Cold Soak Kidney Bean Salad
Tinned beans, dried vegetables, and a lemon-oil dressing that builds itself in the bag.
- calories
- 480
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 96
- protein
- 15 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 200 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
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Day hike
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Kidney beans | 1 can, 15 oz | drained and rinsed, or 3/4 cup dried-cooked beans rehydrated at camp |
|---|---|---|
| Dried bell pepper | 1/4 cup | red, diced |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 1/4 cup | chopped, not oil-packed |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tbsp | |
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Lemon juice powder or a lemon | 2 tsp powder, or 1 whole lemon | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Sugar | 1 tsp | stands in for the maple syrup |
| Dried oregano | 1/2 tsp | |
| Chili flakes | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Put the dried pepper, tomatoes, onion, and parsley in a jar or freezer bag with 200 ml of cold water.
- Let it sit 45 minutes. An hour is better. The tomatoes take the longest.
- Drain off any water that has not been taken up. Do not wring it dry.
- Drain the beans and add them, then the oil, lemon, garlic powder, sugar, oregano, chili flakes, salt, and pepper.
- Seal and shake. Give it another ten minutes before eating if you can stand to wait.
The original is a fridge salad built on cucumber and cherry tomatoes, neither of which survives a pack. Dried bell pepper and sun-dried tomatoes do the same job: they rehydrate into something with bite, and the sun-dried tomatoes bring more concentrated sweetness than fresh ones did. Cucumber has no shelf-stable equivalent worth carrying, so it is gone.
The soak matters more than the mixing. Beans do not need it, but the dried vegetables do, and adding the oil early coats everything and slows the water down. Dress it after the soak, not before. Lemon juice powder is lighter than a lemon and does not leak, though a real lemon is better if the trip is short.
Packing
All the dried vegetables and seasonings go in one bag at home. Oil rides in a dropper bottle. The can of beans is the heavy part, so this is a first-night meal unless you carry dried beans cooked and dehydrated at home.
Variations
- Swap the beans for cooked-and-dehydrated chickpeas to cut the can weight by most of a pound.
- A packet of tuna turns it into a bigger dinner and adds 20 g of protein.
- Couscous stirred in soaks up the dressing, but it is no longer gluten-free.
https://blog.9jakitchen.com/kidney-bean-salad-easy-healthy-recipe