Dried Orange Hummus
Hummus blended with citrus, dried flat, and rebuilt at noon with cold water.
- calories
- 320
- weight
- 2.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 128
- protein
- 10 g
- serves
- 3, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 110 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
- No cook
- Cold soak
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Canoe / raft
- Day hike
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Canned chickpeas | 1 19 oz can | rinse and drain well |
|---|---|---|
| Orange juice | 1/4 cup | |
| Lime juice | 1/2 tsp | |
| Garlic | 2 cloves | |
| Orange zest | 1 heaping tsp | |
| Tahini | 2 tbsp | |
| Kosher salt | a pinch | |
| Cracked black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | carried separately, added at camp |
| Sturdy crackers or crispbread | per meal | tortillas work but break down after a few days |
Method
- At home, blend the chickpeas, juices, garlic, zest, tahini, salt, and pepper into a thick paste. A hand blender is enough.
- Spread the paste about 1/4 inch thick on lined dehydrator trays. Even thickness matters more than speed.
- Dry 5 to 7 hours, until it crumbles rather than bends. Any tacky spots will mold in the pack.
- In camp, add water to the bag at roughly 1 part water to 1.5 parts dry mix. Squeeze out the air and knead it.
- Wait 5 to 10 minutes. Add water a splash at a time if it is still stiff.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the top and scoop it with crackers.
Wet hummus is heavy and spoils. Drying it removes the only part you can replace for free at a stream. Chickpeas rehydrate well once they have been pureed, because there is no cell structure left to soften back up, so it comes back as a paste rather than a bag of gravel.
The orange juice and zest are doing more than flavor. Acid keeps the mash bright through the dehydrator, which otherwise turns it a dull grey. Tahini is the fat, and fat is what slows drying, so keep the layer thin and check the middle of the sheet before you call it done. The olive oil goes on at camp instead of into the blender for the same reason.
Packing
Break the dried sheet into a freezer bag and crush it flat. Oil rides in a dropper bottle. Crackers go in a hard-sided container or you will be eating crumbs.
Variations
- Add water in the morning and let it rehydrate in your pack until lunch.
- Roll it into a tortilla with a foil packet of chicken and it becomes dinner.
- Double the olive oil in cold weather, where the fat is the point.
https://backpackerrecipes.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/the-easiest-of-trail-lunches