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United We Van Cookbook: Giving Back as a Nomad Community

By December 25 2017All stories

Vanlife is such a wonderfully enriching community to be a part of. Everybody does the whole nomad thing a bit differently. There are the rock climbers, the surfers, the urban campers. There are artists, and photographers, and digital workers. There are those of us that are constantly on the move, and those of us that prefer to spend a lot of time in one place. But even with all these different ways of being on the road, there’s still an incredible feeling of community and fellowship among modern nomads. When we first took the leap into vanlife, that sense of community was something we noticed right away. We’ve honestly never met a more open, supportive, entrepreneurial, and inspiring group of people. We also saw that many of us are united by two common passions: a passion for good, van-cooked food, and a passion for the outdoors.

United We Van: Uniting Our Passions for a Common Cause

It’s amazing what kind of creative, healthy, and delicious meals people manage to cook up in their vans. We’ll take a good ol’ potluck at a van meetup over a nice restaurant any day. And as nomads, we tend to spend a big chunk of our time camped out in the wild, often for free on public lands. Public lands are our bedrooms, our living rooms, our bathrooms – and where we share all these wonderful meals with each other. With the idea of giving back and supporting the places that support us, we decided to collaborate with other nomads to raise money for public lands conservation – and thus, United We Van was born. And since the vanlife community is so passionate about food and cooking, our first collaboration is a vanlife cookbook!

The United We Van Cookbook features over 100 pages of awesome recipes from more than 30 experienced vanlifers. Recipes include everything from black bean quesadillas and tofu curries to buffalo cauliflower tacos and bulletproof coffee. These are all things that we actually cook and eat on the road, and they’re perfect for cooking in any small space. And we are donating 100% of the proceeds of the United We Van Cookbook to the Nature Conservancy, an awesome organization that supports conservation efforts worldwide.

A Holiday Recipe from the United We Van Cookbook

In the spirit of the holidays, we thought we would share this delicious fritatta. This dish is perfect for Christmas morning – or for battling your New Year’s hangover!

Stovetop “Hakuna Fritatta” (submitted by @mrandmrsadventure)

Frittatas are traditionally cooked in an oven, but as most vans don’t come equipped with an oven, we have found an easy stovetop method for frittata cooking! This dish is a wonderfully-easy way to transform whatever random veggies you have into a delicious, no-hassle meal – hence the name, “Hakuna Frittata!” If you don’t have tomatoes don’t worry! Boil some broccoli, or carrots, or use canned green beans if that’s all you’ve got! If you’re super hungry add more potatoes or better yet, add a side salad for some extra greens. Use our recipe as a guide, and know that your “Hakuna Frittata” will be delicious no matter what!

Ingredients

  • 2-3 Eggs per Person
  • Olive Oil
  • Garlic and Rosemary
  • Onion
  • Tomatoes
  • Boiled Potatoes
  • Pesto and/or Avocado
  • OPTIONAL: Sausage/Bacon/Meat, Cheese

Directions

1. Boil your potatoes. Either four small fingerlings per person, or one regular potato for two people.
2. Slice the potatoes and put them in a well-oiled pan with chopped onions and meat (optional). Allow the onions to caramelize, the meat to cook, and the potatoes to fry until they turn a nice and crispy, golden-brown color (5-minutes). Sprinkle the mix with garlic and rosemary as it cooks.
3. Add in your eggs and the rest of your veggies, mixing it all well. Cover and cook on LOW for about 6 minutes or so, until the eggs are solid and the edges are lightly browned.
4. Place cheese on top and allow it to melt (optional).
5. When it’s done, use your spatula to carefully slide your fritatta onto a plate. Top with pesto or avocado if you have it.

The United We Van Cookbook is available as an ebook download from the United We Van website. Until the end of the year, you can get 30% off your order using the coupon code HOLIDAYCHEER.