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    • I have an idea for a BP meal… couscous, chick peas, sweet potatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, pine nuts, lemon juice, olive oil, and North African spices.

      I mixed up the spices and have everything ready except the chickpeas. I can’t decide whether to dehydrate them (it takes a really long time) or carry them fresh. I looked at freeze dried chick peas and the directions say to simmer for 10-15 min!?! That’s not possible on the trail.

      I really don’t think I’d need a lot, maybe 1/3 cup so carrying fresh for a Night 1 meal is what I’m thinking. I’m also thinking about roasting them in the oven but don’t know if that makes much difference.

      Ideas?
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Are the sweet potato and veggies dehydrated? How will you do the lemon juice? You could throw in some sesame seeds too, maybe? If there isn't salt in the spice mix I would add that too. Rather than chick peas, how about red lentils. I find these to be the fastest cooking of the raw pulses (beans, peas, legumes, etc...). I cook them on the trail by bringing to a boil and then letting set in a pot cozy for 15 minutes. Lentils would be appropriate for Moroccan stew, which is what this recipe seems to be like. A lot of time they use both lentils and chick peas. Also I wouldn't give up on the dried chick peas. You could try cooking them the way I do the lentils (bring to boil, steep in cozy). You may get acceptable results. I also get good results with black bean and rice mixes using this method (which have pre cooked dried rice and beans). The trick is getting the liquid right. Too much water is better than too little. My rule of thumb is 150 grams of dry food ingredients for two cups of water. This gives you about 600 calories (assuming your dried food is mostly starch and protein at 4 cal/g). The olive oil bumps up the calories to 800 ish whis is good for a big hungry hiker.
    • odd man out wrote:

      Are the sweet potato and veggies dehydrated? How will you do the lemon juice? You could throw in some sesame seeds too, maybe? If there isn't salt in the spice mix I would add that too. Rather than chick peas, how about red lentils. I find these to be the fastest cooking of the raw pulses (beans, peas, legumes, etc...). I cook them on the trail by bringing to a boil and then letting set in a pot cozy for 15 minutes. Lentils would be appropriate for Moroccan stew, which is what this recipe seems to be like. A lot of time they use both lentils and chick peas. Also I wouldn't give up on the dried chick peas. You could try cooking them the way I do the lentils (bring to boil, steep in cozy). You may get acceptable results. I also get good results with black bean and rice mixes using this method (which have pre cooked dried rice and beans). The trick is getting the liquid right. Too much water is better than too little. My rule of thumb is 150 grams of dry food ingredients for two cups of water. This gives you about 600 calories (assuming your dried food is mostly starch and protein at 4 cal/g). The olive oil bumps up the calories to 800 ish whis is good for a big hungry hiker.
      The sweet potatoes and veggies are dehydrated, the lemon juice is really lemon powder in a packet, the olive oil is also in a packet. The spice mix has salt. For the spices, I used…

      Cumin
      Garlic
      Sugar
      Salt
      Cinnamon
      Allspice
      Turmeric
      Paprika
      Black Pepper
      Cayenne pepper

      Thanks for the lentil idea, that’s probably what I’ll use instead of chickpeas.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Couscous cooks so fast, I would worry about the dehydrated chickpeas unless you are planning on a really long soak./ A small container of fresh chickpeas sounds preferable to me.

      I've brought NearEast couscous on the trail. I've made it more interesting by adding in some sunflower seeds and raisins. When I am lucky enough to catch a wild trout, I cook the trout, then the couscous (garlic and pine nuts is a good choice), and then put the trout back on top in the pot. The juices as I eat the trout add nicely to the flavor of the couscous.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • I have seen ready to eat chickpeas (not dehydrated) in pouches, probably in the Indian food section. Probably already seasoned. I wouldn't give up on dried chick peas. A 15 minute steep in a pot cozy after boiling my work. I have never tested this, but I think bringing foods like basmati rice and red lentils to a boil in a pot followed by a steep is more effective than freezer bag cooking which won't get the food as hot for as long. Another thing to test.
      BTW, basmati rice (the really good, really long grain kind) can also be cooked raw this way, as opposed to most other shorter grain raw rice. (not to mention it tastes so much better).