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Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a multi-talented artist. A food writer who pairs her mouth-watering recipes with her beautiful, original watercolors and interesting prose, she is truly a multi-faceted artisan. Currently writing a new cookbook called, “Oregon Hazelnut Country — the Food, the Drink, the Spirit, ” Jan embodies today’s food lovers striving to use local sourced ingredients.
We recently asked Jan to create a Rogue River salad for our Whitewater Warehouse rafting, kayaking, and hiking guests to enjoy. She did exactly that for us. Here in her words, is a great story about her personal river travels and how that experience helped her to create this original salad for our Whitewater Warehouse guests. This is a long blog but worth the read…enjoy!
“Corvallis-based white water river guides, Joy Henkle and Bob Meister handed me a most delightful assignment. It began with a note: “We have a Rogue River rafting business that is based out of Corvallis and we are big foodies here. We grow a lot of the food we serve our guests in our Willamette Valley gardens. Also, we serve Oregon hazelnuts to our rafting guests each summer (we buy them direct from a local farmer), and get rave reviews.”
“We’re very interested in giving our guests the highest quality local foods, especially since many of them come from the California area and really appreciate our efforts to supply them with a top-notch Oregon food experience. We’re always looking for the ‘perfect’ river lunch salad. I make one with homemade pesto, but do you have any other ideas for great river salads?”
“This started me on a nostalgic jog down memory lane to my own ultimate river salad experience: The year was 1978. It was the first day into a 3-day white water rafting trip on the north folk of The American River in northern California. We’d beached the rafts for a break.
“What’s for lunch?” we paddlers wondered. The guide and his crew had set out cutting boards on a big fat log and were pulling fresh carrots, celery, green onions, cucumbers, bell peppers, and hard boiled eggs from their dry bags.
“Tuna salad sandwiches,” said our guide as he tumbled his pile of chopped veggies and egg into a huge pot. Out came the cans of tuna, some fresh mayonniase, and sliced olives. All of these ingredients combined into the most amazing tuna salad sandwich I have ever experienced.
“Now, I’m sure that ambiance had a bit to do with it, as well as a hearty appetite from a morning of paddling through class 3 rapids. But still, it was a dynamic combination of ingredients which I have always enjoyed.
“Composing a salad for the Henkle-Meister’s river adventures should definitely contain some serious Northwest specialties, I thought. So in went the hazelnuts, Walla Walla Sweets, and some smokey bacon from one of the region’s finest pork producers, Carlton Farms. As a nod to the river they’re running, a bit of Rogue Creamery’s Blue cheese as well.
“I patterned this salad after a salsa I created under similar circumstances: outdoors, on a camping trip in the Oregon coast range, with a bag full of sun-ripened tomatoes and a couple of luscious Walla Walla Sweet onions. My fellow campers were the official taste testers and Walla Walla Salsa Salsa was given thumbs up all around at Happy Hour.
“For the salad approach, I added chicken, basil, and hazelnuts, and Rogue Creamery Blue, of course! Maybe some day I’ll enjoy it alongside its namesake, after a day on the water. Bon Appetit, Joy. Thanks for the challenge!”
No, Jan, THANK YOU! Readers…look for the actual recipe that Jan created for us on our Friday, August 6th blog. We will also be featuring photos of the actual salad. You’ll also be able to find the recipe for the salad in her soon to be released cookbook, “OREGON HAZELNUT COUNTRY — The Food, The Drink, The Spirits”
A few of White Water Warehouse’s Rogue River rafting yummy recipes are featured in the Fall 2009 Penzeys Spices catalog. White Water Warehouse’s Joy Henkle has long ordered from this incredible spice company. The quality of their pure spices and their dynamite spice mixes really help enhance the company’s Rogue River hiking, rafting, and kayaking trip lunches. Featured in the catalog are WWW’s acclaimed “Broccolicious Salad” and the company’s over-the-top “Dutch Oven Red Potatoes with Black Peppercorn Butter.” Penzeys’ website will also feature these two recipes and another dip recipe from the friendly cooks at White Water Warehouse…
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