Cold Soak Berry Salad
Freeze-dried berries brought back with cold water, honey, and lime powder.
- calories
- 290
- weight
- 2.4 oz
- cal / oz
- 121
- protein
- 3 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 3 min
- water
- 180 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dessert
- Snack
- Cold soak
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Day hike
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried strawberry slices | 1 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried blueberries | 3/4 cup | |
| Freeze-dried raspberries | 1/2 cup | they turn to dust if the bag gets crushed, which is fine |
| Freeze-dried blackberries | 1/2 cup | dried blackberries or more blueberries if you cannot find them |
| Dried mint | 1 tsp | crumbled, not powdered |
| Crystallized lime powder | 1 tsp | True Lime or similar, one packet is about this |
| Honey | 3 tbsp | restaurant packets, or a squeeze tube |
| Salt | a pinch |
Method
- Dump the berries, mint, lime powder, and salt into a jar or a freezer bag.
- Add 180 ml of cold water. Less than you think, since freeze-dried fruit soaks up fast and you want fruit, not soup.
- Seal and shake, then leave it 20 minutes. Shake once more halfway through.
- Squeeze in the honey and stir. It will not dissolve in cold water on its own, so keep stirring until the syrup coats everything.
- Eat straight from the jar. If it came out dry, add water a tablespoon at a time.
Fresh berries are a cooler-only food. They bruise in a pack, they mold in two days, and they are mostly water you are already carrying. Freeze-dried berries hold the same flavor at a fraction of the weight, and cold water puts the texture back in about twenty minutes.
The lime powder and salt do the real work. Freeze-dried fruit rehydrates sweet and flat, and acid plus salt is what makes it read as fruit instead of candy. Dried mint is weaker than fresh, so it goes in at the start with the water rather than at the end.
Packing
Berries, mint, lime powder, and salt go in one bag at home. Pack it somewhere it will not get sat on. Honey rides in its own packets or a tube, never loose in the food bag.
Variations
- Stir in half a cup of rolled oats and another 100 ml of water and soak it overnight for breakfast.
- Skip the honey and use brown sugar to make it vegan.
- A pinch of chili powder with the lime turns it into something closer to a Mexican fruit cup.
https://blog.9jakitchen.com/berry-salad-recipe