Paddle Meals: Lovin' Ovens

August-September 2000

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Deb Leach with Carol Ranger

"Waking up to savour organic coffee and feast on freshly baked cinnamon buns on day 29 of a kayaking trip through the Charlottes felt somewhat how I imagine nirvana to be. We had met others doing a similar trip who had been frying up leftover oatmeal for lunch for days."-Carol Ranger

Crafting a column around nutrition, fitness and spirit is a natural when you know Carol Ranger, a paddler and nutrition consultant to athletes as well as families in less-fortunate East Vancouver. Carol started work at Reach Clinic in Vancouver a dozen years ago-the same time she started kayaking. These days Carol fits kayaking in between trying to raise money for her projects and ferrying back to her home on Gabriola Island every weekend. Carol works on 'food action' projects helping residents gain better access to healthy food through farmer's markets, community kitchens and 'Good Food Boxes' of fresh produce rather than relying on food banks and charity.

She is working with a number of food action projects to create a giant food warehouse with a farmer's market, two commercial kitchens, loading dock, cold storage and a resource centre all focused on food and agriculture. It will be Vancouver's 'alternative food centre'.

"It's all coming together," she said, "though there is still much work to do and money to raise. It is grass roots action becoming a force in the city and directing food security."

A farmer's market supporter, Carol believes in buying local food 'in season' and buying organic if you can afford it. Before you go on trips, check if you can access fresh produce there-as Carol's group did in Rose Harbour in Haida Gwaii. "It was delightful to cook up stir-fried snow peas and taste fresh salad greens on Day 15."

For trips shorter than 10 days, you can rely on fresh food the whole time. For longer excursions, Carol suggests stopping every 4-5 days and spending a half-day to bake. That means bringing along an Outback Oven. That's her secret for her famous cinnamon buns. "Make sure you bring along enough fat for baking-we didn't, and towards the end we were trading anything for tubs of margarine, the crucial ingredient for the blissful cinnamon buns!"

"For that long trip I portioned out 'recipe mixes' in baggies. Next time I'll take along separate bags of flour, sugar and baking powder and make up different recipes as I go-much less preparation. We discovered you could use the oven over the coals of a fire. Some items take a long time to cook, so this saved on fuel".

Carol provided nutritional advice for three young men planning to cycle through the Arctic in -20 to -50 weather, raising awareness of the resource potential in the north. Carol recommended an Outback Oven and pre-packaged mixes for them. After their 'Road to Resources' journey they gave glowing feedback about the goodies (especially the pecan pie) that helped raise their spirits at the end of each chilly day.

Carol recalls that on her last long trip, "we did lose weight, but we never felt deprived-we ate everything from carrot cake, brownies and scones with salal berries to home-made tortillas, refried beans and falafel pie. On the requisite post-trip bakery stop on the journey home, we found there was nothing we wanted. This had never happened before." That's the spirit. Nothing says loving like something from the oven!

BISCUIT BASE

Combine in a bowl:
2 cups flour (you can use 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all-purpose flour)
4 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup powdered milk
half tsp. salt

Stir in about 1/3 cup water to make dough that you can shape into a ball. Flour your board and flatten the dough (with a paddle shaft or your fingers) into a long rectangle. Cover with filling mixture. Roll up and slice into 4 to 6 rolls. Arrange cut-side-down in pan and bake approx 25 minutes.

GRILLED VEGGIES

The great chefs are grilling! If you have a grate and a campfire or hibachi you can grill veggies and fruit, too. Thread vegetables or fruit onto wooden skewers to help keep them from falling through the cracks.

Choose a combination for a side dish, to go in a wrap or quesadilla.

Popular veggie choices are
. peppers (green/red/yellow/orange)- core and slice in long quarters or wide strips
. small summer squash or zucchini-cut in half inch thick diagonal slices
. asparagus spears-snap off the woody end
. cherry tomatoes
. snow peas-cut off stem end and pull out stringy bit
. green beans-top and tail and pull out stringy bit
. carrots-cut in thick diagonal slices or sticks & boil for about 5 minutes before grilling

Bring along a sprig of rosemary and strip off the leaves to toss the veggies with in a 'glug' of olive oil-just enough to coat them. (Or use a big pinch of dried rosemary.)

Grill veggies over medium hot coals for 15-20 minutes, turning them to cook evenly. Monitor closely.

FALAFEL PIE

Use packaged or bulk-food falafel (spicy chickpea) mix to prepare one big pie rather than little patties. Spread in lightly oiled frypan. Bake about 15 minutes. Cut in wedges to serve with a salad of yoghurt, tomatoes and peppers and pita bread.

GRILLED FRUIT KEBABS

Plan for about a cup of fruit per person. Popular fruit choices are: peach chunks, plum chunks, whole strawberries.

Brush fruit (and cake) with maple syrup. Grill fruit kebabs for 1 minute per side or until nicely marked.

Grill cake for 30 seconds per side. Use French vanilla yogurt as a sauce for dipping or drizzling over the cooked kebabs.

For more baking tips see Doug and Cathy Hull's column in the December-January 2000 issue of WaveLength.

To contact Carol about her food action projects or sports nutrition consultation e-mail: cjranger@hotmail.como

Deb Leach, her Tesla and new Outback Oven are off paddling.