Cold-Soak Couscous Salad with Mint and Pine Nuts
Dried vegetables and couscous soaked cold in a jar while you walk. Lunch is ready when you stop.
- calories
- 670
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 149
- protein
- 19 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 325 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.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Cold soak
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Day hike
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Whole grain couscous | 1/2 cup | about 1 dl, already parcooked and dried in the box |
|---|---|---|
| Dried cherry tomatoes | 9 g | halved before drying so they rehydrate evenly |
| Dried gherkin slices | 4 g | |
| Dried red onion | 5 g | |
| Dried red or green bell pepper | 4 g | |
| Vegetable bouillon powder | 2 tsp | |
| Dried mint, crushed | 2 tsp | any mint works; dry it low, around 40 C, or it goes to hay |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | in a small leakproof bottle |
| Roasted pine nuts | 30 g | buy them roasted or toast them at home |
Method
- At the last water source before you want lunch, tip the dry mix into a screw-top jar or insulated bottle.
- Add 300 to 350 ml of cold water. Seal it and shake until the bouillon powder is off the bottom.
- Walk. Give it 90 minutes to two hours. A threaded lid matters here; a snap lid will empty itself into your pack.
- Stir again, then pour in the oil and scatter the pine nuts over the top. Eat straight from the jar.
Couscous is already cooked and dried before it reaches the box, so it does not need heat, only time and water. That makes it one of the few grains that works cold. The vegetables are the slow part: dried tomato and onion take longer to come back than the couscous does, which is why this soaks for two hours rather than twenty minutes.
The oil and pine nuts go in last, and they are most of the calories. Soaked couscous with vegetables is about 300 lean calories and not enough to walk on. Fat added at the end also stays where you can taste it, instead of being absorbed into swelling grain. Use a jar that seals by thread, not friction, and carry it upright.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag or vacuum pouch at home. Oil rides in its own bottle and the pine nuts in their own bag, both added at the end so the nuts stay crisp and the oil does not slow the soak.
Variations
- Swap the mint for dried basil and add a spoon of sun-dried tomato powder.
- A foil packet of tuna or a scoop of freeze-dried chickpeas turns it into a real dinner.
- Dried lemon peel or a pinch of citric acid gives it the acidity the gherkins only hint at.
https://wolgast.no/en/recipes/cold-meals/couscous-salad