80’s food court dinners at the mall. Zero training, borrowing other people’s creative food flair via recipes found on Pinterest.
If “No, chef!” were a thing, it would apply to me.
But I learned. Boat life will do that to you.
Living on a mini yacht—a yachtling, as I called it—taught me a boatload of life skills I didn’t know I needed that have come in handy as I transitioned to a nomadic life on land. “Dirt life”, as full-time cruisers call it, was supposed to be easier than life on the water. In most respects it is, but cooking our meals in unfamiliar kitchens has been an interesting challenge, a duty which falls to me out of recent-ish habit and history.
My tiny home on the water measured 43’ by 21’. Deduct the watery space between the two hulls of our powercatamaran, and our dream mansion provided less than 800 sq. ft. True to the nature of marine vessels offering weenie spaces, our boat’s kitchen was a one-butt galley. Being the professional control freak I am, I decided at the outset the galley was my domain. One person needed to keep track of our provisions, which also meant meal planning. And one of my superpowers is organization (and stashing butt-tons of foodstuffs into itty bitty spaces). That settled it: I’d cook; he’d clean.
To my surprise, I discovered a new interest in cooking.
The creativity required to manifest a tasty, nutritious meal out of limited ingredients, utilizing produce on its last legs, or about-to-expire meat and dairy items spoke to my practical, problem-solving nature. When I needed to make lunch during our first 10-hour Gulf Stream Crossing from Miami to the Bahamas, old cabbage, almost-slimy carrots, and an English cucumber soaked in sweetened rice vinegar added to a healthy dollop of peanut butter became Pad Thai Cole Slaw (recipe below).
Four years of practice becomes habit, and now that my husband and I are both north of 60, we’re too old to change too many things in our lives at one time. I still cook; he still cleans.
Nowadays as a full-time traveler, I also borrow other people’s homes, kitchens, and utensils, making do with what’s on hand (including ingredients). Turns out, necessity is the mother of, well, creativity, in some instances.
This is what I offer you, dear readers. Inspiration to work with whatchya got, and see what happens if you shake things up a bit.
Slow travel—staying in one location for about a month—allows us to snag long-term discounts for apartment rentals through Airbnb and Booking-dot-com. A kitchenette also means saving money with home-cooked meals.
Our first slow-travel destination was my husband’s home country of England.
A projected one month in the motherland extended to a six month stay, thanks to a house sit opportunity. My first foray into commandeering someone else’s kitchen revealed that not everyone keeps their knives sharp (we now tuck our brand-new Santoku into the one checked bag we’ve allowed ourselves). But I still had access to a ginormous oven, four-burner induction hob/stovetop, and decadent appliances too power hungry for our boat.
Oh, hello, Vitamix, it’s been so long. Good morning, De’Longhi bean-to-cup home espresso machine, you sweet dumpling, you.
When we made the big jump to Southeast Asia, things changed. In all our rentals on “the other side of the world,” if we were blessed with an oven, it was microwave only. At best, cooktop (as described in the rental listing) meant two burners. And inventorying which pots and pans may or may not be present became a treasure hunt.
Our current apartment has a toaster...we can toast! And I don’t mean pan-fried bread. The simple joys of pushbutton meal prep. Bonuses abroad include omnipresent electric kettles—critical in lieu of any brewing machinery (coffee, not beer)—which aid in boiling rice and pasta water in single-saucepot abodes.
Constant travel also restricts meal creation in ways I didn’t expect.
Namely, spices. Can’t purchase new ones every month; can’t waste the luggage space to bring them along. I’ve figured out a few staples that are readily available everywhere we’ve been (UK, Spain, Portugal, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, so far) that make cooking abroad easier, and tastier.
May these travel-tested methods and modifications inspire you to cook outside the box, if not off the beaten path. And may capital-L-Life find you forever Moving Forward with a smile on your heart.
My Weensy Go-To Grocery List for Pantry “Staples”:
1 grinder/shaker Himalayan sea salt (pink if possible). We’ve pivoted away from black pepper and don’t really miss it in our home meals.
1 smallest possible bottle of olive oil
1 jar pesto: Adds garlic and basil flavor to any pasta dish, plus makes a great base for naan pizzas
1 bottle sesame dressing (I like Kewpie, an Asian brand easily found in SE Asia where I’ve been since November): For salad dressing, veggie dip, in place of sesame oil mix into stir fry dishes
1 small bottle soy sauce: For flavor, saltiness. That unique umami-ness.
Garlic (lots): For flavor, as a natural (ingested) bug repellent, & overall health boost like smelly Airborne
1 red onion: For flavor. I prefer white for sauteed dishes, but there’s arguably more flavor in red so I’ve adjusted
Local farmers markets often sell small quantities of spice by weight, but so far I’ve opted for occasional fresh mint or parsley or whatever’s needed for a specific craving dish we can’t find so must cook ourselves.
Here’s a dish I recently concocted using all of the above (minus the soy sauce) with the remaining half of a can of salad-enhancing chickpeas, when I had no more salads left in me for the week.
Veggie Omelet Pizza with Hummus
Serves 2
Time: about 20 minutes
Recipe with Disclaimer: As noted above, I’m no Cordon Bleu chef. Since this is one of my off-the-cuff ideas, the measurements are rough guides. I’m more of a measure-by-glug gal. My mantra: “To taste”
Note: No oven meant this isn’t reallllllly a pizza, but prepackaged naan bread makes a nice base, even when toasted not baked. Also, when one doesn’t have a food processor, or blender, or Nutri Bullet (oh, how I miss thee), one makes due.
Kitchen gear on hand: 1 medium skillet, 1 very small skillet (used as a lid in this case), a toaster, knife and cutting board, soup spoon.
Step#1: Make the hummus
Smush a 1/2 can of chickpeas with the back of a spoon then add the following ingredients and stir everything together. Taste and adjust.
A dollop (teaspoon?) of pesto basil from a jar
2 cloves of garlic, chopped and smushed/pressed with a chef’s knife
1 splorp of Kewpie sesame salad dressing,
½ splorp of Kewpie spicy salad dressing (because I didn’t read the label, okay?!?!) for zest
½ glug of olive oil—not too much, you don’t want it too runny (“to eyeball”…spit-balling here)
Salt (many grinds, please add black pepper if you have it, which I assume you do)
Step #2: Prep the pizza base:
Cheat! If you have an oven, kudos. If not, try pan frying pre-packaged naan to heat/crisp bottom. I used the toaster. Not ideal as naans were a little too big. Solution: toast one end, then the other. My only skillet big enough was busy making omelets. At least it warmed the bases.
Spread hummus all over the naan bases.
Step #3: Make the Omelet:
Add a tablespoon of oil to a skillet along with 1/2 of a red onion, chopped, and 4 cloves of garlic, also chopped.
Add some 2-4 ounces of chopped spinach and a diced tomato (or whatever veggies you like) and cook till done.
While the veggies cook, crack 4 eggs into a bowl, add a splash of milk, and whisk. Pour into the skillet with the veggies.
When eggs are almost set, add ¼ - ½ cup cheese, diced or shredded (I used diced cubes—we’ve no grater & buy block cheese).
When cheese has melted, fold one side over the other, remove the pan from the heat, and cut the omelet in half.
Serve atop the hummus-laden naan breads.
Notes from Rebecca:
I made this Veggie Pizza Omelet on Thursday night and it was sooooo good! For all of you who love the No Recipe Required series, this one is right up your alley.
This is absolutely something I’m going to make on the boat. I followed Wendy’s advice and used spinach and chopped tomatoes (cherry tomatoes) because that sounded great, but you really could use whatever veggies you like in there. Just be mindful that some veggies take longer to cook than others. This would also be a great way to use up any leftover cooked veggies hanging out in your refrigerator, by the way.
I cheated and started with store-bought garlic hummus to which I added a spoonful of pesto and some miso sesame dressing. SO GOOD AND WHY HAVE I NEVER THOUGHT TO JAZZ UP STORE BOUGHT HUMMUS BEFORE???
I added more cheese than she suggested, which should surprise no one.
Also, because I was determined to not turn on the oven and my skillet was occupied with cooking the omelet, I brushed some melted butter over the naan, covered them with a damp paper towel, and heated them in the microwave for 40 seconds before smearing with hummus and topping with the omelet.
One final note: If you have an oven and don’t mind using it, you might want to consider making a frittata instead of an omelet. Heat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Follow all the same instructions to make the omelet, but sprinkle the cheese across the top of the eggs about 1 minute after you pour them into the skillet. Pop the skillet into the oven and cook until set.
If you’re going to go the frittata route, consider adding in some bite-size potatoes that you’ve boiled in salt water AND some additional cheese whisked right into the eggs because, holyshit, that would be delicious.
Pad Thai Cole Slaw
Serves 6 – 8
Time: 20 minutes + a few hours to marinate the cucumber
Step #1: Make a quick pickled cucumber
Slice a cucumber into thin slices and add it to a jar. Add enough rice vinegar to cover and sprinkle in a teaspoon of salt.
Screw on the lid and shake gently to distribute the salt. Let rest for at least an hour, or overnight.
Step #2: Make the slaw
Chop or shred (oh, how I miss my silly Salad Shooter) into a large bowl:
1 small head of cabbage (can mix purple with green, if desired)
1 gala apple
8 oz or ½ bag of baby carrots, or whatever the equivalent of ‘just’ carrots is
¼ of a red onion
Add to the veggies:
1 tablespoon (?) rice vinegar (I prefer Seasoned, the sweeter taste works well against the acid)
8 shakes or splorps of Thai fish sauce (Thai Kitchen’s has a shaker top…so maybe a half of a teaspoon??)
1 teaspoon-ish avocado oil (or substitute with any oil, sesame would work nicely)
Ginger (when I created this, I only had powder…this is for sure “to taste”)
1 tablespoon peanut butter (I prefer creamy…you do you)
Sizable handful of fresh cilantro/coriander, chopped (“to taste”)
Mix well. Add marinated cuke slices and as much of their vinegar soak as you like. Top with:
Chopped peanuts
Salt and pepper, to taste
*Option: add heat with dried chili flakes or chopped jalapeño if desired.
Give a good stir and enjoy!
Notes from Rebecca:
For the slaw, I started with a 12-ounce bag of pre-shredded cabbage to which I added some shredded carrots, 1/4 of a red onion, and a honeycrisp apple. I used my food processor to shred the carrots, onion, and apple. If you don’t have a food processor, just finely chop everything.
By the way, if you’re skeptical of the apple, set that skepticism aside because you’re gonna love it. You might even want to add two.
I mixed all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl before dumping it over the veggies. I also modified the amounts of some the ingredients as follows…
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar + 1 tablespoon of honey
1 teaspoon fish sauce
About 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used jalapeño olive oil for some extra kick!)
Whisk all of these ingredients except the oil together until smooth. Slowly add the oil, whisking constantly as you pour, until the dressing is emulsified, smooth, and creamy. Taste and adjust.
I added a large bunch of chopped cilantro directly to the veggies, then poured in the dressing, stirring until everything was well coated. I did not add any additional vinegar from the cucumbers.
We ate this on Friday with Chicken Schnitzel and the combo was delectable. Fresh and indulgent all at the same time. However, while I WILL be making the slaw on the boat, I’ll save the chicken schnitzel for my air-conditioned RV kitchen. For a little added protein with no additional cooking, cold rotisserie chicken would be perfect.
Don’t forget dessert
I feel like both of these dishes might benefit from being capped off with a cookie or two, don’t you? Maybe one of these…
Matcha Shortbread Cookies: Buttery, tender, and full of bright citrus flavor.
Classic Oatmeal Raisin: I made these last weekend for an evening sail with friends and we had some left over. They hit the spot!
Cream Cheese chocolate Chip Cookies: These little cream cheese chocolate chip cookies are so tender and buttery that they literally melt in your mouth.
No Bake Cookies {aka Preacher Cookies or Cow Pies}: Fudgy little peanut butter and oat-filled balls of bliss, that's what these cookies are. And if that's not enough, they only take a few minutes to make and do not require an oven.
Small luxuries
Some of my favorite things.
I’ve been buying Ruggable rugs since we moves into the RV 6 years ago. All the rugs are machine washable which, as you might imagine, is important when your home is mostly parked on dirt, sand, gravel, and sometimes mud.
After we did some major renovations last year, I decided that it was also time to update our rugs. That was over a year ago and all three still look fantastic AND they still make me smile every time I walk into the room… especially the one in the kitchen, which our daughters say is “kind of creepy, mom”, but I LOVE it.
Muse, by Jonathan Adler. Yes, it’s technically a doormat, but I don’t care. I absolutely love how it adds some whimsy to my kitchen.
Flutterby Rug, by Iris Apfel. I couldn’t believe how the colors in this rug pick up the other colors in the room so perfectly.
Seiene Camel and Ivory Rug by Nina Takesh. I love the calm, cozy, woodsy feel this rug gives to our bedroom.
If you’re a food writer:
I wrote this piece earlier this week about how recipes are more about how we feel than what we make: Eat Your Feelings
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