Chili Sin Carne, Trail Version
Black beans, tomato powder, and a heavy spice hand. No meat, no fridge, one pot.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 500 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
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Bikepacking
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Dehydrated black beans | 3/4 cup | instant or flaked, not dry whole beans |
|---|---|---|
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | stands in for a can of chopped tomatoes |
| Dried bell pepper | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried carrot | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried celery | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried onion flakes | 2 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | stands in for two cloves |
| Vegetable bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp powder | |
| Smoked hot paprika | 1 tsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1 tsp | |
| Chili powder | 1 tsp | |
| Dried thyme | 1/2 tsp | |
| Bay leaf | 1 | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Lime juice powder | 1 tsp | or a packet of vinegar |
Method
- Boil 500 ml of water. Add everything dry except the lime powder, including the bay leaf.
- Stir once, cover, and hold it at a bare simmer for five minutes.
- Cut the heat and let the pot sit another five minutes in a cozy or under your jacket. The vegetables need the soak more than the boil.
- Fish out the bay leaf. Stir in the olive oil and the lime powder, then taste for salt.
- If it is soupy, sit on it another few minutes. If it is stiff, add hot water a splash at a time.
The original is a fresh-vegetable stew: onion, garlic, carrot, celery, peppers, canned tomatoes, cooked beans. All of that has a dry equivalent that weighs a fraction as much. Tomato powder does the heaviest lifting, since a can of chopped tomatoes is mostly water you are already carrying in your bottle. Cooked beans become instant or flaked black beans, which rehydrate in minutes instead of the overnight soak plus long boil the whole dried ones need.
The spices are the whole point, so do not cut them to save a gram. Smoked paprika and cumin are what make a bean pot read as chili rather than as beans. The acid at the end matters just as much: without lime or vinegar the whole thing tastes flat and muddy. Fat comes in as olive oil because there is no sour cream or cheese out here, and a stew this lean is not dinner without it.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one quart freezer bag at home, bay leaf and all. Oil rides in a dropper bottle. Lime powder in its own small bag so it does not go in early.
Variations
- A handful of instant rice or crushed corn chips at the end turns it into a bigger dinner.
- A pouch of freeze-dried corn adds sweetness against the smoked paprika.
- Dried avocado will not rehydrate well. Skip it and add more oil instead.
https://www.schuesselglueck.de/chili-sin-carne-vegan