Cold Soak Meal for Backpacking

For over two months now, every day that I have been home, a dehydrator has been running nonstop in my kitchen.

My daughter is currently hiking the Continental Divide Trail.

And soon I will leave town to meet her somewhere in New Mexico to hike and camp with her for a couple of weeks on her grand adventure.

At some point after I made the decision to go, I decided I would make dehydrated camp meals for us like Kandace did for our Ouachita Trail Trek back in 2020.

Cut to me texting Kandace three days into this project:

I don’t think I thanked you enough for making all of our food for the Ouachita Trail. 

I had NO IDEA HOW MUCH WORK IT WAS.

She reminded me that we went on our hike in the middle of a pandemic when we all had more free time.

But still!

It’s a lot of work.

And also the first used dehydrator I bought was a waste of space and did not work properly.

After three days of blowing slightly warm air around, I threw it out and bought another one.

This time I went in for a much more serious model. I had meals lined up and waiting their turn to fill up the 9-tray appliance when it arrived.

It takes up like half of my kitchen space and runs all day and all night.

Today it’s dehydrating a lentil salad that I remember enjoying mid-afternoon on the trail like half a decade ago.

A lot of the meals I am working on are dinners that will need hot boiling water to be rehydrated.

But this week I’m focused on some protein-powered lunches that can be reconstituted with cold water.

I used French speckled lentils for this salad because they hold their shape better than regular brown lentils.

The dressing is a lemony fresh thyme flavor.

I hope we like it because I have nine trays of it dehydrating at the moment, which wildly, is just 8 servings.

So on 4 different days, we will pour a half cup of water into little ziplock bags of dried out bits, and hopefully it will taste heavenly.

Or at the very least, I hope it will power us through the rest of the day’s miles.

I’m nervous about my ability to walk the long miles with a big backpack again. (I’m worried about the purple bruises that appear on my hips at night when I take the pack off.) But I’m also excited.

There’s nothing in the world like being out in the middle of nowhere, far away from civilization for days (weeks) at a time.

I wrote these words from Walt Whitman down in my journal this week:

Now I see the secret of the making of the best of persons,

It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.

It’s almost time for me to go eat and sleep with the earth again.

Wish me luck!

PS. Here’s the recipe for the Lemony Lentil Salad just in case you’re planning a backcountry adventure of your own.

Cold Soak Lentil Salad Recipe

Adapted from The Dehydrator Cookbook for Outdoor Adventures

by Julie Mosier

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar, unseasoned
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon agave, or ½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon fresh thyme
¾ teaspoon salt, divided
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1½ cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
3 celery stalks, cut into ½-inch dice
1 cup matchstick carrots
¼ cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, agave, thyme, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and the pepper. Mix thoroughly and set the dressing aside.

Put the lentils and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Cover the lentils with the water and bring the water to a boil. Partially cover the pot and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. If needed, add another cup of water while the lentils are cooking. Cook the lentils for 25 to 30 minutes or until they are soft but not mushy. Drain the lentils, rinse them in cold water, and set them aside to cool.

When the lentils are cool, transfer them to a large bowl with the celery, carrots, and parsley. Place all the vegetables in a large bowl.

Add the dressing to the vegetables and mix well to combine.

Dehydrate

Spread the salad out evenly on the dehydrator trays fitted with sheets of parchment.
Place the trays in the dehydrator. Set the dehydrator to 135°F and turn it on. If your dehydrator has a built-in timer, set it for 6 hours.

At the 6-hour mark, check the vegetables. They should be firm and should not feel moist. If necessary, continue to dry the salad for another 4-6 hours.

Measure the total amount of salad, divide it into four portions, and place each portion in a zip-sealed bag. Label and date the bags. Store for up to 1 year.

To Rehydrate, add a scant ½ cup of cool water to the bag. Mix it well, cover, and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Stir the salad again before eating.

Enjoy!

The post Dehydrated Lentil Salad (Cold Soak) appeared first on Alison Chino.

At the beginning of March, Taido was lecturing in London, so we decided to go over early and have a little getaway together. We do this a few times a year whenever one of us needs to be in London for something. Taido calls it “a London Jolly.”

It’s cheapest to take a London Jolly from Bristol by bus, but it’s so much more pleasant on the train. We went on the train this time to Paddington Station.

We started our time in London at The Globe Theatre to see The Tempest. The plays are at the indoor theatre in the winter, which I had never been to, but y’all…it is INCREDIBLE. It’s called The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and it is entirely lit with real candles. How is this even possible? At intermission (called the interval here in the UK), they lowered the candelabras and changed the candles out to fresh ones. The actors even held candles as they acted.

The entire production was the most fun theatre experience I can remember. Half the actors were hidden in the audience. Someone would pop up next to you and interrupt the play and soon it would become apparent that they were part of the show. At one point, Prospero stopped mid-sentence to tell a woman in the audience to stop filming the play. He was very cross and went back and forth with her for an uncomfortable minute before she put her phone away. Then about 30 minutes later, the lady, for whom we were still suffering second-hand embarrassment, got up and joined the play as one of the actors. So clever.

It was wildly fun and I would return in a heartbeat to see whatever is showing at this theatre.

After the show, we went to the Mithraeum, an ancient Greek temple that was discovered after bombing during World War Two. It’s in the basement of the Bloomberg building. Someone on one of my tours told me that you can visit it for free, so it’s been on my London list for a minute.

Then we made our way back to East London in the neighborhood we always stay in. We stay right around the corner from Brick Lane, where the best bagels in the world are on offer 24/7 and curry restaurants line the road. Also it’s an easy bike ride from Columbia Road Flower Market if I happen to be there on a Sunday morning.

This time we walked to Dishoom in Shoreditch for dinner. Dishoom is a Bombay-inspired London staple that has now made it’s way to many other UK cities and even is opening in New York City(!), but we still don’t have one in Bristol. I resisted going there for a while, because of the hype (there’s always a long wait outside), but Taido convinced me that it lives up to its reputation and he was not wrong.

We loved everything we ordered: Gunpowder Potatoes, Black Dal, Chapati, and Broccoli Chili (Chilli) Salad.

The next morning, while Taido was lecturing, I did the Regent’s Canal walk that goes all the way from the Thames River at Limestone to Little Venice. I have walked part of it before, but never this entire 10-mile stretch in one go. I stopped in Camden for lunch, spent a little time reading in the sun on a bench and then met Taido for dinner at Bondi Green, a restaurant I love that is super close to Paddington Station. Even as much as I love Bondi Green, I was wishing for the same dinner from Dishoom after walking all day.

Around 7pm, we hopped back on the train and headed home to Bristol.

A successful London Jolly for sure.

In the days following our time in London, I was still dreaming about our meal at Dishoom so I started experimenting with copycat recipes. I was excited to find that the Broccoli Salad is actually available on Dishoom’s website (as well as several other recipes).

When we were in London, I picked all of the hot pepper out of my salad (I know…I am such a lightweight when it comes to spice), so I have adjusted my recipe to not include the peppers. And I added sunflower seeds and pomegranate seeds.

I have made this salad every week since we got back from London nearly two months ago, and I’m still not tired of it. I love to eat the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Here’s my version of the recipe. Feel free to add a red chili (chilli) pepper back in if you like!

Pomegranate, Pistachio and Broccoli Salad

Salad Ingredients:

2 medium heads of broccoli
150 grams (3/4 cup) roasted pistachio nuts
50 coriander leaves
8 mint leaves
50 grams (1/4 cup) roasted pumpkin seeds
50 grams (1/4 cup) roasted sunflower seeds
50 grams (1/4 cup or 8-10) pitted dates, chopped small
1 pomegranate, seeded

Dressing Ingredients:

50 milliliters (1/4 cup) lime juice (the juice of about 2 limes)
8 thin slices of ginger
1 teaspoon salt
40 grams (3 tablespoons) sugar or honey
25 milliliters (1/4 cup) rice vinegar
150 milliliters (3/4 cup) mild olive oil or vegetable oil
10 mint leaves

Instructions:

Cut the broccoli into very small pieces. Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients with an immersion blender (or in a blender). Pour over the broccoli.

Note: I like to do this step early in the day so that the broccoli has time to marinate in the dressing, which softens the broccoli a little so it’s a little less raw, but still crunchy. You could also blanche the broccoli for one minute and then drop it in an ice bath, but letting the dressing marinate has worked well for me.

In the meantime, I chop my dates, seed the pomegranate, toast the nuts and seeds, and tear the mint and coriander leaves.

I like to leave all these ingredients in separate little bowls during prep, and then I toss it all together just before serving.

Makes about 6-8 servings.

Enjoy!

The post Pomegranate, Pistachio and Broccoli Salad appeared first on Alison Chino.

I don’t get to get out and eat sushi as often as I would like, but I can now at least have the salad because I have put together a recipe for this dressing.

Whitney and I have found a bottle of ginger dressing that tastes like the one at the restaurant.  It’s called Makoto.  They sell it in the refrigerated dressings in Kroger and it is over $4 for one little tiny jar.  Since I can eat the entire jar in one sitting, I refrain from paying that much for it unless Taido is going out of town and I can have it all to myself.  But now, there is no need for such selfish behavior.  There is enough for everyone!

Now if I could just duplicate the tiger roll at home.

Fresh Ginger Salad Dressing (fills 2 pint-size jars)

1 cup sunflower oil

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

10 baby carrots

4 stalks celery

2 large pieces fresh ginger root (about as big as your hand), peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 small red onion

1 bunch scallions

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until all vegetables are in tiny (grated) pieces.  Enjoy on spinach or by the spoonful!

The post Fresh Ginger Dressing appeared first on Alison Chino.

This spring cobb salad recipe can serve as a reminder to go to your local farmers’ market tomorrow.

I now have markets north and south of the river, which makes for a full and glorious Saturday morning of marketing.  I brought home four different kinds of lettuce and greens last Saturday, giving simple salads at our house new complexity and depth all week long.

One day I would love to grow my own lettuces, but for now, thank goodness for sorrell, arugula, spinach and watercress at the farmers’ market!

Spring Cobb Salad

3/4 pound thick-sliced bacon, cut into 2-inch pieces

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 medium clove garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 small head romaine, washed, spun dry, and torn into bite-size pieces (about 5 cups)

1 medium bunch watercress, leaves and 1-inch stem, washed and spun dry

1 pound roasted turkey breast, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1/4 pound Maytag blue cheese, roughly crumbled

2 large hard-boiled eggs, thinly sliced

1 medium tomato, cut into 1/4-inch wedges

8 ounces cherry tomatoes, sliced

1 medium Haas avocado, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch wedges

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped tarragon

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped chervil

1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley

1. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp,

about 15 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and vinegar. In a slow, steady stream, whisk in oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

3. Arrange the romaine and watercress on a large serving platter. Arrange the turkey, blue cheese, eggs, tomatoes, avocado, and bacon in sections on top of the greens. Sprinkle with chopped herbs. Pour dressing over salad. Serve immediately.

The post Spring Cobb Salad appeared first on Alison Chino.