1-Cooler, 1-Weekend Trip

Whether you’re traveling to a remote location or simply desire to plan ahead, our foolproof weekend menu will allow you to truly relax and still enjoy casual, healthy meals.

A little bit of prep work before the trip will make the weekend getaway much simpler. Our interlocking set of menus was designed to keep prep time to a minimum and double up on ingredients, for maximum ease. We strategized to include lots of perfectly peak-season produce, which hardly needs any cooking at all. Ingredients like pancetta, Greek yogurt, figs, and anchovies deliver bold flavor.

Even better, everything you need fits into a single cooler and tote bag. Download our handy Packing List for a quick guide to putting it all together.

Prep both tenderloins before you pack the cooler. Season both with ¼ teaspoon each kosher salt and black pepper, then wrap one with pancetta. Tightly seal each in plastic wrap. Grill both on Friday (the cooking instructions are the same, minus the pork-on-pork wrapping). Serve one for dinner; cool, wrap, and refrigerate the other to use in Saturday’s lunch.

Sweet with a little bit of heat, the Cantaloupe-Red Pepper Salsa is a super accompaniment to the pancetta-wrapped pork. Chop the rest of the melon for Saturday’s dessert.

  Cantaloupe-Red Pepper Salsa, and Shaved Zucchini and Parsley Salad

If you have a surplus of cantaloupe not used in Friday’s salsa and Saturday’s dessert, serve it here. One melon wedge has about 35 calories, plus vitamin C, folate, and potassium.

Onion rolls usually come eight to a pack. Take four with you, and freeze the rest at home for another use. Fire up the broiler to toast the bread and warm the pork, if you like.

Grill the bell pepper half with Friday night dinner until it’s nicely charred, peel and chop it, and then refrigerate in a zip-top plastic bag. It’ll be ready to go for this quick dip served with Saturday lunch.

 and Yogurt “Romesco” Dip

The Grilled Romaine Hearts with Pepper are so simple, so good. Be sure to leave the lettuce on the grill long enough to get nice grill marks.

If your companions simply can’t be convinced to try anchovies, sub prosciutto in the pizza. (It has twice the calories and fat—120 calories and 6g fat per ounce, compared to 60 calories and 3g fat for anchovies.)

 and Grilled Vegetable Pizzas with Anchovies

If you have any remaining ingredients—figs, lettuce—that you don’t want to pack for the return trip, use them here as sides.