Food Reviews: Heather's Choice Buckwheat Breakfast, and Smoked Sockeye Salmon Chowder; Alpine Aire's Veggie Burrito Bowl

Enjoying the cool breeze rising from waves below in the section between Little Harbor and Two Harbors.

Over President's Day weekend, we decided to check out the Trans Catalina Trail on Los Angeles' own Catalina Island. I was particularly excited about this trip because I was planning to try my Heather's Choice meals and, well, because Catalina is a remote, warm island with beautiful turquoise beaches only two hours from home. We didn't have many opportunities to eat our own food during this trip because (for better or worse) the trail goes through several towns and eateries, so my review today is limited to two Heather's Choice meals: Apple Buckwheat Breakfast, and Smoked Sockeye Salmon Chowder, and Alpine Aire's Veggie Burrito Bowl.

Food Reviews: Good To-Go Thai Curry and Herbed Mushroom Risotto

File this under: photographs that are only exciting to Hawaiians and Californians that never see snow ever. Road to Salmon River trailhead, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, Oregon. 

Over winter break, Dennis and I borked our backpacking trip in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness. On all technical aspects, we were prepared for what would have been our first Winter trip, but we were absolutely not prepared for the degree of boredom we'd experience in a cold dark tent at 5PM, with nothing to do until sunrise at 8AM the next morning. I say "borked" because we made it to the site, set up the tent, had dinner, got in our bags at nightfall, and bailed only an hour later. The appeal of warm dinner and warmer toilets in downtown Portland was simply too great. Oh well.

Dennis laughing at my weakness

Before we left we made dinner, so I got a chance to try the Good To Go Thai Curry, as well as the Good To Go Mushroom Risotto, which are reviewed below. I could have sworn I took pictures, but I can't find them. Suffice to say, the mushroom risotto looked like grey slop, and the Thai curry looked like yellow slop. Exciting, I know.

More experiments in Tofu Scramble, Hash Browns & Cashew Nacho Sauce

Scramble and veggie mixture in bag

This is my second time experimenting with my tofu scramble recipe, found here. This time, I did not
use any sausage/tempeh and I decided to make hash browns instead of potato cubes. It's a matter of taste, but I preferred this version.

I also experimented with non-dairy cashew cream sauce. No recipe for that yet, but definitely soon, because it's a wonderfully creamy, high-fat condiment that vegans and carnivores can both enjoy. The rehydration process worked perfectly and although in photos the sauce appears to have some texture to it, you can't detect anything but smooth, creamy cashew goodness. Lots of stuff to look forward to in future posts :)

Food Reviews: Good To-Go Smoked Three Bean Chili

I've been really, really excited about trying Good To-Go Meals, following them on twitter, keeping an eye on their webpage and keeping my ear to the ground for any and all new product reviews. It's such a promising brand because their products are all: 1) vegetarian or vegan, 2) painstakingly and truly handmade from the ground up, 3) the brainchild of  Jennifer Scism, whose professional culinary history is very impressive, and 4) clearly a labor of love.

I don't consider myself picky, but I am a little choosy when it comes to vegetarian chili. Chili is, after all, a terribly competitive and contentious dish, rife with impassioned and unsubstantiated personal opinion. As such, there are several schools of thought when it comes to vegetarian chili (just as there are schools of thought for oatmeal cookies, brownies, etc.) and Good To Go's definitely falls in the Hippie Chili category, more of a vegetable and bean stew than a true chili. In the Hippie Chili category you'll find quinoa chili, bulgur chili, sweet potato and corn chili, and so on.

Fake Chicken Mole with Brown Rice

About twice a year I go to the trouble to make a huge batch of really good, homemade sauces. Those sauces always include jerk and mole. About a year ago I had some leftover mole in the freezer to use up and it seemed as good an idea as any to simmer it with some fake chicken and dehydrate for a future meal. Throughout the year, I looked at it a few times and considered bringing it along on trips, but always hesitated because I hadn't experimented much with dehydrated fake chicken yet. I was worried it would rehydrate weird, tough or rubbery, and I'd find myself hungry and disappointed at camp after a long day's hike.

So I couldn't keep staring at it in the food bin. I knew I had to open it up and at least find out how it fared over the passage of time.

First glance- nothing awry

Food Reviews: North African Stew from Hawk Vittles

Unfortunately, tastes about as monotone as it looks.

I really want to like Hawk Vittles, because it's a essentially homemade, a one-man operation, light on sodium (which lets you tweak as you please), and all-natural ingredients. And I haven't tried 2/3 of the soups I've bought, so while I won't condemn the brand yet, I was really disappointed with the North African Stew I tried recently (at home- so lacking the hiker hunger bias). In concept, it's a great idea and definitely one I want to build out myself. Couscous, white beans, eggplant, tomato, onion. But in execution, Hawk's stew is bland to an extent that lemon and salt cannot rescue. The soup has no spice, and tastes like it. Even the tomato and onion flavor are muted. What I did like, is the texture of the beans: nice and plump, and the dried eggplant: satisfyingly chewy. It reminded me slightly of a familiar convenience soup from my childhood, except more substantial, and less flavorful.

Tofu Scramble, Potato, Sausage and Veggie Skillet

Soooo gooooooood

Flavor: 9/10 (I think hash browns would be even better than potato cubes)

Ease at home: 4/10

Ease at camp: 4/10 (depends on your stove/cook system)
Heat level: 2/10

Times made: 1

In my opinion, the best thing I made all week on the Evolution Loops was easily the tofu scramble. Easily! It can even be improved further. I'm really excited to make this again.

Wild Onions: So Tasty

Incredible, vivid golden trout from Evolution Lake

I know this is a dumb blog title, but I really thought about it for a while and I couldn't think of a better one. Wild onions are SO tasty. And in certain areas, they're everywhere. Countless plants at every stream and in every meadow- easy to identify, easy to clean. And really, there's very little in this world more delicious than fresh trout cooked with wild onions. So how lucky are we that these two ingredients can be found at utmost freshness in one of the most popular outdoor destinations in the world?

Food Reviews, Desolation Wilderness trip: Organic Spuds w/Spinach & Cheese from MaryJane's Farm, Southwest Black Bean and Corn Salad from Packit Gourmet

A vivid blue gradient and a paintbrush-swipe of clouds just before the top of the Crystal Range. At this point, the terrain on the other side is a mystery. Just like the mystery that is dinner.

I was raised on mashed potato flakes. In fact, I think I preferred them to real mashed potatoes for a while. I'd have mashed potatoes with ketchup and fantasize about the french fries I was almost never allowed to have. I remember my grandfather, a self-proclaimed "gourmand" bitching to my parents at the Thanksgiving dinner table about me putting ketchup on his homemade mashed potatoes, shaking his head. I also remember buying the cup-o-mashed potato cups all throughout middle school. I'd rehydrate them with less water than recommended and somehow I really enjoyed the kinda crusty, kinda dense, concentrated flavor, not fully rehydrated quality of the whole thing. Anyway...given all this backstory, it's no surprise I really liked the MJF potatoes. And Dennis, who I didn't expect to like them, was enthusiastic too. "Getting back to my Scottish roots," he said.

Food Reviews, Desolation Wilderness trip: Potato Samosas with Mango Chutney from Packit Gourmet

Really, really good. SO worth the extra prep time to wrap/fry.

I had low expectations because I'd read a lot of negative reviews about the samosas when prepared cold. But holy shit...prepared hot, these were an easy 10. They needed a little salt and I could easily have eaten twice as much chutney as provided, but that's not really a criticism, is it?

Food Reviews, Desolation Wilderness trip: Happy Hour Snack Pack from Packit Gourmet

Last Tuesday, Dennis and I were babbling on Facebook when I realized we were coming up on a 3 day weekend without plans. While the Diablo patch just hit and I was looking forward to playing games, neither Dennis nor I liked the idea of fermenting all weekend on the computer. There would be plenty of time to play games during the week, but only one 3 day weekend before Fall weather hit.

Thai green curry, noodle veggie soup

Three weeks later, I'm still salivating. I know the coconut milk looks "broken", but there is no trace of grittiness. This appearance is the result of the coconut milk powder additives, and thankfully renders no unpleasant quality.

Flavor: 10/10

Ease at home: 8/10

Ease at camp: 10/10
Heat level: 8/10

Times made: 2

Wow, this one is insanely good. Graciously inspired by Dirty Gourmet, and adjusted to taste. If you wanted something really easy, something you could throw together at the last minute, you could follow the Dirty Gourmet recipe and use curry powder- I'm sure it would be delicious. However, if you have the time to dehydrate a few ingredients overnight, fresh curry paste makes an enormous difference and enables the use of fish sauce (which would have to be carried as a very stinky liquid, or omitted, otherwise).