Cold Soak White Bean Salad
Beans, dried vegetables, and a lemon-mustard dressing that assembles itself in a jar while you walk.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 138
- protein
- 19 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 300 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
- Bikepacking
- Day hike
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant white bean flakes or quick-soak cannellini beans | 3/4 cup | precooked and dehydrated at home, or bought as flakes |
|---|---|---|
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 2 tbsp | chopped small, the oil-free kind |
| Dried bell pepper | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Olives | 1 oz | a shelf-stable pouch, or dried olive slices |
| Dried parsley and basil | 1 tsp each | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | in a leakproof dropper bottle |
| Lemon juice powder or true lemon crystals | 1 tsp | |
| Dijon mustard | 1 packet | the takeout kind |
| Honey | 1 tsp | or a packet of sugar |
| Salt, black pepper, chilli flakes | to taste |
Method
- Put every dry ingredient in the jar. Shake once so the herbs distribute.
- Add 300 ml of cold water. Stir until nothing is stuck to the bottom.
- Seal it and let it sit at least two hours. Four is better. It rides in the pack.
- Before eating, add the oil, mustard, and honey. Stir hard until the dressing coats everything.
- Season with salt, pepper, and chilli flakes. Eat cold from the jar.
The original is a fridge salad: tinned beans, cut tomatoes, cucumber, a whisked vinaigrette. None of that survives a pack. Dehydrated beans and vegetables do the same job and weigh a quarter as much, and the soak time is dead time you spend walking anyway.
The dressing goes in last on purpose. Oil coats the beans and slows how fast they take on water, so a jar dressed at the trailhead is still chalky at lunch. Lemon powder and mustard carry the acid; the honey is there to keep the acid from dominating, not to make it sweet.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one jar or freezer bag at home. Oil rides separately in a bottle that has been tested upside down. Mustard and honey packets tuck in the lid.
Variations
- A pouch of tuna turns it into a heavier dinner and adds about 20 g of protein.
- Skip the honey and it is vegan.
- Dried cucumber never rehydrates well. Dried zucchini does, if you want more bulk.
https://blog.9jakitchen.com/white-bean-salad-healthy-mediterranean-recipe