Give me a cast iron, some butter, and a glacial lake!

Skillet fries with herbs and scapes and 

lentil burgers with balsamic pesto spread

All I needed were some trusty cast iron skillets, carefully planned food and a heck of a view to make lunch yesterday for 10 lovely members of my family in Glacier Park!

We go camping at Glacier National Park at least once a summer with my parents and brothers, although one was conspicuously absent due to a "gig" and the fair. This year I was determined to help in meal prep as last year I left my father to most of the duties (which to his credit, he still did follow, and he is such a great cook!)

We knew we would not be at our camp site but at Lake McDonald, one of the most beautiful glacial lakes in the world, in my opinion (although my travel scope is rather limited.) I planned on something with my little Coleman stove and something fairly quick to hungry swimmers and boaters.

I decided on camping fires (an idea from a friend of mine that camps far more often than I do) with garlic scapes and other herbs and lentil burgers, items I have created on my own, but for ease this time around I ordered from my CSA the week before our trip (someone there makes them, joy!) For the lentil burger I made a balsamic pesto from scratch to lather on the buns as the burgers were served, and they were delish!

Herbed Camp Fries with Scapes

Here's what I did. Take as many potatoes as you think you'll need for fries (I used 4 large russets and it was plenty for 10 people.) Cut them into french fry shapes and par boil them briefly, until not rock hard but not mushy. Put them in a big zipper plastic bag, add a cup or two of garlic scapes and chopped green onions, chopped fresh parsley, salt, pepper, and a few big gobbs of butter. 

When ready to cook these beauties, I heated my cast iron on medium heat, through them in and occasionally turned until cooked and brown, num!

Lentil Burgers with Montzarella and a Balsamic Pesto

I bought premade patties, although you can find recipes for these beauties all over the place online. I bought the buns, although I have premade in the past. I did, however, order Lifeline dairy Montzarella (absolutely delsih, by the way.) I also premade a balsamic pesto, which is essentially pesto but when you add in the olive oil, add in a few tablespoons of balsamic too. I toasted buns, heated patties on the cast iron, without worrying about doneness because they were not meat. I melted cheese, threw them on buns and slathered the pesto on top of the inside of the bun. Now I will admit by over zealousness led to a few burgers cold on the inside, but still fabulous and filling to boot! All in all, we filled 10 people for around $18, and made some great memories to boot!