Paddle Meals: Most Delicious Moments!

December 2003 - January 2004

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Cathy Richards with Deborah Leach

One of my most delicious moments on the beach was eating big honkin’ mussels that had been steamed with fish in triple wrapped foil, smothered in butter and dozens of garlic cloves. We stood over the foil pouch eating the spoils with our fingers. The flavor just socked into our mouths!”

This was on day 5 of a paddling trip through the Queen Charlotte Islands that Cathy Richards took a decade ago. She recalls waking to the whoosh-whoosh of a raven flying over her flyless tent. Another day, a Haida paddler imitated the sounds of a fawn, and a doe walked up the grassy narrows to nuzzle him. Cath recommends enjoying the ‘beautiful silence’ of the islands. Delicious sights and sounds in Haida Gwaii. Here are some delicacies you can share around your campfire.

HOT TUNA PASTA

Feeds 2 hungry paddlers or 3 with an appetizer

While heating a pot of water for the fusilli pasta, sauté in olive oil:

2–4 cloves of finely chopped garlic and 1/2 onion till soft

Toss in 5-6 chopped tomatoes

and 1 jalapeno, chopped with seeds

1 tin of tuna with the liquid (smoked tuna is wonderful!)

3 handfuls of other veggies such as carrot coins or green beans

1/4 jar of capers and their juice

1 table spoon of jalapeno jelly Cook the pasta. Drain off most of the water and add the noodles to the sauce to soak in.

Tip—use the rest of the jar of jalapeno jelly and capers for the appetizer with another meal.

SNAPPY APPI

Set out an array of ingredients and let paddlers build their own appetizer:

Stoned wheat thins with red pepper

Very finely sliced Vidalia sweet onions

Capers Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese or Jarlsberg cheese

Jalapeno jelly

THE BEST BREAKFAST!

Make whole wheat pancakes to top with canned blueberries and real maple syrup.

Bring along cornstarch in a zip lock bag—about 2 tbsp dissolved in a little cold water will thicken one can of berries when you warm them in a pot over the fire. Grate in some orange rind as a finishing touch. Top with pecans or walnuts to boost your paddling power.

© Deborah Leach is a health promotion consultant in Victoria, BC.