Couscous with Salami and Oil
Boil, pour, cover, wait five minutes. The fastest hot dinner that still counts as dinner.
- calories
- 1040
- weight
- 8.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 122
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 7 min
- total time
- 9 min
- water
- 300 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
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant couscous | 3/4 cup | the fine grain, not pearl or Israeli |
|---|---|---|
| Hard salami | 2 oz | dry-cured sticks keep for weeks unrefrigerated |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 2 tbsp | chopped small at home |
| Grated hard parmesan | 2 tbsp | the shelf-stable shaker kind |
| Bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp powder | |
| Black pepper and dried oregano | 1/2 tsp |
Method
- Slice the salami into coins while the water heats. Fuel is not being burned yet, so use the time.
- Boil 300 ml of water and stir in the bouillon until it dissolves.
- Kill the stove. Dump in the couscous and the tomatoes, stir twice, and put the lid on.
- Wait five minutes. Do not lift the lid to check. The steam is the whole cooking method.
- Fluff with a spoon, then fold in the salami, oil, parmesan, pepper, and oregano.
- Let it sit one more minute so the fat coats everything, then eat out of the pot.
Instant couscous is already cooked and dried, so it does not need heat, only hot water and time. That means one boil, no simmer, and almost no fuel — which is the entire reason it belongs in a pack instead of rice or pasta.
The couscous alone is thin eating. Salami, oil, and hard cheese are shelf-stable fats doing the work fresh dairy would do at home, and they are where most of the thousand calories come from. Cut them and you have a hot side dish, not a meal.
Packing
Couscous, tomatoes, bouillon, cheese, and spices go into one freezer bag at home. Salami and oil ride separately. If you would rather not wash a pot, pour the boiling water straight into a freezer bag inside a cozy and skip the pot entirely.
Variations
- Swap the salami for a foil packet of tuna if you want the weight lower.
- Pepperoni sticks work and are easier to find at a resupply gas station.
- A packet of instant refried beans stirred in adds bulk and another 10 g of protein.
https://www.canoetripping.net/threads/thick-fabrics-and-epoxy-saturation.101237