How to grill while deployed
Brad Baker
The hardest thing to get when deployed is meat to grill. Many of the exchanges sell grills and charcoal but no meat. When I was in Iraq, meat was available for sale occasionally, but when I went to Afghanistan in 2010, it was impossible. We went to every dining facility and asked for meat to grill, and they wanted a memo signed by an O5 or higher.
We then got a little creative. We sent about five guys into the dining facility to grab to-go plates. One grabbed grilled chicken; one grabbed tomatoes, lemons, and lettuce; another grabbed tortillas. The others grabbed sides. We used the pre-cooked chicken breasts and sliced it into strips. We then seasoned it with spices and lemon juice. We chopped onions and peppers and then grilled them up to add the smokey flavor and cook the spices into the chicken. We then toasted the tortillas on the grill and wrapped the chicken in them to make delicious grilled chicken tacos.
Try bringing a frying pan with you or order one online and use it on your grill. You can add onions, peppers, garlic powder, cumin, cinnamon, chipotle, orange juice, and oil to make a carnitas sauce. Place on pulled pork or pork chops and wrap in a tortilla that was lightly charred
You can order spices and seasonings online and shipped to Afghanistan. You will just need to be creative when acquiring the rest of the ingredients. Have fun with it, and feel free to share your recipes.