Road Food: Good food that travels well
Whether you’re heading across the country, across the world, or simply across town, this series of recipes is made for life on the move. They’re easy to make, easy to pack, and taste just as good hours later as they do fresh from the kitchen. Perfect for road trips, picnics, hikes, airplanes, potlucks, packed lunches, busy weeknights, and anywhere else you need to go.
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If you were to suddenly show up at my home and invite yourself inside, and then start rummaging around in my freezer, there’s a high probability that you’d find the following items (also, that would be weird): Frozen chicken thighs, ground beef, and some kind of fish. Frozen strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. At least one package of frozen spinach or kale. Ice cream, always and forever. A couple of unbaked frozen dinner rolls and buttermilk biscuits. Balls of chocolate chip pecan cookie dough. And individually wrapped slices of Dori Greenspan’s Maple Miso Loaf.
The recipe is in Baking with Dori, a book I got soon after it was published, and that Maple Miso Loaf was the first thing I baked from it. To be perfectly honest, I haven’t baked much else from the book because every time I flip through the pages, I just end up baking another Maple Miso Loaf.
Here’s what I love about it: It’s both sweet and savory, has a complex, nuanced flavor, is dense but not heavy, and exceptionally moist. It also freezes well and is one of the best things to take with us on road trips and sailing days. If you’ve been with me on either a road trip or a sailing day, there’s an excellent chance I’ve handed you a slice.
Dori’s cake was the first time I’d ever baked with miso, an oversight I have been working to correct ever since.
Exhibit A: Maple Miso Brown Butter Frosting.
Exhibit B: This Pumpkin Miso Chocolate Chip Cake
My freezer will always have room for slices of Dori’s cake. But, friends, from now on, there is also going to be room in there for this pumpkin miso chocolate chip cake. Possibly an entire shelf.
Why have I never thought to pair pumpkin and miso before? It’s a lavishly interesting combination. I’m picturing it in soup, pasta, and maybe gnocchi? Maybe some kind of roasted pumpkin salad?
Or maybe just more of this cake.
Just like Dori’s recipe and this recipe for Walnut Chocolate Chip Spice Cake, this is a cake that freezes well and is easy to take with you. If you’re going on a road trip, camping trip, to a BBQ, or a picnic, THIS is the cake you want to make for it. But also, pack it into lunches, for your afternoon commute, or maybe just for the walk from your door to the mailbox. Because, this is a recipe that travels well but I don’t want you to have to wait for a travel situation to make it.
Pumpkin Miso Chocolate Chip Cake
Road food notes: Stays soft and fresh for 3-4 days • Individually wrapped slices travel well • Not too sweet • Pumpkin and white miso create a sweet and savory combo with a layered, nuanced flavor • Freezes well
More road food recipes:
Turkish Chicken Salad with Sumac Pickled Onions and Yogurt Dill Dressing
Every part of this salad is quick and easy to prepare in advance. I made the Turkish chicken, pickled sumac onions, and yogurt dill dressing on Thursday, packing them in the refrigerator along with a container of greens and a cucumber.
Walnut Chocolate Chip Spice Cake
This buttery walnut chocolate chip spice cake has a soft, tender crumb flecked with finely ground walnuts and mini chocolate chips. The cake is flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, and cloves. A little whole wheat flour adds heartiness while cake flour keeps it soft and tender. Wrap slices individually for easy transport. This cake is bound to make any journey more delicious.
Middle Eastern Meatball Wraps With Garlic and Lemon Yogurt Sauce
These meatballs are spiced with cumin, coriander, paprika, cinnamon, and garlic, fried until crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside, then smothered with a garlicky lemon yogurt sauce and wrapped up in a warm flour tortilla. This is the kind of simple, no-fuss, handheld meal that you can wrap up and take with you anywhere.
Bourbon Vanilla Caramel Bars
Here’s what we’ve got going on here: Salty, sweet, bourbon and vanilla flavored shortbread bars, dripping with caramel and covered in bourbon glazed pecans, toasted coconut, and chocolate chips.
White Bean Pasta Salad with Sun Dried Tomatoes
All the ingredient amounts in this recipe are suggestions, not rules. Adjust everything to your personal tastes and preferences. This is also one of those salads to which plenty of other delicious things can be added or substituted. Toss in some chopped marinated artichokes, any kind of pickled vegetable, banana peppers, chopped cucumber, broccoli, or cauliflower.