camp meals

Green Beans with Blackberries

Freeze-dried green beans and blackberries with oregano and olive oil. Sweet and savory together, almost no weight.

calories
120
weight
2 oz
cal / oz
60
protein
1 g
serves
2, scales
prep
1 min
cook
15 min
total time
16 min
water
480 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
  • Campfire coals
  • Backpacking
  • Thru-hike
  • Bikepacking
  • Basecamp
  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Gluten free
  • Dairy free
  • Nut free
  • One pot
  • Pre-mix at home
  • Shelf stable
  • Dump and stir

Ingredients

Freeze-dried green beans 0.5 oz broken into bite-size pieces
Dried oregano 0.5 tsp
Dried minced onion 0.25 tsp
Fine sea salt 0.25 tsp
Ground black pepper 0.25 tsp
Freeze-dried blackberries 1 oz
Olive oil 1 tbsp carry in a small dropper bottle

Method

  1. Boil 1 cup of water and pour it into a pot with the green beans, oregano, onion, salt, and pepper. Cover and remove from heat.
  2. Let sit for 15 minutes, insulating with a sleeping pad or cozy if needed. Simultaneously, rehydrate the freeze-dried blackberries in 1 cup of cold water in a separate container.
  3. Drain the green beans carefully. Stir in the olive oil.
  4. Drain the blackberries and fold them gently into the warm beans.

Freeze-dried vegetables are pre-cooked before drying, so they rehydrate in 15 minutes of hot water with no actual cooking required. Blackberries might seem like an odd addition to oregano-seasoned green beans, but the tartness cuts the salt while the sweetness keeps it from tasting entirely savory. The fruit makes this taste intentional instead of like a vegetable side from a packet.

Olive oil is where this goes from obligation to something you’ll actually finish. It carries flavor and adds calories without adding weight. Carry it in a small dropper bottle or as individual packets, and stir it in just before eating. One tablespoon is enough for two people.

Packing

Mix the green beans, oregano, onion, salt, and pepper in a quart-size freezer bag at home. Pack the freeze-dried blackberries separately in a small bag. Carry the olive oil in a small dropper bottle or as individual single-tablespoon packets.

Variations

  • Use freezer bag cooking: place the green bean mixture in a freezer bag with a FBC Cozy, pour 1 cup of boiling water directly into the bag, seal, and let sit 15 minutes without a pot.
  • Substitute fresh or foraged blackberries if available in season, adding them without pre-soaking.
  • Add 0.25 tsp of red pepper flakes for heat, mixed with the dried seasonings at home.

https://trailcooking.com/2022/10/30/revisiting-recipes-blackberry-green-beans