Brunch of Soaked Noodles & Daylily Shoots

The week was unseasonably warm, even in the 80s. Rain is coming, it is overcast, so I am not solar cooking. What to do when it's too hot to light the cook stove, yet too cloudy to solar cook? 

Into the pantry I go: potato chips and chocolate for dinner!!!!! 

Okay… that lasts not a day. Now I’m craving healthy, fresh food! Here is a tip I use living off grid that might be valuable to campers: soak your noodles. The night before, I put some noodles in a pot and cover them with just enough water, and the next day when I want to saute up some noodles, I start with heating mayonnaise (or any oil, if you’re camping), chop up all the vegetables, start sauteing, add in the noodles, and now they cook in the same amount of time, so you can get a really delicious, nutritious meal for much less time than it would take to cook noodles by boiling. Use your judgment: if they’re a little dry, add broth/sauces/a splash of water to finish them. (I am always dashing in hot sauce, soy, miso, etc. so don’t often have an issue.) Think of all the water you didn't use and throw away! (And if you're cooking on a camp stove, you're also conserving propane!)

Here’s a great spring brunch that satisfies my junk food/street food craving but is healthy: I chopped onions and daylily shoots (Hemerocallis) and sauteed them in a mixture of mayonnaise and wasabi. Once that was getting tender, I stirred in noodles, added more hot sauce, some soy... The key is stir, and then let it sit awhile before stirring again. I even topped it with a perfect egg, and when the runny yolk mixed with the pasta, it was perfect brunch comfort food. 

It's going to rain and the temperatures will drop tomorrow, so I gathered blooms and catkins to set up some rainy day projects for the cook stove: jams and pine capers.

Monday, as predicted, brought rain. During a break, I ran out to toss a little hay to the equines (they are starting to graze grass), and as I ran back in, I grabbed daylily shoots, violets, wild garlic and onion, and a lone asparagus. Again, I sauteed mayonnaise, wasabi, and the vegetables. I added soaked noodles, hot sauce, soy, and finally, an egg. A perfect breakfast for spring! Spring brings foraged food packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!