[Sun Oven] Burrito Bowls & Lentil Sloppy Joes for Camping

It was during the pandemic that I was watching YouTubers Doug and Stacy talk about the ways they lived off grid, including cooking in a solar cooker. It occurred to me that when I go camping, that's basically an off-grid life, and it would be great to be able to cook using the power of the sun. Camping cooking gas or cooking alcohol are both resources to manage and what if I don't bring enough? Do I eat an undercooked meal? Do I bring too much?

As happened, they had arranged some sort of sponsorship deal or special with the All American Sun Oven company to make owning a solar oven very affordable. It was the pandemic. I was sitting at home anyway. So I bought one. It didn't seem very frugal at the time, but the purchase was buy-once-cry-once buy-for-life and so I figured that with all the money I'd save on cooking fuel, both on camping trips and at home (electricity), by the time I was an old lady, the Sun Oven would pay for itself.

But then the question of what to cook came up. A Sun Oven without recipes is just a gadget and not a tool.

It turns out that in addition to being able to bake anything which can bake at lower temperatures in an oven - my Sun Oven never reports being above 300F and for planning purposes should be considered to be 250F, and that's in full sun at the beach - it can also cook any recipes that could otherwise be cooked in a slow cooker/crockpot.

Bingo.

And so, I present to you two slow-cooker recipes which have been tried and tested and are magnificent in my Sun Oven. This can be done entirely off grid and without refrigeration if you are willing to let cheese sit unrefrigerated for a night or two.

Table of Contents

[Sun Oven] Burrito Bowls

If you want to buy some flour tortillas and roll these into burritos, they work well. Otherwise, just scoop it into a bowl and eat it with tortilla chips is what we did.

Ingredients

  • 1 onion
  • 1 bell pepper (I used red)
  • 16 pinches red pepper flakes, 1 tsp [substitute 1 mild red chili, dried and crumbled]
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 cup uncooked white rice
  • 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes [substitute any can of diced, crushed, or chopped tomatoes]
  • 1/2 cup water + more for draining black beans
  • 1 TBSP sriracha [substitute all of the tiny one]
  • 64 shakes smoked paprika, 1 tsp
  • 32 shakes ground cumin, 1/2 tsp
  • 16 pinches kosher salt, 1 tsp
  • 32 shakes black pepper, 1/2 tsp
  • optional: 1 bag shredded Mexican Cheese
  • optional: 1 avocado (or more if you like avocado)
  • optional: tortilla chips or flour tortillas for serving

Materials

Method

  1. In the morning, on your way to the bath house to brush your teeth and perform your morning constitutional, set out the Sun Oven and aim it to the sun for a preheat cycle.
  2. After brushing your teeth, and before starting in on your breakfast, open the can of black beans (1), drain, and then rinse them until all the bean gravy they are canned with is gone. Pour the rinsed beans into your pot. Now drink your coffee and have your breakfast.
  3. Dice the onion (1) using the knife and cutting board. Notice how being outside and standing upwind of the onion means that you don't have to deal with any of the usual crying effects of having to cut an onion. Put the diced onion in the pot.
  4. Dice the bell pepper (1). Put the diced bell pepper in the pot.
  5. Put the following ingredients in the pot: red pepper flakes (16 pinches, aka 1 tsp), uncooked rice (1 cup), fire roasted diced tomatoes (1 can), water (1/2 cup), sriracha sauce (1 TBSP), smoked paprika (64 shakes, aka 1 tsp), ground cumin (32 shakes, aka 1/2 tsp), kosher salt (16 pinches, aka 1 tsp), black pepper (32 shakes, aka 1/2 tsp).
  6. Stir.
  7. Put the lid on the pot.
  8. Put the lidded pot into the Sun Oven. Close the oven door and latch it tightly. Reorient the Sun Oven so that the sun is just on the edge of what is considered focus and will come into focus as the day progresses. Set a personal timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
  9. When the timer goes off, return to your Sun Oven and once again, reorient the Sun Oven so the sun is just on the edge of what is considered focus and will come into focus as the day progresses. Set a personal timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
  10. Repeat step 9 until dinner time. If the oven door fogs up this is a good sign, it means the rice has begun to cook. It is optional to quickly open the door and wipe away the condensation, but know that doing so will increase the amount of time necessary for cooking by 30 minutes per door-open.
  11. Using the potholders, remove the lidded pot from the Sun Oven and bring it to the table. Serve into bowls and top with Mexican Cheese (1 bag, shredded) and avocado. Optionally, it can be spooned into flour tortillas and wrapped as burritos or eaten as a kind of dip using tortilla chips. Yum.

Notes & Bibliography

This recipe is written to be eaten while camping, hence the minimum of measuring implements. I recommend that before you go camping, you measure your rice out ahead of time, use a water bottle that includes liquid measures in general on your camping trip, and that you use your eating spoon x3 as an approximate tablespoon measure for the Sriracha sauce in order to further condense or even eliminate your measuring ephemera.

Once the oven door gets foggy, assuming the sun oven is receiving full, focused sun for the entire time, the rice will be cooked within 45 minutes. The Sun Oven cannot overcook the Burrito Bowl so leaving it to cook longer than the minimum amount of time needed by the rice is okay. I merely include this information so that someone who started cooking late or needs to eat early can do so.

Rice and beans make a complete protein. Leaving the cheese out makes this recipe vegan.

If one wanted to cook this same dish in a slow cooker, it'll cook on low in about 3 hours following either my recipe or this one by Easy Cheesy Vegetarian, which formed the foundation for my recipe development. Easy Cheesy Vegetarian's recipe is written for the slow cooker so might be easier to follow. Also, if you want to use brown rice, I recommend Easy Cheesy Vegetarian's recipe as I used white rice for mine.

CookLang

---
title: Sun Oven Burrito Bowls
tags:
  - Sun Oven
  - camping
  - vegan
source: https://theinfamousj.github.io/ExecutiveDysfunctionRecipes/sun-oven-burrito-bowls-and-lentil-sloppy-joes.html
---

In the morning, on your way to the bath house to brush your teeth and perform your morning constitutional, set out the #Sun Oven{} and aim it to the sun for a preheat cycle.

After brushing your teeth, and before starting in on your breakfast, open the @black beans {1%can}, drain, and then rinse them until all the bean gravy they are canned with is gone. Pour the rinsed beans into your #pot. Now drink your coffee and have your breakfast.

Dice the @onion {1} using the #knife and #cutting board{}. Notice how being outside and standing upwind of the onion means that you don't have to deal with any of the usual crying effects of having to cut an onion. Put the diced onion in the pot.

Dice the @bell pepper {1}. Put the diced bell pepper in the pot.

Put the following ingredients in the pot: @red pepper flakes {16%pinches}, @uncooked rice {1%cup}, @fire roasted diced tomatoes {1%can}, @water {1/2%cup}, @sriracha sauce {1%TBSP}, @smoked paprika {64%shakes}, @ground cumin {32%shakes}, @kosher salt {16%pinches}, @black pepper {32%shakes}.

Stir.

Put the #clear glass lid{} on the pot.

Put the lidded pot into the Sun Oven. Close the oven door and latch it tightly. Reorient the Sun Oven so that the sun is just on the edge of what is considered focus and will come into focus as the day progresses. Set a personal timer for ~{1.5 hours}.

When the timer goes off, return to your Sun Oven and once again, reorient the Sun Oven so the sun is just on the edge of what is considered focus and will come into focus as the day progresses. Set a personal timer for ~{1.5 hours}.

Repeat step 9 until dinner time. If the oven door fogs up this is a good sign, it means the rice has begun to cook. It is optional to quickly open the door and wipe away the condensation, but know that doing so will increase the amount of time necessary for cooking by 30 minutes per door-open.

Using the #potholders, remove the lidded pot from the Sun Oven and bring it to the table. Serve into bowls and top with @Mexican Cheese {1%bag}(shredded) and @avocado(to taste). Optionally, it can be spooned into @flour tortillas{}(optional) and wrapped as burritos or eaten as a kind of dip using @tortilla chips{1 bag}(optional). Yum.

[Sun Oven] Lentil Sloppy Joes

Who doesn't remember a nice, messy heaping of Sloppy Joes from their youth? Well, it can be recreated in the Sun Oven using the standard veg*n substitution of lentils for ground beef. This recipe is entirely made with shelf-stable ingredients and requires no refrigeration so can be saved for later days of an off-grid camping excursion.

Ingredients

Materials

Method

  1. In the morning, on your way to the bath house to brush your teeth and perform your morning constitutional, set out the Sun Oven and aim it to the sun for a preheat cycle.
  2. After brushing your teeth, and before starting in on your breakfast, dice the onion (1) using the knife and cutting board. Notice how being outside and standing upwind of the onion means that you don't have to deal with any of the usual crying effects of having to cut an onion. Put the diced onion in the pot. Now drink your coffee and have your breakfast.
  3. Peel and roughly chop the garlic (1/2 head) and put it in the pot.
  4. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the bread rolls to the pot: butter (4 TBSP, aka 1/2 stick), oregano (128 shakes aka 2 tsp), paprika (64 shakes aka 1 tsp), red pepper flakes (16 pinches aka 1 tsp), kosher salt (16 pinches aka 1 tsp), black pepper (32 shakes aka 1/2 tsp), uncooked lentils (1 cup), vegetable broth bullion (1.5 tsp, optional), water (1.5 cups), crushed tomatoes (1 can), tomato paste (1 smallest-they-sell can), yellow mustard (5 fast food packets aka 1 TBSP), soy sauce (4 fast food packets aka 1.5 TBSP), and balsamic vinegar (2 fast food packets aka 1.5 TBSP).
  5. Stir.
  6. Put the lid on the pot.
  7. Put the lidded pot into the Sun Oven. Close the oven door and latch it tightly. Reorient the Sun Oven so that the sun is just on the edge of what is considered focus and will come into focus as the day progresses. Set a personal timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
  8. When the timer goes off, return to your Sun Oven and once again, reorient the Sun Oven so the sun is just on the edge of what is considered focus and will come into focus as the day progresses. Set a personal timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
  9. Repeat step 8 until dinner time. If the oven door fogs up this is a good sign, it means the lentils have begun to cook. It is optional to quickly open the door and wipe away the condensation, but know that doing so will increase the amount of time necessary for cooking by 30 minutes per door-open.
  10. Using the potholders, remove the lidded pot from the Sun Oven and bring it to the table. Serve into bread rolls.

Notes & Bibliography

This recipe is written to be eaten while camping, hence the minimum of measuring implements. I recommend that before you go camping, you measure your lentils out ahead of time, use an eating bowl that includes liquid measures in general on your camping trip, and that you use your eating spoon 1.5x as an approximate teaspoon measure for the vegetable broth bullion in order to further condense or even eliminate your measuring ephemera.

Once the oven door gets foggy, assuming the sun oven is receiving full, focused sun for the entire time, the lentils will be cooked within 45 minutes. The Sun Oven cannot overcook the Lentil Sloppy Joes, so leaving it to cook longer than the minimum amount of time needed by the lentils is okay. I merely include this information so that someone who started cooking late or needs to eat early can do so.

Lentils and bread rolls make a complete protein. Substituting oil for butter or leaving the grease out makes this recipe vegan.

If one wanted to cook this same dish in a slow cooker, it'll cook on high in about 4 hours following either my recipe or this one by Delightful Adventures, which formed the foundation for my recipe development. Delightful Adventures' recipe is primarily written for the Instant Pot so can support cooking there, as well. Also, if you want a smokier flavor, I recommend Delightful Adventures' recipe as they include instructions for adding liquid smoke and adjusting taste.

CookLang

---
title: Sun Oven Lentil Sloppy Joes
tags:
  - Sun Oven
  - camping
  - vegetarian
source: https://theinfamousj.github.io/ExecutiveDysfunctionRecipes/sun-oven-burrito-bowls-and-lentil-sloppy-joes.html
---

In the morning, on your way to the bath house to brush your teeth and perform your morning constitutional, set out the #Sun Oven{} and aim it to the sun for a preheat cycle.

After brushing your teeth, and before starting in on your breakfast, dice the @onion {1} using the #knife and #cutting board{}. Notice how being outside and standing upwind of the onion means that you don't have to deal with any of the usual crying effects of having to cut an onion. Put the diced onion in the #pot. Now drink your coffee and have your breakfast.

Peel and roughly chop the @garlic {1/2%head} and put it in the pot.

Add all the remaining ingredients, except the @bread rolls{} to the pot: @butter {1/2%stick}, @oregano {128%shakes}, @paprika {64%shakes}, @red pepper flakes {16%pinches}, @kosher salt {16%pinches}, @black pepper {32%shakes}, @uncooked lentils {1%cup}, @vegetable broth bullion {1.5%teaspoon}(optional), @water {1.5%cups}, @crushed tomatoes {1%can}, @tomato paste {1%smallest-they-sell can}, @yellow mustard {5%fast food packets}, @soy sauce {4%fast food packets}, and @balsamic vinegar {2%fast food packets}.

Stir.

Put the #clear glass lid{} on the pot.

Put the lidded pot into the Sun Oven. Close the oven door and latch it tightly. Reorient the Sun Oven so that the sun is just on the edge of what is considered focus and will come into focus as the day progresses. Set a personal timer for ~{1.5 hours}.

When the timer goes off, return to your Sun Oven and once again, reorient the Sun Oven so the sun is just on the edge of what is considered focus and will come into focus as the day progresses. Set a personal timer for ~{1.5 hour}.

Repeat step 8 until dinner time. If the oven door fogs up this is a good sign, it means the lentils have begun to cook. It is optional to quickly open the door and wipe away the condensation, but know that doing so will increase the amount of time necessary for cooking by 30 minutes per door-open.

Using the #potholders, remove the lidded pot from the Sun Oven and bring it to the table. Serve into bread rolls.