One Pot, One Flame, Endless Suppers

Anyone who has spent a wet evening at a Lakeland campsite knows the moment: boots off, torch hung from the tent loop, and an appetite that no cereal bar will touch. A proper hot meal changes the shape of a cold night. It needn't be clever food. One pot, a few well-chosen ingredients and a stove that lights first time will do it.

Three rules keep camp cooking simple:

• One pot, one spoon. Everything goes in the same pan and gets eaten from a bowl or straight from the pot.
• Ingredients that travel. Nothing that wilts, nothing that needs a fridge, nothing that adds a kilo to your rucksack.
• Short cooking times. The less fuel you burn boiling, the more you have for tomorrow's brew.

Getting a Reliable Flame in British Weather

Screw-on gas canisters hold a butane and propane mix, and it's the propane that keeps them going when the temperature drops. In a real cold snap the canister cools as it empties, pressure falls away and the flame shrinks just when you want a rolling boil. Warm the canister inside your jacket before you cook, and don't stand it in a puddle or on bare cold rock. Meths burners are quieter and superb in wind once you have the right windshield, though slower; on multi-day winter trips, a multifuel stove that runs on paraffin is the dependable answer.

Whatever you carry, a windshield is not optional on a British hillside. A folded foil shield weighing next to nothing can halve your boiling time in a gust, and it stops the flame being blown about under the pot. Set the stove on level ground, keep the pan lid on, and use a simmer rather than a ferocious boil — most one-pot meals are happy at a gentle bubble.

The Rucksack Larder

Build a small, permanent store-cupboard bag and restock it after every trip. This one weighs very little and turns almost any carbohydrate into a meal:

• Stock cubes or stock powder, crumbled into a small pot
• Tomato purée in a tube
• Smoked paprika, ground cumin, chilli flakes, dried mixed herbs
• Dried onion and dried mushrooms
• A small bottle of olive oil, with the neck taped shut
• Garlic purée or garlic granules
• Couscous, instant mash, quick noodles, porridge oats, dried milk
• Chorizo, hard cheese, tinned fish, or beans in a foil pouch if the walk in is short
• A lemon or lime, wrapped in a bit of kitchen roll, if you're feeling generous

Three Filling Recipes for Cold Evenings

Chorizo and bean stew. Slice a third of a chorizo ring and fry it gently in a little oil until the fat runs red. Add a chopped onion or a spoonful of dried onion, a teaspoon of smoked paprika and a pinch of chilli. Tip in a pouch of butterbeans with its liquid, a good squeeze of tomato purée and a stock cube dissolved in 300ml of water. Simmer for ten minutes, then stir in a handful of spinach or shredded cabbage if you've carried any. Eat with bread or instant mash. This is the meal that makes a wet Wednesday in the Peak District feel like a holiday.

Couscous with apricots and almonds. The fuel-efficient one. Put 150g of couscous in your pot with a stock cube, a handful of chopped dried apricots, a spoonful of dried onion and a pinch of cumin. Pour over 200ml of boiling water, stir once, put the lid on and leave it alone for eight minutes — a folded fleece hat over the pot helps. Fluff it with a fork, then add toasted flaked almonds, crumbled feta or a small tin of mackerel and a drizzle of olive oil. No simmering, no stirring, barely any gas.

Peanut noodles. Boil a block of quick noodles for three minutes, then drain, keeping a splash of the water. Stir in two heaped spoonfuls of peanut butter, a dash of soy sauce, a squeeze of garlic purée and chilli flakes to taste. Loosen with the reserved water until it coats the noodles, then add sliced spring onion or a handful of cashews. Ready in five minutes and enormously comforting when the rain is drumming on the flysheet.

A bowl of porridge with dried milk, raisins and cinnamon the next morning, and your stove has earned its place in the pack twice over.

Making the Fuel Last

Small habits add up over a trip. Boil only the water you need, and measure it rather than guessing. Soak oats or couscous in cold water while you walk — a screw-top jar in the rucksack does the work for you. Use a pot cosy or wrap the pan in a spare fleece and let residual heat finish the cooking. Keep the lid on between stirs, and never leave a pot simmering just for the sake of it.

Safety and Leaving No Trace

Carbon monoxide kills people in tents every year. Never cook inside a closed inner tent, and never use a stove to warm the sleeping area. Cook in the porch with the door open, or better still outside, with the stove on stable ground well clear of guy lines and fabric. Let a hot stove cool before you refuel it, and never over-tighten a canister.

When you've eaten, strain any food bits from the washing-up water and put them in your rubbish bag, then carry the grey water away from the pitch and pour it on bare ground well away from streams. Pack out every wrapper, including the foil from your stock cubes. Leave the pitch as you found it, and the next walker gets the same quiet, clean campsite you did.