Kayak School Lunch Soup

Here is a soup I make each year for Kayak School.  Proportions are changed for a normal sized batch of soup.



Kayak School Lunch Soup
INGREDIENTS:


2 parts tomato juice (I prefer Del Fratelli, avalable at Marc's supermarket)
1 part water or broth
1 bag frozen Pictsweet Seasoning Veg (onion, peppers)
fresh cilantro (chopped fine)
celery
scallions
lemon juice
minced garlic


PREPARATION:
Dump the (broth or water) in a big soup pot
Add cilantro to (broth or water) , and chop with in-pot blender 
slice scallions, add to (broth or water)
slice celery, add to (broth or water)
add in tomato juice
heat, but don't boil - the soup is best warm, with celery and onions still crunchy
Add lemon juice & black pepper for taste




for a more proteinaceous soup, add 1 pound of cubed tofu - I had of this soup tonight.

Greek Spinach Rice

And I tried another new recipe for dinner - with modifications.

I went to a couple of stores for ground lamb, and struck out.  I used ground beef flavored with rosemary and greek oregano.  This tasted fine.  Also, knowing Jennifers preferences, I passed on adding the feta cheese.  She pronounced the dish "Just Fine".


I will try this again, hopefully with the lamb and feta.

Stewed Garlic Mustard Greens

Stewed Garlic Mustard Greens



First, pick A LOT of Garlic Mustard. I probably had a bunch today that would have fit in a bushel basket.  The responsible way is to pull the entire plants, and there will be A LOT of plants.  Pull the leaves off, and discard the plant remains in the trash, NOT the compost heap!


Next, pull the leaves you harvested in a BIG stock pot, after you have all the leaves you need, rinse the entire pot of garlic mustard leaves (aka "Greens") in cold water.  Drain the water.


I added: 
a quart of chicken broth to the greens
2 chopped 2 medium onions
5 slices of chopped bacon
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of sugar


Then I began to stew the greens, when they reached a boil, I reduced the heat to medium low and added a bag of kale greens to mellow out the pot.


I tasted the greens after a while, and added some Liquid Smoke for the good old southern BBQ greens flavor.


Then I turned down the heat to Low and them simmer for another hour.


These turned out very well!  A great way to rid the yard of garlic mustard and have a nice pot of greens.

another quick camp chili - Cheap!

I wanted to take a quick meal to the Pagan Paddle for Saturday night, in case I wanted to cook in camp.  This took about 5 minutes to toss in the box, and about that long to fix.


1 can Turkey Chili from Aldi's (the Turkey Chili was kind of bland, so maybe I try the Habenero Chile next time

  
1 can Salsa Style Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes from Aldi's

some leftover rice
a few saltines


Mix the can of the Turkey Chili with 1/2 of the Diced Tomatoes and 1 cup of rice.


Heat thru on camp stove and enjoy!


The Turkey chili can be bland, but the tomatos add just the right spice.


The rest of the salsa tomatos can be shared out as a cracker dip.

Tofu Provencal

This is another really good, fast to make vegetarian dish.  This will become a favorite.  Make sure the tofu is as dry as you can get before frying.  I used 2 teaspoon's of  Penzy's Tuscan Sunset instead of the basil and oregano.
Penzeys Tuscan Sunset

Camp Chili

I made this on my last canoe trip on the Suwanee River.  It turned out well, and was WAY too much for 4 people.  It cooks in about 40 minutes, and can be made in one pot.  With the additions, you will have about 10 cups of chili.

• one package Bear Creek "Darn Good" Chili
• one can fire-roasted salsa style diced tomatoes (found at Aldi's of Krogers)
• 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• one 4 oz can of chopped green chilis
• four 6 inch corn tortillas
• one pound of hamburger (I freeze it and keep in a cooler until needed, I use the Trader Joe's ground chuck, this comes in a sealed package and will not leak)
• one package of  Success Rice (boil in bag rice)

Start 7 cups of water boiling, and add the tomato sauce.
When the water boils, start pinching off bits of the raw ground beef directly into the boiling water. This will quickly cook.
After the ground beef is added, pour in the envelope of the chili mix.
When the mix boils again, turn the camp stove down to simmer.
Tear the corn tortillas into small pieces and drop them into the soup.
Dump in the salsa, green chilis, and open the bag of rice and pour it into the soup.

The chili will need to simmer about 35-40 minutes.  Still the chili every few minutes to keep the bottom from scorching.

Spicy Ragout of Vegetables and Tofu

This has become a favorite.  Make sure the tofu is as dry as you can get before frying.