Garden Scrap Couscous
Dried summer vegetables and couscous in one pot. Built from whatever the garden gave you.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 18 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 350 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
- Bikepacking
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant couscous | 3/4 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated garden vegetables | 1/2 cup | zucchini, green beans, tomato, bell pepper — sliced thin before drying |
| Freeze-dried or dehydrated onion and garlic | 1 tbsp | |
| Vegetable bouillon | 1 cube | |
| Dried chickpeas, cooked and dehydrated | 1/3 cup | or 2 tbsp textured vegetable protein |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Dried herbs | 1 tsp | oregano and basil, whatever dried well |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Put the vegetables, chickpeas, onion, garlic, and bouillon in the pot with 350 ml of water. Bring it to a boil.
- Hold the boil two minutes so the tougher pieces start to give. Zucchini rehydrates fast, green beans do not.
- Kill the heat, dump in the couscous and herbs, and stir once.
- Lid on, ten minutes off the stove. Do not peek.
- Fluff with the spoon, pour the oil over, salt and pepper it.
Home gardens produce more than a household eats, all at once, and then nothing for eight months. Drying the surplus is the fix. Thin slices of zucchini, green beans, tomato, and pepper hold their flavor for a year in a bag and weigh almost nothing on your back.
Couscous is the partner because it needs no boil of its own — just hot water and ten minutes under a lid. That leaves the fuel budget for rehydrating the vegetables, which is the part that actually takes heat. The oil goes in at the end so it coats the grain instead of sitting on top of the water.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag except the oil. Dry the vegetables at home in a dehydrator or a low oven and store them in the same bag; they rehydrate at the same rate as the couscous does, which is the whole point.
Variations
- A spoonful of tomato powder turns the broth red and adds acid.
- Swap couscous for instant polenta if you want it thicker.
- Chili flakes and a squeeze of lemon powder if the vegetables came out bland.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/creating-growing-frugal-urban-garden