Food ideas for Hut Ski Trip

My girlfriend has celiac and we have found that quinoa, polenta, and rice or rice noodles are all good bases for gluten free backcountry food. Costco also has a really good quinoa and sprouted rice mix. Also, super buttery/cheesy/garlicky mashed potatoes are a favorite at home and provide leftovers for at least a couple of days. Since you are having stuff sledded in you could make a batch beforehand. Usually though we just do quinoa with some dry smoked salmon and some sort of flavoring - green curry, bouillon, those vac-packed chicken packages, etc.

For a hut or cushier type trip some of my favorites are burger or shredded chicken/pork/turkey with fajita seasoning, maybe some veggies and rice or beans on corn tortillas, or for vegetarians just lentils and fajita seasoning rice on corn tortillas (raisins also taste really good in this to me for some reason). I've also made a semi prepared phad thai on a hut trip before that was really good which we added peanut sauce, spinach, lime, and bean sprouts too - really tasty and hearty. I think we got it from Whole Paycheck or Trader Joe's. Corn bread or corn muffins are also really good and if you are cooking breakfasts beyond quick oats then Bob's Red Mill makes a really good gluten free pancake mix, if you don't like corn you will probably want to cut it with some buckwheat or hazelnut flour though .

For last season's trip to the Carlyle Hut we had 12 and took turns with teams of two to cook for everyone else.  Experience has taught me that after doing 3-5K your energy level requires as many pre-assembled ingredients as possible.  With that in mind I made this popular menu with the main course out of the Costco cookbook (of all places!):

Spinach Ravioli Lasagna with Pesto Panko Bread Crumbs

Ingredients:
○ Nonstick cooking spray
○ 23oz Cibo Naturals Alfredo Sauce
○ 38oz Monterey Past Co, Spinach & Cheese Ravioli, cooked according to package directions (I left mine frozen so the lasagna would be thicker)
○ 1/4 cup Kirkland Signature Cibo Naturals Basil Pesto
○ 1 cup roasted red peppers, sliced into 1/2 inch strips
Pesto Panko Bread Crumbs
○ 1 cup panko bread crumbs
○ 1/2 cup Kirkland signature by Cibo Naturals Basil Pesto
○ 1 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese
○ 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Coast a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
To prepare the bread crumbs, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
Smooth 1 1/2 cups of Alfredo sauce over the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer half of the ravioli in slightly overlapping rows. Smooth 1/2 cup Alfredo sauce over the ravioli. Dot with pesto.
Layer the remaining ravioli in slightly overlapping rows. Smooth 1/2 cup Alfredo sauce over the ravioli.
Place red pepper strips evenly across the top. Sprinkle with Pest Panko Bread Crumbs.
Cover with foil and bake until the sauce is bubbling, about 35 minutes. Remove the foil and broil until the bread crumbs are lightly browned.
Let lasagna rest for about 5 minutes.
Salad:
Bag lettuce
Carrots
Avocados
Cherry tomatoes
2 kinds of dressing
Dessert:
Chocolate bars
Scotch

Breakfast:
French Toast
Bacon (Precook at home)
Maple Syrup
Oranges and Bananas
Coffee

The ingredients fit into 2 liquor boxes, the standard unit of cube for heli-hut transport.

Do not forget breakfast. If you mix up a bunch of scrambled eggs before the trip and then freeze them in a ziplock they travel really well. At the hut fry some bacon and then cook the eggs with the bacon fat. Tasty breakfast and the smell of cooking bacon gets everybody out of bed and ready to ski.

Another great post ski snack is bring a big block of Swiss Cheese like Gruyere or Appenzeller. Once the wood stove is roaring put a cast iron skillet on top of the stove and put a big chunk of cheese in the skillet. It will slowly turn gooey and tasty. Have some crusty bread to scoop it up and ideally some cold beers to drink and you will be very happy.

You all are making me hungry.