By Katy Wilkens, MS, RD

The wonderful thing about camp cooking is that food simply tastes better outdoors. It’s true! After a long day of paddling around the San Juan Islands, there’s nothing like the taste of a hot, hearty meal cooked over the campfire.

However, even though everything tastes better in a gorgeous outdoor setting, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get creative and spice up the menu. Below are some of my favorite, low-sodium ingredients to take camping, plus a recipe for tasty Pad Thai.

• Corn tortillas: At about 5 milligrams each, you can’t beat them as a low-salt, easy-to-carry alternative to bread.
• Couscous: A great way to save cooking fuel, just add to boiling water, turn off the heat and toss with a fork after five minutes. Add nuts and dried fruit for a great breakfast or chopped apple and curry spices for an exotic dinner.
• Tubes of polenta or grits: Most are low sodium and you can pan fry them for a great addition to any meal. Serve with tomato sauce and a chopped zucchini.
• DIY syrup: Simply combine maple extract (real or artificial) with water and sugar. No sticky mess until you’re ready to eat.
• Flatbreads: Make these on your camp stove. Try injera (sourdough flatbread from Ethiopia), gorditas (homemade tortillas) or even crumpets. All add texture and flavor to your outdoor meals.
• Cheese: Try cream cheese in tubes, blocks of hard cheddar and mini Babybel cheeses in red wax rounds. For a great dinner, sprinkle Parmesan or Mizithra onto pasta, couscous or rice cooked with garlic, fresh herbs and butter.
• Asian rice wraps: Low sodium and easy to soften in hot water, these can hold bean thread noodles, slices of green pepper and zucchini, fresh mint, and hopefully crab or salmon caught on your trip.
• Asian rice noodles and bean threads (vermicelli): These are usually low sodium and just need to be soaked in hot water. Try the recipe for camping Pad Thai below and you will eat like you’re at your favorite restaurant.

San Juan Pad Thai
Recipe will feed 4 to 5 hungry people. Try this at home first to get a good idea of serving size and then adjust it based on your group’s appetite.

1 package of rice stick noodles
1-2 tablespoons oil or butter
1 fresh jalapeno pepper
¼ cup sweet hot sauce (look for low-sodium brand), or substitute ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 zucchini, cut into quarters in camp
1-2 carrots, grated in camp
½ purple onion, finely chopped in camp
3 cloves garlic, minced in camp
¼ cup tamarind concentrate
Juice and zest of one lime or dried lime peel
½ cup water
½ cup chopped peanuts

Heat water. Soak noodles while you chop the other ingredients. Drain noodles. Sauté veggies with tamarind, water and other seasonings. Add noodles back in, cook until just tender and a bit gummy. Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the top before serving.

Calories: 413, Carbohydrates: 69 grams, Protein: 8 grams, Sodium: 157 milligrams

The information in this column is meant for people who want to keep their kidneys healthy and blood pressure down by following a low-sodium diet. In most cases, except for dialysis patients, a diet high in potassium is thought to help lower high blood pressure. These recipes are not intended for people on dialysis without the supervision of a registered dietitian.

[Katy G. Wilkens is a registered dietitian and department head at Northwest Kidney Centers. She was the 2014 recipient of National Kidney Foundation Council on Renal Nutrition’s Susan Knapp Excellence in Education Award, and she has a Master of Science degree in nutritional sciences from the University of Washington. See more of her recipes at www.nwkidney.org.]