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Potato, Bacon & Kale Tinfoil Packets

This is a great dish for camping or cooking out on the grill. The onions caramelize, the bacon crisps and the potatoes are perfectly cooked. But honestly, the real star of this dish is the kale, and I’m being serious. If you aren’t a kale person, I challenge you to try this and not love it.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 5 medium-sized potatoes washed, sliced
  • 1 medium-sized yellow onion sliced
  • 6 cups of kale washed and dried well, ribs removed, chopped
  • 1 cup precooked roughly chopped bacon
  • about 3 Tbsp cooking oil
  • 2-3 large pinches of salt
  • 1-2 large pinches of pepper

Instructions

Create your tinfoil packet

  • You’ll need 6 pieces of heavy-duty tinfoil, each about 20 inches long. The basic idea is to use two sheets of tinfoil to create one larger one.
  • Lay your first piece of tinfoil, shiny side up.
  • Lay another piece of tin foil directly overtop that one, with the shiny side down (so the shiny sides are touching).
  • Fold one of the long edges over about 1/2 an inch. Press down to make it flat. Then, fold that edge again. And again. And again. Probably 4 or 5 times, fold it and press it down so it’s nice and flat. The folds will create a seal and join the two pieces together.
  • Gently open the sheets up, like pages of a book, and lay your now large piece of tinfoil down, shiny side up. Repeat this process two more times with the other 4 sheets, until you have 3 large sheets of tinfoil.
  • Next, lay one of the large sheets on top of the other (both with shiny side up) and fold each edge over about 1 inch (you can see it in the picture below). Do this twice, creating a large, double-thick sheet of tinfoil. This will be the base of your packet.

Assemble and cook the packet

  • Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, toss to coat evenly with cooking oil
  • Pour ingredients onto tinfoil base, lay the other sheet of tin foil over top and roll the edges of the bottom piece up around the top piece, forming your packet and creating a tight seal.
  • If cooking over a campfire, pull one layer of hot coals out from the fire and set the packet directly on top, then place 3 or 4 hot coals on top of the packet to create an oven effect. Swap out the coals as needed to keep them hot. If cooking on a grill, simply place the packet directly over medium-high heat, and close the grill lid. Whichever method you’re using, let the packet cook that way for about 15 minutes, without messing around with it. This allows time for the ingredients to release some liquid, which turns to steam and cooks the stuff through. Then, after about 15 minutes, poke a few holes in the top of the packet and cook for another 5-8 minutes. This allows the steam to escape and prevents the dish from ending up soggy.