Wellness Wednesday- Camping Tri-Tip Taco Marinade
I’m pretty sure I told everyone I came in contact with, but in case I haven’t seen you, I spent the past weekend camping in Yosemite. Let’s just say I was more than a little excited to experience this magical park for the first time and it just so happened to fall on the National Park Services 100th Birthday weekend. The excitement had built up so much that by the time we actually made it to the park and I took my first look over Glacier Point to that beautiful landscape, I was literally shaking from anticipation.
There is something about camping that just makes you appreciate everything a little more. I love turning my cell phone on airplane mode, sitting by a campfire with a glass of wine, laughing to no end with friends, and campfire FOOD!!! I’m not a hot dog over a flame kinda gal. While I’m fine sleeping in the elements for days on end with no shower, when it comes to my meals I want something to be excited about after a day of exploring.
I thought I’d share with you my favorite go to camping meal. It’s quick and easy to prep ahead of time. It was huge hit around the campfire and the perfect fuel after hiking several miles at 10,000’ elevation all day.
I have to give a little shout out to Ventura Meat Company… while I’d say this marinade is on point, the quality of their meat took this meal up a notch. They take great pride in providing quality and sustainable meats to their customers. Owner Michael Buckley’s philosophy rings true with us that “when it comes to health and nutrition, you get out what you put in.”
Check out this tasty tri-tip taco marinade. I quadrupled this for my trip, but this is my basic marinade based on 1lb of meat.
Camping Tri-Tip Taco Marinade:
1lb of Tri-Tip
2 Limes
1 White Onion
1 Jalapeno
1 tbsp Minced Garlic
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Pinch of salt
Place your tri-tip in a ziplock bag. Slice limes in half and squeeze them into the bag. Dice white onion and add to the tri-tip. Dice the jalapeno. Optional to leave seeds in for additional spice or even add an extra jalapeno to the mix if you’d like. Add minced garlic, olive oil, and salt to the bag.
Once all of the ingredients have been added, take a fork and give the tri-tip several stabs. Allowing the juice to fully penetrate the meat.
Seal the bag and give everything a good shake. Massage the ingredients around the meat from the safety of the outside of the bag. Once everything is mixed, open the bag and remove as much of the air as possible creating a nice seal of the meat to the marinade.
I recommend marinating for at least 12 hours, but this round I gave it 48 hours and it really did the trick.
Once you’re ready to cook, remove the meat from the bag. You can cook this in foil, removing the juice, but keeping the onions and jalapenos sealed in with the meat. Alternately toss the meat directly on the BBQ grill and add the onions and jalapenos into a foil pouch to use for toppings.
We cooked ours in foil over an open flame on the campfire fire for about 1.5 hours. Slow and steady really sealed in the flavor. Cook to your preference of meat color.
Add some tortillas and toppings and you’ve got yourself a healthy and hearty meal as you soak in your next bonfire… whether that be in the middle of nowhere or just in your backyard.
What are your favorite campfire recipes? We would love to add some goodies to our list of go to recipes.
