I decided to try making some home made dehydrated meals, relying only on my cooking skills without looking at threads on here dealing with the subject. The result was actually pretty good, but I definitely learned some lessons.
I tried making a version of Mediterranean chicken and couscous. Couscous seems to be an ideal backpacking food cause it cooks in minutes with just some boiling water and is lightweight, and also flavorful and filling. So what I did is sauté some chicken along with peppers and onions in some olive oil. Once cooked I laid it all out on my dehydrator and dried until very dry. To prepare it, I got a box of roasted garlic and olive oil couscous from the store. I boiled about 3/4 cup of water with 1 tsp of oil and half the seasoning packet. Once boiling, I threw in the peppers and onions and chicken, let it come back up to a boil, stirred in half the box of couscous, let it come back up to a boil, let it boil for about a minute, and then covered it and took it off the heat for the couscous to cook. Let it sit 5 min.
What I got was a nice bed of couscous with the other ingredients nicely incorporated. The flavor was great, but the couple minutes I let the dehydrated ingredients boil was waaaay too short. I will definitely have to let them boil a little longer before adding the couscous. Other than that, I think I have a good, light weight, easy backpacking meal on my hands.
Anyone else do something similar using couscous or maybe minute rice? I'm interested in hearing recipes or rehydrating tips for backpacking meals
I tried making a version of Mediterranean chicken and couscous. Couscous seems to be an ideal backpacking food cause it cooks in minutes with just some boiling water and is lightweight, and also flavorful and filling. So what I did is sauté some chicken along with peppers and onions in some olive oil. Once cooked I laid it all out on my dehydrator and dried until very dry. To prepare it, I got a box of roasted garlic and olive oil couscous from the store. I boiled about 3/4 cup of water with 1 tsp of oil and half the seasoning packet. Once boiling, I threw in the peppers and onions and chicken, let it come back up to a boil, stirred in half the box of couscous, let it come back up to a boil, let it boil for about a minute, and then covered it and took it off the heat for the couscous to cook. Let it sit 5 min.
What I got was a nice bed of couscous with the other ingredients nicely incorporated. The flavor was great, but the couple minutes I let the dehydrated ingredients boil was waaaay too short. I will definitely have to let them boil a little longer before adding the couscous. Other than that, I think I have a good, light weight, easy backpacking meal on my hands.
Anyone else do something similar using couscous or maybe minute rice? I'm interested in hearing recipes or rehydrating tips for backpacking meals