Whenever possible, we love cooking and eating outdoors.

It helps us connect with nature, while making us feel less cooped up in our tiny home on wheels. So, when we pulled into the beautiful, cactus-filled  Usery Mountain Regional Park near Phoenix, we were thrilled to find a campfire ring in our roomy site.

The only bummer is that there was no camp host selling wood, so we made due with a few pieces we had from our stay in San Elijo State Park near San Diego and added a wild card to the mix. The grate was low enough to accommodate a charcoal fire, so what if we cooked on that and then added the logs after?

Brilliant plan from the expert fire builder! Especially because wild salmon was on the menu. Yes, I'm well aware it's not salmon season, but I've become a fan of buying frozen and had picked up a couple pieces of Sockeye on a recent run to Trader Joe's. The key is to pat the salmon dry before seasoning it. 

I decided to try something a little different in cooking the fish over the campfire, starting the fillets skin side down toward the heat. I loosely draped a piece of foil on top so it acted something like an oven. Roughly 10 minutes into the cooking, I turned the fish and placed the flesh side down on the foil over the fire, carefully removing the crispy skin to serve with the fish.   

It turned out really well and sitting beside the campfire, eating dinner under the stars, we felt so grateful for this incredible opportunity to explore new places.

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