Chapter 9
Trail Food: Backpackers
Take Note
If you are a backpacker (as I am), canoeist, kayaker, or outdoor enthusiast of any kind, you undoubtedly already know how taking dehydrated foods on your trip can help to lighten your load. Even if you pursue more traditional modes of traveling, but dietary restrictions or food allergies necessitate taking your own supply of foods, you know what I am talking about. Foods, fresh or canned or packaged, weigh a lot and take up valuable space; dried foods weigh a lot less and are remarkably packable. Rid of water and heavy protective packaging, dried foods make the perfect traveling companions. Dried foods high in nutritional values supply the energy you need for a day of strenuous physical activity. And by drying your own food at home and packing it yourself, you have direct control over what it is you will eat, because you’ve made the meals and planned the menus. No longer are you limited to ready-made mixes or someone else’s idea of what’s good for you out on the trail.
The recipes throughout this book can be used to plan meals away from home, but this chapter, in particular, will show you some special combinations to prepare and dry—foods that you might not think of cooking at home, but that are worth their weight in gold out in the wilds. For example, consider dried wheat gluten as a high-protein meat substitute, or dried tofu, or already cooked dried grains a nourishing meal, with the addition of vegetables.
I believe the reasons some us of us want to live temporarily (at least) in the outdoors, to sleep under the stars, to breathe crystal-clear air, to view still wide-open unpeopled spaces are highly personal. There is the challenge of doing it, of course, and the knowledge of the dramatic effect nature has on our senses. Whatever the reasons for outdoor adventuring, of this I am sure: The same foods we eat at home seem to taste much better and are much more appreciated when eaten in the outdoors away from home.
There are those moments, though, when you are camping and it starts to rain. You are dripping wet, having lugged thirty-five pounds of gear all day on your back, and you still can’t find a suitable place to camp for the night. It’s at those times, when all I can think about is my cozy Victorian bed with fresh, clean linens waiting for me at home, that I ask myself, “Why do I do this?”
The answer lies in how the experience helps me grow. I see the spaciousness of life; old problems disappear as new insights are made. With my eyes and ears and nose, I respond afresh to everything—especially food. Eating is a great part of the fun of adventuring.
What follows are some of my more practical insights on the foods you can take backpacking. They involve, not surprisingly, having used your dehydrator before leaving on the trip!
YOUR POOD SUPPLY: WHAT TO TAKI
To sustain yourself, you need foods that are high in protein, fruits, vegetables, and starchy and sweet foods, but none of these can weigh too much. Dried foods are the obvious and practical choice. Among the nutritious dried foods I particularly like to carry are leathers, instant (cooked and dried) grains, and just-add-water-and-cook one-pot meals. When you dry your own foods, you are able to provide yourself on the trail with a variety of tastes, including nutritional options, that are very hard to come by if you rely exclusively on commercially prepared trail foods. And the difference in cost between the two is considerable. Here are several extremely viable sources of dried foods.
Canned Foods
Few people realize that canned foods can be dried and that many of them are delicious when rehydrated. Just as important as their taste is how transportable they become when dried. Take these simple examples:
A 1-pound 5-ounce can of fruit cocktail when dried reduces to 3 ounces and tastes just like fruit candy. And it needs no rehydrating to be enjoyed!
A 13-ounce can of cream soup reduces to 3 ounces dried.
A 6
-ounce can of water-packed tuna dries to 1 ounce.
The fact that a 1-pound 9-ounce jar of spaghetti sauce when dried reduces to 3 ounces may seem impossible to believe when you taste that reconstituted sauce, atop a plate of hot pasta.
How to Dry Canned Foods
Foods packed in water or juice, like canned peaches or mandarin oranges, should first be drained, then arranged in a single layer on mesh-lined drying trays. Dry until bendable to the touch.
Canned cream or stock-based soups or sauces, such as spaghetti sauce, canned tomato paste, or even ketchup, should be dried on lightly oiled solid leather sheets until the food can be peeled off. Don’t be surprised if certain foods don’t hold their shape when dried; they are still very usable.
When drying tuna, I prefer to use tuna packed in water, not oil, as oil-packed foods do not dry in home dehydrators as completely as water-packed ones do. Drain the tuna well before spreading it on the solid leather sheet. If you flake it into pieces or chunks, the tuna will dry faster, about 4 to 6 hours, depending on the make of dehydrator.
Depending upon the type of canned food, you can either eat it out of hand, like the dried fruit cocktail, or rehydrate it in water, juice, or milk.
Frozen Food
If you are in a hurry to leave on an outing and you haven’t time to buy fresh ingredients for home drying, simply go to the frozen food section of your supermarket and pick up a selection of ready-to-eat frozen fruits and vegetables. The supply in your own freezer may also be another much closer source! To give you some idea of what you will be carrying, a 30-ounce package of mixed frozen vegetables when dried weighs all of 5 ounces.
How to Dry Frozen Foods:
If the frozen food is encased in ice crystals, remove as many crystals as you can before arranging the food on drying trays in your dehydrator. If you don’t remove the ice buildup, you run the risk of flooding the machine when the ice starts to melt. Spread the frozen vegetable or fruit on the drying tray and give it a shake to jostle the pieces loose from each other. Let the tray stand at room temperature for several minutes to partially thaw, drain off any excess water, then put the tray in the dehydrator.
Leftover Food
At some point in time, everyone has some food left over. My advice is, do not discard leftovers. They can be dried very successfully and taken on camping or backpacking trips. Moreover, in drying leftovers you are doing a little something extra to extend your end of the food chain.
How to Dry Leftovers:
Select only those leftovers that appeal to you and dry them individually in your dehydrator. When dried, put each food in an airtight freezer bag, label and date the bag, and note the number of servings it contains. Place the food in a section of the freezer reserved for dried leftovers. Continue doing this over the course of a year. When you take a trip requiring lightweight food, it will be waiting for you in the freezer.
When drying a dish that contains food in different-sized chunks, like beef stew, I have found that it is better to separate the pieces of meat and/or vegetables from the gravy and dry each component separately. In the same fashion, store each component in its own separate freezer bag. When you’re ready to combine them for rehydration, each ingredient will have been dried for the proper amount of time.
I also advise you not to try to dry casseroles containing cooked noodles or pasta dishes, because the noodles break down during the drying/rehydration processes. It’s a better idea to take the sauce ingredients and the dry cooked noodles separately and combine them when ready to serve.
PROTEIN AND FAT
Now that you know what sources, besides the obvious fresh ones, you can draw on to dry foods for outdoor adventuring, it is important to address sources of protein and fat, both of which you will need in good supply on your journey. By protein, I mean eggs and milk, and by fat, I am talking here about butter, margarine, oil, or cheese.
Eggs
It is not possible to dry raw eggs in a home food dehydrator without running the risk of salmonella contamination. When backpacking or camping, therefore, I take dried egg substitutes, which can be purchased at some commercial bakeries or large grocery stores.
In general, 5 tablespoons of dried egg substitute equal 2 medium eggs, beaten.
You can dry your own eggs at home provided they are completely cooked. Repeat: Home-dry cooked eggs only. Scramble eggs as you would normally in a skillet, then dry them in your food dehydrator at a temperature of at least 140°F until hard, 6 to 10 hours, depending on the make of dehydrator. Let them cool and pulverize them in a blender. Dried cooked eggs are not a substitute for raw eggs.
This brings to mind another important point about trail food. Know the foods you are taking on the trip and how they combine. Do not experiment out in the wilds. Test out combinations at home before you leave, then take only your successes along in your food pack.
Milk
Buy dry milk to take with you on the trail. Whether dry or powdered, instant or noninstant, reconstitutable milk is abundantly available in supermarkets and grocery stores.
For 1 cup milk: Stir ¼ cup dry milk into 1 cup cold water and let sit for at least 15 minutes before using.
You may also want to purchase dried buttermilk, which cannot be dried at home because of its oil content. In cooking or baking, buttermilk adds a lighter texture to the finished product and increases its nutritional value. In recipes, combine dried buttermilk with the other dried ingredients, then add liquid.
For 1 cup buttermilk: Stir ¼ cup dried buttermilk into 1 cup water.
Fats—Butter, Margarine, and Oil
Oil is not water and, as a consequence, does not dry well in a home food dehydrator. Therefore, you will have to purchase commercially dried butter buds or butter-flavored granules to take with you camping. While these dried products, including commercially dried oil, are good for cooking and baking, they do not work well for sautéing. On the trail, you may simply prefer to take olive oil. Always carry it in a spill-proof plastic container, as plastic bags invariably leak.
Although I do not recommend dehydrating milk, I was curious whether ice cream could be successfully dried. I dried three different flavors, on oiled solid leather sheets, by the tablespoon. Both the vanilla and strawberry ice cream turned into chalky powder, and the chocolate, when dried, was sticky on the bottom with the chalky powder on top. Beyond the sheer experience of it—could ice cream even be dried because of its high oil content?—I could not find a use for the powder, aside from a topping for other frozen desserts to add sweetness. Only the dried chocolate ice cream had any substance to speak of, and most of it was sticky.
Cheese
Cheese is a good source of both protein and fat, and unlike raw eggs and milk, certain types of low-fat cheese can be home-dried, including Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, and even low-fat cottage cheese.
How to Dry Low-Fat Cheese:
Cut the cheese into - to ¼-inch-thick slices and dry as described for other fatty foods, such as bacon or ground beef.
OTHER HIGH-ENERGY TRAIL FOODS
Wheat Gluten
No discussion of high-energy foods appropriate for backpacking or camping would be complete without mention of wheat gluten, a protein or meat substitute known to vegetarians and other health-food enthusiasts. Most likely you have heard of gluten as the stretchy substance in bread dough that provides the elasticity that allows the dough to rise. If “overworked,” the gluten tightens up, toughening the loaf.
Gluten can actually be separated out of a mass of dough, dried, and used as a meat substitute or extender. If you are a fan of Vietnamese cooking, you already know that gluten appears in that cuisine as “mock duck”—quite a stretch when you think of what gluten actually is!
When incorporating gluten into your own cooking, no matter the guise, it is important to remember that it is an incomplete protein and should always be served with another protein like eggs, milk, cheese, or meats. And because it has practically no taste of its own, you can add it to soup and let it absorb the flavor of the soup’s ingredients and base, or add herbs and spices to the gluten itself.
To Separate Gluten from Dough:
Begin by making the dough. I like to grind my own wheat, hard red winter wheat, which I buy at the health-food store. Mix 2 cups flour with 1 cup water and knead, either by hand or in a bread mixer, until satiny and smooth. Shape the dough into a ball, put the dough in a bowl, and cover the dough with water. Let sit for 1 hour. As the dough sits, you will see the bran and starch begin to separate from the mass.
Remove the dough from the water and wash it under running lukewarm water. The bran will wash off, leaving a tight, elastic ball of gluten. Let the raw gluten relax for about 5 minutes before you dry it.
To Dry and Grind Wheat Gluten:
Form the raw gluten into 2- to 3-inch patties and place the patties on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 250°F oven for 30 minutes.
Put the dried gluten patties through a meat grinder or grind them in a blender until the gluten has the texture of ground meat. (It should look like hamburger.)
To Dehydrate Wheat Gluten:
Put the ground gluten on a leather sheet and dry in a dehydrator 4 to 8 hours, depending on the make of dehydrator, until hard.
To Use Dried Wheat Gluten:
Add it to Backpacker Spaghetti Sauce or to the meatless variation. Or incorporate it into soup. Because wheat gluten is dried until hard, you will need to allow additional time for it to rehydrate in liquid.
Tofu
Like wheat gluten, tofu is high in protein. Tofu is bean curd cake made from soybeans. It comes in squares that are packed in water and it is sold in Asian markets, health-food stores, and large supermarkets. Tofu is rich in nutrients, free of cholesterol, and low in saturated fats and calories. It contains all eight essential amino acids in a configuration that is readily usable by the human body. And if that were not enough, it has about 35 percent more protein than any other unprocessed plant or animal food. Dried tofu can be a nutritional godsend for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike when trekking away from home.
Tip: Because tofu, like gluten, has little flavor, I like to slice it and then marinate it in 1 part soy sauce to 4 parts water before drying it. Add dried herbs, such as dill and basil, plus ground pepper to the soy sauce for additional flavor.
To Dry Tofu:
• Cut the fresh, drained tofu into - to ¼-inch slices and place the slices on the drying tray of your dehydrator. Dry for 4 to 8 hours, depending on the make of dehydrator, until brittle.
• Or slice the tofu as described above and arrange it on a paper-towel-lined layer of newspaper. Cover the tofu with another layer of paper towels and newspaper, then place a weight—a cast-iron skillet, for example—on the paper layer. Press for 4 to 8 hours. Remove the weight and toweling, then place the tofu slices on dehydrator trays. Dry until crackerlike and brittle.
• Or arrange slices of tofu on a baking sheet and freeze them for a minimum of 8 hours. Transfer the frozen tofu slices to your dehydrator and dry until crackerlike and brittle.
One pound fresh tofu equals 3 ounces dried.
To Use Dried Tofu:
• Enjoy herbed marinated dried tofu slices as crackers.
• Rehydrate dried tofu slices by covering them with hot water and letting them sit for several hours to rehydrate. Drain, chop, and add to soups, casseroles, salads, egg or rice dishes, or sauces.
• Rehydrate dried tofu and use it as an egg substitute: Allow 
cup mashed rehydrated tofu for each whole egg in a given recipe.
• Grind dried tofu slices into powder and use as a flour or cheese substitute.
• Make Tofu Soup or Eggs with Tofu and Fresh Asparagus.
RICE AND OTHER GRAINS
Grains not only add needed nutrients to your diet when you are out on the trail, but they are also superb filler-uppers—an attribute that should never be underestimated when you are putting together a food pack. Just as pasta or noodles hit the spot when you are hungry or cold (or both), so does a nourishing bowlful of rice. Furthermore, rice and other grains can be added to “stretch” certain dishes that might not quite go all the way around those empty plates by the campfire. Take it from me, you do not want to run the risk of shortchanging hungry campers.
Carrying dried cooked grains, and I emphasize the word “cooked,” in your food pack has several advantages. By drying the grain after it is cooked, you eliminate the long cooking time and, as a consequence, save on fuel. Depending upon the size and texture of the grain, as well as the altitude, rehydration of cooked dried grains can range from minutes to hours.
To Cook and Dry Short-Grain Brown Rice:
Cook 1 cup short-grain brown rice in 2 cups boiling water until tender, about 30 minutes. Let cool and spread the rice in an even layer on mesh sheets on solid leather sheets in the drying tray. Place the trays in the dehydrator. Dry for 6 to 10 hours, depending on the make of dehydrator, or until hard.
To Rehydrate Dried Cooked Rice:
Combine equal amounts of rice and hot water in a saucepan and let sit for several minutes to rehydrate. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the water to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, cover the pan, and let stand until the rice is soft. Or to quicken the process, simmer the rice, adding more liquid as necessary. Dried cooked rice will rehydrate in about a half hour.
Of course, you can also rehydrate dried cooked rice in bouillon or meat or vegetable stock, making it a natural addition to certain soups, like Backpacker Vegetarian Tomato Soup.
TRAIL BAKING
While you may have willingly decided to leave behind heavier foods, even some favorites, while you are on the trail, you do not have to do without bread, the staff of life. In fact, not only can you take it with you in the form of flour tortillas, bagels, bagel chips, muffins or crackers, but you can bake bread over the campfire. Being able to bake bread outdoors is just one more incredible aspect of adventuring out-of-doors. To be able to look forward to fresh bread at mealtime at the end of the day is worth every last one of those exhausting steps to the campsite! And warm bread in the morning, now that’s something to get up for.
Experienced backpackers and campers, devoted to making bread on the trail, already know that there is a dried sourdough starter called Goldrush Old-Fashioned San Francisco–Style Sourdough Starter Packet (net weight, ½ ounce), available at health-food stores. The starter makes easy work of biscuits and pancake batter. If you choose to dry your own starter, remember to dry it at 90°F; higher temperatures will kill the culture.
There is another way to have your bread and eat it, too, on the trail. It’s called stick baking: Bread dough cooks on a stick; if s as easy, and wonderful, as that.
Stick Baking
Begin by selecting green sticks, each about 2½ feet long and about 1 to 1½ inches thick, and peel back the bark about 6 inches on one end of each stick. Make the dough (recipe follows), then wrap it around the prepared end of the stick. Rotate the stick over the fire for 8 to 10 minutes. You’ve just made stick bread! The finished loaf will be dark on the outside, with a hole in the middle that can be filled with stew or spaghetti sauce or a sweet.
Stick Bread
2 cups Bisquick
½ cup cold water
4 prepared sticks
Have a good fire of hot coals ready and waiting.
In a bowl, stir the Bisquick and the water together until a soft dough forms. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
Wrap 1 piece of the dough around the prepared end of each stick, place the dough over hot coals, and rotate the sticks for even baking. (If you heat the sticks first over the fire, the part of the dough next to the stick will cook better, but be careful of burning the sticks!) Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until crisp on the outside but not burned.
Makes 4 stick breads
Vegetable Stick Bread: Rehydrate 1 tablespoon small pieces of dried tomato and 1 teaspoon each dried bell pepper pieces and dried onion in 2 tablespoons water until softened. Add the vegetable combination to the cold water before adding it to the Bisquick.
Fruit Stick Bread: Knead small pieces of dried fruit—apples, figs, dates, or fruit leathers—into the dough before dividing it into pieces.
Jerkied Stick Bread: Work ½ cup pieces of jerky (¼-inch size) into the dough before dividing it into pieces.
PLANNING TRAIL MEALS
A day’s supply of dried food for one person will weigh 1 to 1½ pounds and provide 4,000 to 5,000 calories. Take enough food to share with travelers you meet along the way and always factor in emergency rations in case of bad weather or the loss of a food pack.
Many backpackers and campers find that they function better on the trail if the meals they eat do not differ greatly from those they have at home. Keep this in mind when you cook beforehand, and start a list of menus that could be replicated for your next outing. When you find a recipe that works for you, experiment with it: Try substituting beef jerky one time, chicken jerky the next. The same basic recipe, like Backpacker Jerky Stew, will taste different each time. And if it is good at home, it will taste wonderful in the great outdoors!
The recipes in this chapter should serve as just the start of your repertoire of trail food combinations. Read through the other chapters, write down the recipes that appeal to you, their ingredients, and what you will need to dry. Then try those recipes at home.
For a three-day trip, here are some menus that use recipes from the book. As to beverages, I leave the selections up to you. Hot chocolate, coffee, or herbal tea are all good (and warming) options.
DAY 1
Breakfast
Granola with Dried Fruit
Dried Apple Slices
Orange-Carrot Juice
Lunch
Potato Soup
Assorted Crackers
Snacks
Assorted Fruit Leathers
Vegetable Gorp
Dinner
Backpacker Jerky Stew
Stick Bread
Backpacker Yogurt Rice Pudding
DAY 2
Breakfast
Pancakes with Apricot Leather Syrup
Lunch
Backpacker Tuna a la King
Aunt Grace’s Apple Raisin Cookies
Snacks
Fruit Gorp
Basic Beef Jerky
Real Corn Chips
Dinner
Spaghetti with Backpacker Spaghetti Sauce
Vegetable Stick Bread
Backpacker Trail Pudding
DAY 3
Breakfast
Fruit Leather Breakfast Cookies
Eggs with Tofu and Fresh Asparagus
Lunch
Backpacker Fancy Macaroni and Cheese
Snacks
Chocolate or Butterscotch Pudding Leather Cookies
Basic Chicken Jerky
Dinner
Simple Dried Veggies and Brown Rice
Cottage Cheese and Fruit Leather
OTHER TRAIL FOOD IDEAS
Be sure to take foods high in fiber on the trail, for example, Granola with Dried Fruit.
To replace the salt and potassium you lose through perspiration, eat dried meats, bananas, apricots, raisins, and nuts.
Although nuts are heavy to carry, they provide a good amount of protein, besides crunch and flavor.
Seeds also perk up mealtimes and make good snacks on the trail. Take along sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds.
If preparing an entire home-dried recipe is too time-consuming, add home-dried items to packaged food. Add pieces of dried beef or chicken jerky to a box of packaged fried rice. Or combine dried meats or vegetables and packaged noodle dishes: See Backpacker Fancy Macaroni and Cheese.
Dried yogurt is delicious rehydrated with water and added to drinks or sauces. Or partially rehydrate it and spread it, like cream cheese, on crackers or fruit leathers.
Jerky is an excellent source of protein and very easy to carry, making it superb trail food.
Miso, soybean paste made from cooked fermented grains mixed with salt and water, is available fresh or dried from natural-food stores and can be used in the same way as ketchup as a substitute for salt, soy sauce, or bouillon for flavoring.
HOW TO PACK DRIED MEALS FOR THE TRAIL
Some outdoor adventurers prefer to pack their food in bulk, others opt to pack each meal separately, and still others make up daily packs. While packing in bulk will probably add to the overall weight you will be carrying, a choice of foods will very likely inspire creativity.
One-pot meals are the easiest to prepare, and they offer unlimited ways to use dried foods. Good one-pot meals include Backpacker Jerky Stew, Backpacker Jerkied Tomato Rice, and Fancy Macaroni and Cheese. Another option is to prepare a main-course dish like Simple Dried Veggies and Brown Rice at home, then dry it in your food dehydrator. Pack the meal in a heavy-duty Ziploc bag, and stow it in your food pack. Then, on the trail all you have to do is rehydrate it, heat it, and enjoy.
I repeat, use heavy-duty plastic bags for carrying trail food and organize your food pack carefully and intelligently. As efficient as plastic bags are, animals can still smell the food in them. To really be on the safe side and to outwit any foraging forest animals, you could also vacuum-pack your dried food meals. The food will be sealed airtight, eliminating any possibility that an animal could pick up the scent.
Food is definitely part of the fun of outdoor adventuring. The more creatively you eat on the trail, the more profound the experience. Dried foods add variety, and there is a lot to be said for variety! And they lighten the load.
FOOD REHYDRATION ON THE TRAIL
While on the trail, plan far enough ahead to integrate food rehydration time into the day’s activities. There is little that is more disheartening than having to wait and wait and wait for a meal when you’re hungry. So after lunch on any given day of camping, anticipate dinner by combining a dried soup or dried cooked rice with a little water in a sealable plastic bag or container with a tight-fitting lid. As the afternoon passes, add more water as needed; the item will be rehydrated by dinnertime. By adding boiling water you can speed up the process. A clear plastic 18-ounce peanut butter jar weighs 2 ounces when empty and makes a great container for rehydrating dried foods. And you’re doing your part in the recycling process! For a more in-depth discussion of rehydrating dried foods, see Chapter 10.
What’s an Your Back
Approximate weight of foodstuffs common to food packs
4 cups dried cooked brown rice |
= |
1 pound |
6 cups oatmeal |
= |
1 pound |
3 cups powdered milk |
= |
1 pound |
3 cups raisins |
= |
1 pound |
4 cups granola |
= |
1 pound |
6 cups home-dried bananas |
= |
1 pound |
8 cups home-dried tomatoes |
= |
1 pound |
8 cups home-dried peaches |
= |
1 pound |
2½ cups home-dried celery powder |
= |
1 pound |
4 cups applesauce leather, cut into 1-inch squares |
= |
1 pound |
Water takes longer to boil at higher elevations, and rigorous boiling can quickly break food into pieces. As a consequence, don’t walk away from the pot on the fire. It may need some of your attention, even if you’re having only a simple one-pot meal.
Although you have read this many times already in this book, I will say it again: The larger the piece of dried food, the longer it takes to rehydrate. Break leathers into 1- to 2-inch pieces. And by completely rehydrating dried foods, you can conserve the amount of fuel you need for cooking.
TRAIL COOKING
When you are getting ready to cook over a campfire, you can get an idea of how hot the coals are by holding your hand over the fire, about two feet above it. Then count the seconds it takes until you must pull your hand away. Calculate the temperature as follows:
1 to 2 seconds = 500°F
3 to 4 seconds = 400°F
5 to 6 seconds = 300°F
7 to 10 seconds= 200°F
I hasten to add that I make no claims as to the accuracy of this system! I do know that it is fun to try, and is a proven hand warmer-upper when the temperature drops!
Here are a few other practical tips:
If the wood for the fire is all the same size, the coals will burn at the same rate.
When the flames have burned down and the coals are ashy gray on top and red hot beneath, start cooking.
If all you are cooking is eggs, the coals should be no bigger than the size of your thumb and about 1 inch deep; if you are baking, as with Stick Bread, the coals must be larger, about the size of a piece of charcoal and about 3 inches deep.
TRAIL FOOD RECIPES
Backpacker Vegetarian Tomato Soup
If you’ve been using your food dehydrator, you will have all, or most, of the ingredients on hand to make this warming combination. The ingredients weigh all of 3 ounces, which means you can take a lot of it along on your trip!
1 ½ cups water, plus ½ cup
¼ cup dried tomato powder
¼ teaspoon dried bell pepper powder
teaspoon dried onion powder
teaspoon dried garlic
teaspoon dried basil
Pinch of dried celery powder
½ cup powdered milk
In a camp pot, combine the 1½ cups water and all the remaining ingredients except the ½ cup water and the milk. Let sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, lower heat to medium, and simmer for 5 minutes.
In a cup, combine the remaining ½ cup water and the milk. Stir and add to the soup base. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Makes 1¾ cups, or 2 servings
Variation: Add ¼ cup cooked dried short-grain brown rice and let it rehydrate in the soup base.
Backpacker Rice Balls Wrapped In Nori
This appetizer might not strike you as camp food, but I am including it because it is so different, exotic even. The rice balls are extremely low in fat, and if you like nori—dried seaweed—an Asian ingredient that can be found at Japanese or Asian markets, this is a way of having it out on the trail. Be careful to carry these so that they remain flat; if crushed or jostled, they break apart.
You can make the nori even more fragrant by toasting sheets of it over an open flame until slightly darker in color. For an interesting variation, try pieces of rehydrated dried apple or plum instead of tomato.
Total weight: 4 ounces.
1 cup cooked dried short-grain brown rice
2 cups water, divided
16 dried tomato pieces (½ inch in diameter) 16 strips of nori (Japanese dried seaweed), each strip 1½ inches wide by 5 inches long
In a saucepan, combine the rice with 1 cup of the water and bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let sit for at least 15 minutes to rehydrate.
Place the pan over medium heat and bring the rice to a boil. Cover partially and simmer until the rice is tender, about 15 to 30 minutes. If you have to add additional water, add 1 tablespoon at a time.
As the rice is finishing cooking, combine the dried tomato pieces in the remaining 1 cup water and let sit for 5 minutes to rehydrate.
Let the rice cool, and drain the tomatoes. Press the rice into 16 balls, each the size of a golf ball. In the middle of each rice ball enclose 1 piece of softened dried tomato. To prevent the rice from sticking to your hands, dip your hands in water every now and then. Wrap each ball in a strip of nori, encasing it completely and sealing the edges by rubbing the seaweed with water and pressing down firmly. Pack, seam side down, in a covered container.
Makes 16 appetizers
Backpacker Jerky Stew
This stew, one of my favorites, is great to take backpacking because it is made with all dried ingredients. Feel free to double or triple the recipe. At home you can make it in a slow cooker: Combine all the ingredients and let them bubble away on medium heat for 2 to 3 hours, or over low heat for 6 to 8 hours. Add dried corn, dried peas, or dried green beans to the vegetable/jerky rehydration combination whether making this over a campfire or on the top of the stove.
I have provided the option of adding a fresh carrot for crunch. It adds a nice touch, and because you have reduced the weight of your pack by taking along dried foods, you can afford the luxury of carrying a few fresh fruits and vegetables.
Total weight: 4 ounces.
4 cups water, divided
1 cup dried tomato pieces (about 20 slices, broken)
1 cup beef jerky pieces (½-inch size)
1 cup dried peeled potato slices
1 tablespoon dried bell pepper pieces
1 tablespoon dried onion pieces
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 fresh carrot, sliced (optional)
1 cup cooked dried short-grain brown rice
In a large saucepan, combine 3 cups of the water and all the remaining ingredients except the carrot, if using, and the rice. Let sit for 30 minutes to rehydrate.
Place the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer the stew for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until the jerky is tender. If desired, add the fresh carrot when the stew comes to a boil.
While the stew is cooking, in a pan combine the rice with the remaining cup of water and bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes to rehydrate. Place the pan back over medium heat and bring the rice to a boil. Cover partially and simmer until the rice is tender, about 15 to 30 minutes.
Serve the stew over the hot cooked rice.
Serves 2 to 4
Backpacker Tuna à la King
This recipe, which combines commercially prepared foods with interesting dried foods, is for all those who camp or backpack in the mountains, and want a truly hearty, nourishing, and healthful meal at the end of a strenuous day. Who would have thought that you could enjoy tuna à la king out in the wilds? And if you’re really organized, you will also have made noodles to take on the trip.
The dried ingredients, not including the noodles, weigh a mere 8 ounces.
2 tablespoons dried peas
1 tablespoon dried mushroom pieces
1 teaspoon dried bell pepper pieces
1 teaspoon dried onion pieces
1 teaspoon dried celery powder
5 cups water, divided
½ cup flaked dried tuna fish
½ cup 1-inch pieces dried cream of mushroom soup, crushed
1 cup milk (made by combining ¼ cup powdered milk with 1 cup water)
2 cups narrow dry egg noodles
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
In a saucepan, combine the dried peas, the mushroom pieces, the bell pepper pieces, the onion pieces, and the celery powder with 1 cup of the water. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes to rehydrate.
In a bowl, combine the dried tuna and the dried soup with the milk. Let sit for 30 minutes to rehydrate.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the vegetables until the peas are cooked, about 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Add the tuna fish-mushroom mixture and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer until it thickens, about 15 minutes.
In another saucepan, bring the remaining 4 cups water to a boil. Add the egg noodles, and cook until they are tender. Drain the noodles well. Return the noodles to the pan, add the egg noodles, and combine the mixture well. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper.
Serves 2 to 4 (depending upon how far you have hiked that day)
Tip: Dried turkey, chicken, or salmon can be substituted for the dried tuna. Dried shredded carrots are nice too. And dried tomato pieces add lovely color, too.
Backpacker Jerkied Tomato Rice
This dish combines meat, vegetables, and a grain—a nutritious triumvirate—and all you have to do to prepare it is to use your dehydrator before you hit the trail. When you’re tired, cold, and wet—and what backpacker doesn’t know that feeling?—this is the dinner to have.
The packet of dried ingredients weighs 10 ounces, and every ounce of it is flavor- and power-packed.
1 cup ½-inch pieces Ground Beef Jerky
3 cups water
¾ cup cooked dried short-grain brown rice
½ cup dried tomato powder
1 teaspoon dried onion pieces
1 teaspoon dried celery powder
1 teaspoon dried bell pepper pieces
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
½ teaspoon dried mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
In a saucepan, combine all the ingredients. Let sit for 1 hour to rehydrate.
Place the pan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover it, and let the rice sit for at least 30 minutes until it fully rehydrates and all the ingredients have softened.
Serves 4 as a main course
Backpacker Fancy Macaroni and Cheese
“Fancy” may not be quite the appropriate word here, but what I am hoping to convey is the notion that macaroni and cheese, the great comfort food that it is, can be enhanced with different kinds of dried foods to make it a particularly healthy and tasty dish especially if you’re traveling with children. And the grownups will like it, too! Here, dried bacon bits add the spark. In addition to (or instead of) the bacon, you can add dried tomato flakes, dried onion pieces, and/or dried mushroom pieces. Rehydrate these in the milk, as you do the bacon. Double or triple this recipe if you’re trekking with carbohydrate lovers.
Total weight of the dried ingredients, including the noodles, equals 8 ounces: Now, that’s portable!
1 tablespoon powdered milk, dissolved in ¼ cup water
2 tablespoons dried bacon bits, crumbled
One 7¼-ounce box of macaroni and cheese dinner
6 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Dried herbs of choice to taste
In a small bowl, combine the milk with the bacon bits and stir in the packet of dried cheese sauce from the macaroni and cheese dinner. Let sit for 10 minutes to rehydrate.
In a large saucepan, bring the 6 cups water to a boil, add the noodles, and boil, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes. Drain the macaroni and return it to the pan. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the rehydrated cheese sauce, salt, pepper, and herbs of choice, and combine the mixture thoroughly.
Serves 2
Backpacker Spaghetti Sauce
As you already know, homemade or store-bought spaghetti sauce can be dried into leather and then rehydrated, making it ideal for taking along on a camping trip. Generally, 24 ounces of spaghetti sauce weigh 3 to 4 ounces dried into leather. When broken into 1-inch pieces, 3 to 4 ounces of the leather yield 2 cups. Not incidentally, 1 pound lean ground beef dried weighs 5 ounces and equals ¾cup. Both the sauce and meat weigh so little it’s almost impossible not to stow them in your food pack! And who doesn’t like spaghetti?
Besides being very easy to transport, the ingredients here render a truly good sauce. All that is required is a little preplanning, but when done and the sauce tops hot cooked pasta, you have a nourishing, good meal, the kind hungry campers can really tuck into.
Total weight equals 12 ounces, not including the pasta, or the cheese.
For the beef:
¾ cup dried lean ground beef
1 cup water
For the sauce:
2 cups 1-inch pieces dried spaghetti sauce leather
½ cup dried tomato pieces (about 10 slices), torn into quarters
½ cup small dried mushroom pieces
1 teaspoon dried onions
1 teaspoon dried bell pepper pieces
½ teaspoon dried celery powder
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried garlic
3 cups water
Prepare the beef: In a large saucepan, combine the dried beef and the 1 cup water. Let sit for at least 1 hour to rehydrate. (To speed up the process, combine the beef with 1 cup boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes. Cover and let sit for about 30 minutes, or until the meat is softened.)
When the beef is rehydrated, add the spaghetti sauce leather pieces with the dried tomato pieces. Stir in all the remaining ingredients, including the 3 cups water, and let sit for at least 1 hour.
Place the pan over medium heat, bring the sauce to a boil, and simmer it, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or to the desired thickness, adding more water if necessary.
Serve over hot cooked pasta, with grated Parmesan cheese as an accompaniment.
Serves 4
Backpacker Meatless Spaghetti Sauce: If desired, eliminate the dried ground beef and the water needed for rehydration. The rehydration time for the sauce, as well as the cooking time, will be reduced by about one third. For a really thick sauce, add only 2 cups water to the recipe, reserving the remaining 1 cup water to thin the sauce if needed.
OTHER BACKPACKER OPTIONS FOR TOMATO SAUCE
As long as you have dried tomatoes on hand at home, you have several options for taking them along as trail food. The dried tomatoes can be in powder form, leather form, or in pieces. With any or all of these, tomato sauce is very easy to make. To make tomato paste, use half the recommended amount of water.
To Season Tomato Sauce or Paste: Add dried herbs, such as basil or oregano; celery powder, onion powder, or bell pepper powder; garlic, salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar, if desired.
Other options: Add dried mushroom pieces, dried zucchini pieces, or dried spinach pieces.
Tomato Sauce (from Dried Tomato Powder)
½ cup dried tomato powder
1 cup water
In a small camp pot, combine the tomato powder with the water and bring the sauce to a simmer. You have just made practically instant tomato sauce.
Makes 1 cup
Tomato Sauce (from Dried Tomato Leather)
½ cup dried tomato leather pieces (1-inch size or smaller)
1 cup water
In a camp pot, combine the tomato leather pieces and the water, and bring the mixture slowly to a simmer. Use a spoon or wire whisk to break up the leather pieces and simmer, stirring, until saucelike.
Makes 1 cup
Tomato Sauce (from Dried Tomato Pieces)
1 cup tomato pieces
1 cup water
In a camp pot, combine the tomato pieces and water. Let sit for about 15 minutes until rehydrated.
Makes 1 cups
Backpacker Trail Pudding
Here’s an easy-to-make, light-to-carry, good-to-eat-on-the-trail combination that blends real food (in the form of dried fruit powder) with a packaged mix. And it makes a fast dessert at home, too.
2 cups water
1 cup powdered milk
One 3.4-ounce box vanilla instant pudding
2 tablespoons dried fruit powder, such as strawberry, apricot, peach, or banana
In a camp pot or container, combine all the ingredients and stir until completely blended. If desired, divide the pudding among juice cups and let stand for at least 10 minutes, or until thickened.
Serves 4
On the Trail A Langing for Green
If you’re anything like me, there comes a time out on the trail when, no matter how well and interestingly I’ve been eating, I long for something green. Because the idea of carrying a head of lettuce in my pack was a little ridiculous, I had to come up with something else. And I did. Don’t laugh when you read about how I carry this little bit of green with me. It’s lightweight and it works! Here’s my high-energy, low-calorie, high-in-protein discovery.
(There is one special item you will need: a lady’s nylon stocking!)
Sprouts for the Trail
1 nylon stocking
1 ounce alfalfa sprouts, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, mung beans, or green lentils
Cut off the foot and tie a knot at the bottom of the stocking. Put the sprouts in the leg of the stocking and tie another knot at the top. Place the stocking in a plastic bag of water and tie the bag to the outside of your pack. Let soak overnight.
Remove the stocking from the bag and rinse the sprouts. Attach the stocking to your pack and each day rinse the sprouts in water. Anywhere from 3 to 5 days later, you will have green sprouts. What a treat!
Backpacker Yogurt Rice Pudding
Except for the milk, you can combine and carry all the ingredients for this pudding in one very small plastic bag. Allow about 1½ hours to prepare it from start to finish, and up the nutrients by adding nuts or other dried fruits, such as apricots, cherries, or cranberries. The recipe doubles well.
1 cup milk (made by combining 1 cup water and ¼ cup powdered milk)
½ cup cooked dried short-grain brown rice
½ cup dried plain or vanilla yogurt pieces
¼ cup dried grapes (raisins) or other dried fruit
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon powdered ginger or tiny pieces of candied dried ginger
teaspoon ground cinnamon
teaspoon ground nutmeg
In a saucepan, combine the milk with all the remaining ingredients. Let the mixture sit for at least 1 hour to let the rice plump up.
Place the saucepan over low heat and simmer it slowly for 5 minutes. Increase the heat to high and boil the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring often to prevent scorching. Remove the pan from the heat. Cover and let the pudding sit for 15 to 30 minutes to allow the rice to rehydrate completely. You may have to add more milk. Serve warm or chilled.
Serves 2