Sometimes there are stories behind recipes and this is one of them.
I had finally dialed in how to cook pasta that didn’t need to be drained, and could be done in a smaller pot. My first successful recipe for this one pot method was Asian Inspired Chicken & Veggies. We packed up our gear and recipes and hit the road.
Kirk and I were out hiking for a couple weeks, on vacation, and one day we ended up in the Olympic Mountains, up at Hurricane Ridge. We went for a hike in the wildflowers.
Looking at Mount Angeles.
The trail below, leading far below. It’s a pretty section, with a lot of up and down.
Looking back into the Olympic Mountains.
It was a beautiful day in August, with a light breeze off the Salish Sea (the mountains rise quickly from the waterfront).
You almost always see deer in these meadows. They live quite the life. The downside is tourists often pet them, feed them and fail to understand that deer can kick hard.
After a nice hike, we drive out towards Hurricane Hill and filmed an episode of Trail Cooking & The Outdoors in a very scenic picnic area. I was wearing a microphone setup that blocked a lot of outside sound, but most of the shoot we had a very large Raven in the tree above me talking loudly. It wasn’t happy I wasn’t sharing food with it. It stayed there for a good hour!
- 4-ounces uncooked small pasta shape
- 1 Tbsp diced sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp diced dried carrots
- 1 Tbsp diced dried shallots or onion
- 1 Tbsp diced dried spinach
- 1½ tsp low sodium chicken bouillon
- ½ tsp dried chives
- ¼ tsp dried garlic
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 7-ounce pouch chicken breast
- 1 Tbsp shelf stable parmesan cheese
- 2 packets soy sauce
At home:
Pack in a sandwich bag the dry ingredients. Put the Parmesan cheese in a small bag and tuck with the chicken and soy sauce packets.
In camp:
Bring the dry ingredients, chicken, soy sauce and 1½ cups water to a boil in your pot. Cook, covered, on low heat (gently bubbling) for 7 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes covered. Add in the cheese, stirring well.