Kugel is a Yiddish word for "pudding." Most people think of kugel in conjunction with noodles but this one has a different base. And, as our old friend Marilyn Magnus has found, kugel makes a great traveling meal whether for hikers or bikers. Refrigerated, it will keep and be available for healthy snacks or meals all week. This recipe can be baked in an 8 x 8-inch cake pan which will produce about 16 squares of kugel. It can be easily doubled and baked in a 9 x 13-inch pan.

6 large potatoes, peeled or not as you wish
2 large carrots
1 large onion, chopped fine
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 3 cloves of garlic minced (another matter of taste)
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs beaten
1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs fresh or stale, whatever you have on hand
1/2 to 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Grate the potatoes and carrots into a large mixing bowl. A food processor will make short work of this if you have one. Add the onion, garlic and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix in the eggs and add enough bread crumbs to soak up the excess liquid.

Scoop this mixture into a greased cake pan and bake for 1/2 hour. Sprinkle the surface with grated cheese and continue baking for a further 1/2 hour. (The amount of cheese, Marilyn says, depends on her feelings about cholesterol and saturated fat on the day she makes the kugel. The cheese really adds some zip as well as some nutrition, so it's one of those perpetual trade-offs.)

After the kugel is cool, cut it into squares and refrigerate. When you're ready for the trail, wrap each square separately and pack them away.

Nutrition information per serving (1 square, 1/16 of pan, 115 g): 159 cal, 5 g fat, 5 g protein, 22 g complex carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, 52 mg cholesterol, 140 mg sodium, 382 mg potassium, 12 mg vitamin C, 2 mg iron, 71 mg calcium, 104 mg phosphorus.

This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet Newsletter, Vol. III, No. 5, May-June 1992 issue.