August Skillet Grains
Couscous, dried summer vegetables, and sausage in one pan. A weeknight skillet dinner rebuilt for a stove that only boils.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 15 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Instant couscous | 3/4 cup | whole wheat if you can find it |
|---|---|---|
| Dried zucchini and bell pepper | 1/2 cup | store-bought or dehydrated at home |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 2 tbsp | chopped small, the dry-packed kind |
| Hard cured sausage | 2 oz | soppressata or summer sausage, sliced thin |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder, oregano, black pepper | 1 tsp total | |
| Bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp powder | |
| Lemon powder or a wedge of lemon | 1/2 tsp |
Method
- Put the dried vegetables, tomatoes, and bouillon in the pot with 400 ml of water. Bring it to a boil and hold it there two minutes so the vegetables start to open up.
- Kill the heat. Dump in the couscous and the herbs, stir once, and clamp the lid on.
- Wait five minutes. Do not lift the lid to check.
- Fluff with a spoon, then stir in the sausage and the oil. The residual heat is enough to soften the fat in the sausage.
- Finish with the lemon. It cuts the salt from the bouillon and the cured meat.
The original is a summer skillet: fresh squash and peppers thrown in a pan with a grain. None of that survives a pack, so the vegetables come dried and the pan work disappears. What is left is the part that actually carried the dish, which is salt, fat, acid, and something with texture in it.
Couscous does the heavy lifting because it rehydrates off the heat. The dried vegetables need a real boil first, though. Add them at the same time as the grain and you get soft couscous around pieces of vegetable that are still leathery.
Packing
Couscous, dried vegetables, tomatoes, bouillon, and spices premix into one bag at home. Sausage and the oil bottle ride separately. The sausage does not need a cooler for a few days in reasonable weather, but slice it before you leave.
Variations
- Swap the sausage for a foil packet of chickpeas or lentils and it goes vegan.
- Instant polenta in place of couscous makes it gluten-free, but add water in stages or it seizes.
- A spoonful of pesto powder instead of the dried herbs, stirred in at the end.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/easy-meal-plan-for-august