Mediterranean Rice Salad, Trail Version
Cold-soaked rice with olives, sun-dried tomato, and lemon. A dinner that never touches the stove.
- calories
- 700
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 127
- protein
- 14 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.
- Dinner
- Lunch
- Cold soak
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Bikepacking
- Day hike
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant white rice | 1 cup dry | parboiled instant only, regular long grain will not soften cold |
|---|---|---|
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 1/4 cup | chopped small, they rehydrate with the rice |
| Dried bell pepper flakes | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Kalamata olives | 1/4 cup | a shelf-stable pouch, not a jar in brine |
| Dried parsley and mint | 1 tbsp total | |
| Dried oregano | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Sea salt and black pepper | 1/2 tsp salt, pepper to taste | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Lemon juice powder or a citric acid pinch | 1 tbsp powder | stands in for two fresh lemons |
Method
- Pour 300 ml of cold water into the jar with the dry mix. Stir until nothing is dry on top.
- Seal it and walk. Ninety minutes is the minimum. Three hours is better.
- Open it, add the olives and the olive oil, and stir hard so the oil coats the grains instead of pooling.
- Taste for salt and acid. Add more lemon powder if it reads flat.
The original is a picnic salad built on cooked rice, fresh cucumber and tomato, and feta. None of that survives a warm pack. What survives is the structure: starch, acid, fat, salt, and something briny. Instant rice cold-soaks in about ninety minutes, and the sun-dried tomatoes and pepper flakes rehydrate on the same water, so the vegetables come back on their own instead of riding in a cooler.
The fresh lemon becomes lemon juice powder and the feta comes out entirely. Feta is the one thing that does not have a good shelf-stable stand-in, so the oil and the olives carry the fat and the salt instead. Add the oil at camp, not at home, or the dry mix goes greasy and the rice soaks unevenly.
Packing
Rice, dried vegetables, herbs, and lemon powder go in one jar or freezer bag at home. Olives and oil ride separately so they do not soak the dry mix in your pack.
Variations
- A foil pouch of tuna or chickpeas turns it into a real dinner and adds 20 g of protein.
- Dried feta-style vegan crumbles or a hard cheese chunk added in camp gets it closer to the original, but drop the vegan and dairy-free tags if you do.
https://blog.9jakitchen.com/mediterranean-rice-salad-ultimate-fresh-recipe